Emerging from the Victorian bush in 1835 after thirty-two years with the Wadawurrung people, William Buckley has never ceased surprising Australians. In this episode, hear how an illiterate escaped convict became a rare link between alien cultures. Buckley changed Victorian history forever, and even today his story can still offer us rare insight into pre-colonial Indigenous lives.
Indigenous artist Tommy McRae’s ‘Buckley’s Escape’ drawn in 1890
Eugene von Guerard’s Warrenheap Hills painted in 1854
William Buckley portrait oil on canvas, 88.7 x 68.4 cm, State Library of Victoria, author unknown
Buckley’s tattoos as recorded in William Todd’s journal.
Frederick William Woodhouse – The first settlers discover Buckley, 1861
‘The Wild White Man’ – Illustration of Buckley wearing his possum skin cloak
Frederick Grosse’s illustration of William Buckley for the Newsletter of Australiasia in the 1850s
The Discovery of Buckley illustration
Featuring
Paul Michael Donovan, academic at Federation University
Professor Fred Cahir, academic at Federation University
Barry Gilson, member of the Wathaurong people
Benjamin Marshall as William Buckley
Jamie Gleeson as John Helder Wedge
Tales from Rat City 
Dear Tales from Rat City, I just listened your Buckley’s Chance podcast after reading Jim Poulter’s ‘What Treaty’. Thoroughly enjoyed your highly engaging and informative podcast and now look forward to listening to your other episodes. Many Kind Regards, Christine Phillips
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Thanks Christine! We really enjoyed making that episode. I haven’t seen that book myself so I just looked it up, it sounds very interesting. I didn’t realise there was an indigenous eyewitness account of the signing of Batman’s ‘treaty’ and from Barak, the Wurundjeri elder, of all people.
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