Return To 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...It 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.
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 as an assistant storekeeper at the Immigrant's Home at Hobart.
On 27 June 1840, he was married to Julia Eager, at St. John's Church, New Town, by the Reverend T. J. Ewing, According to a 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 Aborigines while 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, 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 they were married shortly after in New Town, Hobart, in an Anglican ceremony.
He died in 1856 at the age of 80, when he fell off his gig at Greenpond near Hobart. After his death, his wife Julia moved north to live with her daughter and son-in-law, William Jackson, and their family. Eventually they moved to Sydney. She died there at the Hyde Park Asylum on 18 August 1863.
Read more about this topic: William Buckley (convict)
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