Batman's Treaty
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Batman's Treaty was an agreement between John Batman, an Australian grazier, businessman and coloniser, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne. The document came to be known as Batman's Treaty and is considered significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the traditional owners. The treaty was implicitly declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke.
Artist's impression from the 1880s of the treaty being signed
The "Melbourne" deed John Batman is said to have presented to the Kulin nations' leaders and to have it signed by them on 6 June 1835. This was intended to be evidence for Batman to claim, on behalf of the Port Phillip Association, much of the land around Port Phillip Bay.
John Batman
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John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne.
Early-20th-century drawing of Batman, based on an earlier engraving
John Glover's painting Batman's Lookout, Benn Lomond (c. 1840). A neighbour and fierce critic of Batman, Glover based the title of the painting on Batman's "frequenting this spot to entrap the Natives."
A late-19th century artist's impression of Batman's Treaty being signed
Painting of Batman by William Beckwith McInnes