You’ve got Buckley’s! - The story of William Buckley

William Buckley the Escaped Convict

Ever heard of the saying “You’ve got Buckey’s” or “Chances are Buckley’s or None” and wondered were this came from?

Wee today on my wanderings around Victoria, Australia, I stumbled upon the story of William Buckley in Barwon Heads.

William Buckley was a convict who was transferred to Australia where he was held at Sorrento on the Victorian Coast. He was on one of two ships that were sent to settle Port Philip in 1803. Due to the lack of fresh water at Sorrento, the two ships decided to move to Tasmania and settled at Hobart to form the second European settlement in Australia.

Hearing that the settlement was to be moved to Tasmania, William escaped from his captors and fled into the bushland. Back in the early 1800’s life in Australia was very basic and European settlement’s were very few. Melbourne was yet to be settled and Hobart was settled later that year. Europeans survival in the wilds of the Australian bushland during this time was very slim as most did not have the bush skills for survival.

William escaped from the settlement on the eastern side of Port Philip Bay and made his way around the shoreline to the western side. It was here that he first came upon a village of the Wathaurung Indigenous people. At first he was afraid of them but eventually communicated with them and was accepted into their way of life. Buckley lived with the Wathaurung people on the western side of Port Philip Bay for over 30 years until he spotted a ship sailing into the bay in 1835, the year that John Batman and his fellow settlers sailed from Tasmania to settle on the Yarra river and establish present day Melbourne.

When he presented himself to the settlers they were amazed to find out it was William Buckley and that he had survived as many presumed that he had perished in the wilderness after his escape. William Buckley was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-Governor Arthur and re-settled in Hobart until his death in 1856.

Hi improbable survival gave rise to the vernacular phrase "you've got Buckley's or none" (or simply "you've got Buckley's"), which means "no chance", or "it's as good as impossible”. It is a fantastic story of unbelievable survival during the early years of European settlement in Australia.