Batman's Treaty
Encyclopedia
John Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
, an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n grazier, businessman and explorer, and a group of Wurundjeri
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, near the present site of the city of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. The document came to be known as Batman's Treaty and is also considered significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the traditional owners. The so-called treaty was declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke
Richard Bourke
General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB was Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia between 1831 and 1837.-Early life and career:...
on the basis that the Wurundjeri people did not have a right to deal with the land, which it was claimed belonged to the Crown.
Making of the treaty
In January 1827, John BatmanJohn Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
and Joseph Gellibrand
Joseph Gellibrand
Joseph Tice Gellibrand was the first attorney-general of Van Diemen's Land .-Early life:Joseph Tice Gellibrand was born in England, second son of William Gellibrand and Sophia Louisa, née Hynde...
applied for a grant of land at Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, which was at the time part of the colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. The petitioners stated that they were prepared to bring with them sheep and cattle to the value of £4000 to £5000. The application was refused, as inconsistent with the Nineteen Counties
Nineteen Counties
The Nineteen Counties were the limits of location in the colony of New South Wales defined by the Governor of New South Wales Sir Ralph Darling in 1826 in accordance with a government order from Lord Bathurst, the secretary of State. Counties had been used since the first year of settlement, with...
Order.
By 1835, John Batman
John Batman
John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
prepared to sail to Port Phillip to explore the area. Gellibrand, a lawyer, prepared draft deed for Batman to take on his trip, in case he found an opportunity to use it. The deed was for a transfer of an interest in land and provided for the payment of an annual tribute. Batman sailed in May 1835 in the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Rebecca
Schooner Rebecca
The 30-ton sloop Rebecca was launched in 1834, built by Captain George Plummer at his boatyard on the banks of the Tamar River at Rosevears, Van Diemen's Land ....
from Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
for the mainland. The expedition included five Aboriginal men from Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
, outside Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and some white servants. The party sailed into Port Phillip on 29 May 1835, landing at Indented Head
Indented Head, Victoria
Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards.-History:...
. Over the next week, they explored the area around the Bay, first at Corio Bay
Corio Bay
Corio Bay is one of numerous bays in the southwest corner of Australia's Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay.-Name:...
, near the present site of Geelong
Geelong, Victoria
Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, south-west of the state capital; Melbourne. It is the second most populated city in Victoria and the fifth most populated non-capital city in Australia...
, and later moving up the Yarra
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
and Maribyrnong
Maribyrnong river
The Maribyrnong River rises about 50 km north of Melbourne, Victoria , near Mount Macedon. It flows generally southward and combines with the Yarra River to flow into Port Phillip....
rivers at the north of the Bay.
Batman's party met with Aboriginal people several times, presenting gifts of blankets, handkerchiefs, sugar, apples and other items, and receiving gifts of woven baskets and spears in exchange. On 6 June, Batman met with eight elders of the Wurundjeri
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
, including ngurungaeta
Ngurungaeta
Ngurungaeta is a Wurundjeri word meaning 'head man' or 'tribal leader'. Ngurungaeta held the same tribal standing as an Arweet of the Bunurong and Wathaurong people...
s Bebejan
Bebejan
Bebejan also known as Bebejern or Jerum Jerum, was a Ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people of the present day Australian state of Victoria. He was at the signing of Batman's Treaty in 1835 and signed it along with seven other tribal leaders...
and Billibellary
Billibellary
Billibellary was a song maker and influential ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan during the early years of European settlement of Melbourne. He was known by various names including Billi-billeri, Billibellary, Jika Jika, Jacky Jacky and Jaga Jaga...
, the traditional owners of the lands around the Yarra River.
Location of treaty signing
The meeting with the Aboriginal Elders took place on the bank of a small stream, which Batman described in his diary as a "lovely stream of water". Although the precise waterway and location is not given, 20th century historians suspect a likely location to have been Merri CreekMerri Creek
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls...
, in what is currently Northcote
Northcote, Victoria
Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...
. Alternative locations have been suggested on the Plenty River near Greensborough, Edgars Creek. and on Darebin Creek. These were generally based on analysis of the description of the journey given in the diary. However, there have been some suggestions that the critical period in the diaries was manipulated to allow for a larger tract of country to be obtained.
Harcourt identifies the treaty signing location as "West Bend", a bend in the Merri Creek at the western end of Cunningham Street, Northcote and opposite Rushall Station. 37.782472°S 144.992288°E He relies on a range of evidence including oral traditions, the description of the signing location in John Pascoe Fawkner
John Pascoe Fawkner
John Pascoe Fawkner was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land , to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize...
's accounts, previous commemorative markers and ceremonies, interpretation of landmarks in contemporary descriptions, and later depictions such as Burtt's painting of the event, which may have been prepared following discussions with participants in Batman's expedition.
Return to Hobart
On 8 June he wrote in his journal: "So the boat went up the large river... and... I am glad to state about six miles up found the River all good water and very deep. This will be the place for a village." The last sentence later became famous as the "founding charter" of Melbourne,and named the land "Batmania".
After leaving some men to build a hut and start a garden, Batman and the Rebecca returned to Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
on 14 June. Here Batman showed John Helder Wedge
John Helder Wedge
John Helder Wedge was a surveyor, explorer and politician in Van Diemen's Land .Wedge was the second son of Charles Wedge of Shudy Camps, Cambridge, England. John Wedge learned the basics of surveying from his father...
where he had explored and, from these details, Wedge prepared the first map of Melbourne (published in 1836), showing the location Batman had chosen as the site for the “village” and the division of land between association members.
Several days after his return Batman wrote to the Governor of Tasmania, George Arthur, informing him of the treaty, and of the Association's plans to run 20,000 sheep on the lands purchased. According to Batman’s petition to George Arthur, Batman and Wedge would proceed immediately to the district with stock, and only married servants (with their wives) would be allowed to accompany them. Arthur was not pleased with the Association's actions, and wrote to the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke
Richard Bourke
General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB was Governor of the Colony of New South Wales, Australia between 1831 and 1837.-Early life and career:...
.
Wedge left Launceston on 7 August 1835, to set up a settlement on the Association's new lands. After stopping at the Barwon River
Barwon River (Victoria)
The Barwon River rises in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, Australia, runs through Winchelsea and the city of Geelong, where it is joined by the Moorabool River, and enters the sea at Barwon Heads after passing through Lake Connewarre on the Bellarine Peninsula...
, Wedge moved on to the Yarra River, where he encountered a party sent by John Pascoe Fawkner
John Pascoe Fawkner
John Pascoe Fawkner was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land , to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize...
. (Fawkner himself arrived only in October.) Wedge told Fawkner of the treaty, but Fawkner would not leave, dismissing the treaty as worthless.
Disputes over the treaty
On 26 August 1835, Governor Bourke issued a Proclamation which formally declared that Batman's Treaty was "void and of no effect as against the rights of the Crown" and declared any person on "vacant land of the Crown" without authorization from the Crown to be trespassing. The proclamation was approved by the Colonial OfficeColonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
on 10 October 1835. The official objection to the Treaty was that Batman had attempted to negotiate directly with the Aboriginal people, whom the British did not recognise as having any claim to any lands in Australia. Also, Batman had purchased the lands for the Association, and not for the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
.
The validity of the treaty has been widely disputed. It is possible that the marks which Batman claimed were the signatures of the eight Wurundjeri
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
elders were instead made by one of the five Aboriginal men he had brought with him from Parramatta
Parramatta, New South Wales
Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...
, since they resemble marks commonly used by Aboriginal people from that area. Furthermore, since neither Batman, the Sydney Aboriginal men or the Wurundjeri men spoke anything approaching the same language, it is almost certain that the elders did not understand the treaty, instead probably perceiving it as part of the series of gift exchanges which had taken place over the previous few days amounting to a tanderrum
Tanderrum
A tanderrum is a ceremony enacted by the nations of the Kulin people and other Victorian aboriginal nations allowing safe passage and temporary access and use of land and resources by foreign people...
ceremony which allows temporary access and use of the land. In any case, the European system of understanding property was entirely alien to almost all Aboriginal peoples. Nevertheless, the treaty has been praised as the only documented attempt to reach an agreement between white settlers and the local Aboriginal people for land use was made. The treaty was significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands.
Batman maintained until his death in 1839 that the treaty was valid.
Some historians continued to assume that the Treaty was a forgery, but the recollections of the aboriginal elder Barak
William Barak
William Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...
, who was present at the signing of the treaty as a boy, established that Batman, with the aid of his New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
aborigines, did in fact participate in a signing ceremony.
External links
- Images and transcript of the Batman Treaty at the State Library of Victoria.
- The Batman Land Deed (Flash required for close-up viewing) National Museum of Australia
- Transcript of the Batman Land Deed National Museum of Australia
- Detailed description of Batman Land Deed National Museum of Australia.