William Buckley

1. William Buckley The escaped convict By Julian 8Y

2. About Him Born in 1780 and died 1856 30th January. His height is 6.3 to around 6.7 and has shaggy black hair, low forehead, small eyes, short snub nose. His mothers name is Eliza Buckley and he was brought up by Eliza’s parents in Mucclesfield. William was a apprentice bricklayer, but he didn't like it so he became a foot soldier in the kings foot regiment but was soon transferred to the kings own regiment.

3. Conviction William Buckley was convicted for stealing cloth in London after war against Napoleon in the Netherlands under the command of the Duke of York. William claimed to be carrying the cloth for a woman and he had no idea it was stolen. Later on, he was transported to NSW for 14 years.

4. Transportation Buckley left England in April 1803, aboard HMS Calcutta, a ship that was destined to be one of two sent to Port Phillip to form a new settlement under Lieutenant-ColonelDavid Collins. They arrived in October 1803, and anchored off the south-eastern side of the bay, near modern day Sorrento. The new settlement, called Sullivan Bay, subject to drought and poor soils, soon ran into problems and was abandoned after five months.

5. Escape On 27 December 1803 at 9 PM, Buckley and several other convicts cut loose a boat and made their escape. Making their way around the bay, and in the vicinity of present day Melbourne, the party split up. His companions went north-east, hoping to reach Sydney, which they thought was not far, although it was 800 km away. Buckley, tired and dehydrated, continued alone around the bay.

6. Life with the Wautharong People During the weeks following his escape, Buckley avoided contact with Aboriginal people, travelling around Port Phillip Bay as far as the Bellarine Peninsula. In an account collected by George Langhorne in 1835, Buckley told of his first meeting with a small Aboriginal family group, who treated him with great kindness and with whom he “labored”, shared food and from whom he began to learn language, before parting company. In the well known account collected by John Morgan in 1852, Buckley describes travelling much further; as far as Painkalac Creek, Aireys Inlet (Mangowak) and Mount Defiance (Nooraki) living alone, off the land. Common to both accounts however, is his significant first meeting with a group of Wautharong women, several months after his escape. The women befriended him and invited him back to their camp. Understood to be the returned spirit of a former tribesman, he was joyfully welcomed and adopted by the group. He was given the name Murrangurk, meaning literally, "returned from the dead".

7. 32 years later For the next thirty-two years, he continued to live among the Wautharong people on the Bellarine Peninsula being treated with great affection and respect. By virtue of his age and peaceful ways, Buckley… became a Ngurungaeta, a person of considerable respect among his people and his voice was influential in deciding matters of war and peace" Buckley also became expert with Aboriginal weapons, though despite this, as a revered spirit, he was banned from partaking in tribal wars. He had at least two Aboriginal wives, and almost certainly a daughter by one of them. One of these is said to have been killed by the tribe for preferring an Aboriginal man; but it is also reported that Buckley said he gave her up in order to prevent unrest among the men; preferring to stay alive and to "return to the simple life".

8. Pardon On 6 July 1835 William Buckley appeared at the camp site of John Batman's Port Phillip Association with a party of Aboriginal people who had told him about the sighting of a ship at Indented Head. Wearing kangaroo skins and carrying Aboriginal weapons, he walked into the camp. The three European men at the camp were William Todd, James Gumm and Alexander Thomson who had been left behind to maintain a base whilst Batman had returned to Launceston. They fed him and treated him with kindness. Buckley showed them the letters "W.B." tattooed on his arm. Fearful of being shot, he told them he was a shipwrecked soldier, but a few days later he revealed his identity, to the amazement of everybody present. In September the same year, he was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur, in Van Diemen's Land.

9. Return to the western culture In 1836, Buckley was given the position of Interpreter to the natives, and as a guide for Captain Foster Fyans, among others, his knowledge of the Aboriginal language was put to good use. On 4 February, William Buckley accompanied Joseph Gellibrand and his party, which included William Roberston, one of the financiers of the Port Phillip Association, on a trip west from Melbourne, heading toward Geelong, where they met with a group of Aboriginal people with whom Buckley had lived. From Gellibrand's diary: February 5th, 1836: I directed Buckley to advance and we would follow him at a distance of a quarter of a mile. Buckley made towards a native well and after he had rode about 8 miles, we heard a cooey and when we arrived at the spot I witnessed one of the most pleasing and affecting sights. There were three men five women and about twelve children. Buckley had dismounted and they were all clinging around him and tears of joy and delight running down their cheeks, t was truly an affecting sight and proved the affection which these people entertained for Buckley, amongst the number were a little old man and an old woman one of his wives. Buckley told me this was his old friend and with whom he had lived and associated thirty years.

10. Later on When Major Mitchell came through the Gundagai area when he was returning north at the end of his 1836 "Australia Felix" expedition, he recorded meeting William Buckley on October 24, being just south of Gundagai adjacent to the Wantabadgery area. William Buckley was making bread and Mitchell noted his huge size. Mitchell crossed the Murrumbidgee near where William Buckley was cooking. By late 1837, Buckley had become disenchanted with his new way of life—and the people around him—and left for Van Diemen's Land. He remained there for the next nineteen years, until his death in 1856; taking on a number of jobs, including gatekeeper at the Female Factory, and for a short period at the Immigrant's Home at Hobart. He married Julia Eagers, on January 20, 1840. According to contemporary George Russell, she is said to have been as short as he was tall - so much so that when out walking she was too short to even reach his arm. To remedy this problem he would tie two corners of his handkerchief together, and after fastening this to his arm, she would put her arm through the loop. Julia was the widow of Daniel Higgins who allegedly had been murdered by Aboriginals whilst en route overland from Sydney to Port Phillip in 1839. They were free Irish immigrants. Julia had one daughter, Mary Ann, from her first marriage and whom Buckley later "claimed" as his. Buckley met Julia when she was living at the Immigrant's home with her daughter following the death of Daniel. He "tendered" himself to her and was married shortly after in Newtown in an Episcopalian ceremony. He died in 1856 at the age of 75, following a cart accident near Hobart. After his death, his wife Julia moved north with her daughter's husband William Jackson and their family. Eventually they moved to Sydney. She died there at the Hyde park Asylum on August 18, 1863

11. Q & A What challenge or problem has this person been faced with? Escaped the conviction boat and got away with it. How did they overcome this challenge? What steps did they take to do this? He got the other convicts and cut loose a boat and lived with the aboriginals. Did they have any assistance to overcome this problem? Yes. Who? The other convicts. How? Helped him cut loose a boat. How has the challenge changed their life? He wouldn’t have met Julia Eagers and had a family together and he would still be living in the streets of London and wouldn’t have 2 aboriginal wives. Have you ever faced a similar challenge or know of anybody who has had an experience like this? No I don’t know any one that has escaped prison. Is his challenge really challenging? Yes because he would had nowhere to go because he’s an outlaw.

12. Reference Wikipedia 1st August the info I got here was excellent I now understand William’s struggle to hid from the law by living with aboriginals.