Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Buckley was transported on the Calcutta, departing 31st Jan 1803 and arriving 4th Oct 1803 with 305 passengers.
HMS Calcutta was the East Indiaman Warley (1795), converted to a Royal Navy ship. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia. The French Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her. In 1803 the Calcutta sailed into Port Phillip bay where at least 4 convicts escaped , in Sydney in April 1804 it was reported that 8 had died on the trip. Of the four known escapees one was shot on escape, 2 turned back after 2 days to reattach to the group at the camp in bay before the boat left , one continued on ...into Australia's history books. At least 13 convicts were transferred on to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Australia.The ship also carried officers, wives and free settlers.
Calcutta (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 87, Class and Piece Number HO11/1, Page Number 344 |
| Source Description | This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Pro |
| Original Source | Great Britain. Home Office |
| Compiled By | State Library of Queensland |
| Database Source | British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database |
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Convict Notes
A few days since the shop of Mr. Cave, draper of Warnham, was broken open and robbed of several pieces of printed linens and Cottons, stockings, &c. and on Tuesday last a woman, wife of a soldier the 4th regiment of foot, was taken into custody, at Pease-Porridge Gate, in the of Crawley, on suspicion of being concerned the robbery. The woman it seems, had offered the articles for sale at Crawley, but a hand-bill, describing the property, having arrived there before her, she was immediately suspected, and secured. She has since impeached two men of the above regiment as principals, and they all on committed to Horsham-Gaol, for trial at our next assizes. Sussex Advertiser, 10 May 1802. William Buckley and William Marmon, the former aged 20, and the latter 25, for burglariously entering the shop of Mr. Cave, of Warnham, and stealing two pieces of Irish cloth, value 8s. on the night of ? April last.—Margaret Harris, for receiving the above-mentioned pieces of Irish cloth, the property of the said John Cave, and well knowing them to have been stolen. Sussex Advertiser, 9 Aug 1802.
Hulk Records. Portsmouth. HO-9-8_1. page 51/52 Received five from Sussex, 21 Sep. William Buckley, age 20, C.R. (Capitally respited), Tried at Horsham Sussex, 2 Aug 1802, NSW Life, Calcutta.
This account was recorded by George Langhorne in 1836. It was discovered in 1911 and printed in The Age. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196210545
https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&id=AM4NAAAAQAAJ&dq="The+Life+and+Adventures+of+William+Buckley"+"John+Morgan"&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=ZFM54nNZvL&sig=CqZcXgjLZm-6tkOWF4RrgKJcMtg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#v=onepage&q="The Life and Adventures of William Buckley" "John Morgan"&f=false The Life and Adventures of William Buckley.
William Buckley was also known as the 'wild white man'. He was born at Marton, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, the son of a small farmer, but reared by his maternal grandfather, who sent him to school and apprenticed him to a bricklayer. He joined the army, first the Cheshire Militia and then the 4th Rigiment. In 1799 he was wounded in action in the Netherlands. 2/8/1802: Sussex Assizes - conviced of having received a roll of cloth knowing it to have been stolen - Life. April 1803 - Landed at Port Phillip in the Calcutta with a party under Lieutenant-Govenor David Collins - he and two others absconded from the camp - they sent distress signals to the Calcutta from the other side of Port Phillip Bay, but they were not noticed. Buckley's friends turned back but were not heard of again. Buckley was befriended by Aboriginals who believed the big (he was 6'6") white stranger was a reincarnation of their dead tribal chief. He learnt their language and customs and was given a wife, by whom he had a daughter. He lived with them for 32 years. In July 1835 he gave himself up and surrendered to a party at Indented Head. At first he had forgotten his own language, but was identified by the tattoo mark on his arm, and the initials "W.B.". He obtained a pardon an was employed as an interpreter at a salary of £50. In December 1837 he left for Tasmania and became assistant store-keeper at the Immigrants' Home and from 1841-1850 was gate-keeper at the Female Factory. 27/1/1840: Married Julia Eagers/Higgins, the widow of an emigrant, in New Town. 30/1/1856: William Buckley died at Hobart.