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| Print entitled 'The Land Racket of 1837' showing people buying allotments in early Melbourne, only two years after the Port Phillip Association was founded by John Batman, Joseph Tice Gellibrand and other land speculators. |
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| Wood engraving from a drawing by George Rossi Ashton, published in the Illustrated Australian News, June 25, 1887, Contributed by the La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. |
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| An interpretation of Melbourne in 1838 showing the consequences of the 'land racket' the Port Phillip Association precipitated in 1835. |
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| Colour lithograph attributed to Clarence Woodhouse (1852-1931) for a leaflet entitled '1838 - Melbourne then and Now - 1888', published for the Centennial Exhibition in 1888.. Contributed by the La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. |
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Joseph Tice Gellibrand was a London lawyer who came to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) as Attorney-general in 1824. After falling out with Governor Arthur, Gellibrand was dismissed for conduct unbecoming to his office, but he stayed on in Hobart.
With his friend John Batman, he applied unsuccessfully for a land grant at Westernport Bay on the mainland in 1827. Seven years later, he helped Batman to found the Port Phillip Association and drafted a 'treaty' for Batman to present to the traditional owners of Port Phillip. Gellibrand himself travelled to Port Phillip soon after Batman returned.
In 1837, Gellibrand set out on a leisurely journey from Corio Bay to Melbourne with another lawyer, G. B. Hesse. The two quarrelled with their guide, who left them to their own devices. They were never seen again. Their disappearance sparked raids against the Gulidjan people of Lake Colac, which was believed to be their destination.
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| A view of the village of Melbourne and Batman's Hill, as they might have appeared in 1837, the year Joseph Tice Gellibrand and G. B. Hesse disappeared. Notice the Kulin people in the foreground, and the remaining native vegetation. |
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| Wood engraving published in The Illustrated Australian News, December 31, 1872, by Ebenezer and David Syme, Melbourne. Contributed by the La Trobe Picture Collection, State Library of Victoria. |
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Gellibrand's name, however, lived on after his death. Not only was it applied to several geographical features (including Gellibrand Point at Williamstown) but it was also adopted by Beruke, an Aboriginal man who had taken part in the search for the missing lawyers. Assistant Protector William Thomas recorded that his 'black brother Gellibrand' was much respected by the whites, 'especially the gentry', for whom he acted as a guide. Beruke/Gellibrand died prematurely after a drinking session at the Melbourne Club.
Copyright Imagine The Future Inc. and Australian Film Commission, 2002.
Text by Jenny Lee for ITF.
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