History Mystery Monday: Mysterious Captain Buckley

If you have anything more than a passing interest in Melbourne history you’ve probably heard of a man named William Buckley: an escaped convict who lived for years with the Wurundjeri people in what would become the Port Phillip District before reintegrating into white society once Melbourne was established. That William Buckley is a fascinating fellow – but this post is all about a different William Buckley, a man known as “Captain William Buckley” who moved to the Moonee Moonee Ponds District back in 1840.

If you look into the origins of the names of Buckley Street and Buckley Park you’ll find they both took their names from Captain William Henry Buckley, a prosperous and prominent early resident of the area who earned enough to fund building a mansion in Ascot Vale by working as a government administrator. So far so dull.  But wait… if he was an administrator – Chief Clerk of the Survey Department at the peak of his career – why is he called Captain? And also, can Chief Clerks of government departments usually afford mansions? Hmmm…

A little more investigation reveals that William Buckley was actually a former Lieutenant of the British Army, and never actually a Captain (unlike his father Captain William Buckley, who had fallen at Waterloo). Lt William Buckley seems to have fallen out of favour within the Army, (or perhaps sustained some illness or injury), around 1832 at which point he was “pensioned off” on half-pay, which he continued to receive for the rest of his life. In 1840, likely seeking a fresh start, he sailed with his wife and five children to the other side of the world, to Port Phillip.

The Buckley family settled in what was known as the Moonee Moonee Ponds District, and Lt William Buckley began a successful career at the Survey Office, starting as draftsman in June 1840. He rose to the position of Chief Clerk, and built a stately mansion on Flemington Hill in around 1849.  A later owner renamed the mansion “Ailsa” (it was demolished in 1936) but in Buckley’s time the mansion seems to have always been known as “Captain Buckley’s”, and Buckley himself was always "Captain Buckley" throughout his life in Melbourne. He even appears to have used the title himself, as seen in the advertisement from the Argus shown below. Even now, though Buckley seems very nearly forgotten, most remaining mentions of him still call him "Captain".

Ad from the Argus, Monday 9th February 1857, p. 8

Why did Lieutenant William Buckley become known as Captain Buckley? Perhaps Buckley indulged in the opportunity to upgrade his credentials when he moved around the world. This kind of fraud was certainly more of an option, and more common-place, back in the days of super-slow communications, particularly when moving to a small, far-flung settlement of the Empire. Or perhaps our “Captain” was looking to differentiate himself from the other William Buckley, the famous ex-convict. It may have begun as a mistake - maybe someone confused the son with his higher ranking father - and perhaps the mistake proved too hard to correct. Maybe Buckley even liked to think he was entitled to the rank his father had earned? Or, perhaps it was only ever more of a nick-name for a Captain-like gentleman?

With so many possibilities and so many years between Buckley's times and ours, we’ve probably got Buckley’s chance of ever really knowing.

Buckley Park Essendon takes it's name from Lt William Buckley. Auction notice from 1889, from State Library Victoria

Note: this post is based primarily on research done by members of the Essendon Historical Society published in the following two publications:

• Street Names of Essendon, Ascot Vale, Moonee Ponds, Strathmore 2nd ed. Edited by Lenore Frost. Essendon Historical Society, 2001.
  
• The Fine Homes of Essendon and Flemington 1846 – 1880. Edited by Lenore Frost. Essendon Historical Society, 2010.