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New First Settlement Acquisitions
15 March 2006
The State Library of Victoria recently acquired three important manuscripts at auction from the Second Sale of the Rodney Davidson Collection, the most valuable holding of Australian rare books in private hands. The items represent the last significant documents relating to first contact with Indigenous Australians and European settlement available for purchase.
The key acquisition was an archive of documents relating to William Buckley, a convict who escaped the Sorrento settlement and lived with Aboriginal people for 32 years before making his way back to white society and requesting a pardon. The archive is of particular significance given the extraordinary story, and complements the collection of earliest papers relating to European settlement held by the Library.
The Library also bought an April 1835 letter from John Batman to John Montague. This is the earliest document detailing Batman's intentions to sail to the coast of 'New Holland'. The third purchase was two documents relating to William Lonsdale's administration of the Port Phillip District as Police Magistrate.
The items, once they have undergone conservation work, will be part of the Library's Manuscripts Collection.
The support of the State Library Foundation was crucial in securing the manuscripts.
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