The Proclamation of Governor Bourke was a document written by

Sir Richard Bourke General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855), was an Irish-born British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig (Liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and ...

, KCB, the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

, and issued by the British

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...

on 26 August 1835. The proclamation was prompted by the actions of

John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne. Born and raised in the then-British colony of New South Wales, Batman settled in Van Die ...

, who when establishing a settlement at what is now Melbourne and would become the colony of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, agreed to a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

with the local Aboriginal inhabitants. Bourke's proclamation effectively declared Batman's treaty null and void, and implemented the concept of ''

terra nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". It was a principle sometimes used in international law to justify claims that territory may be acquired by a state's occupation of it. : : ...

''—that the colonies belonged to no-one prior to settlement by the British Crown.Governor Bourke's Proclamation 1835 (UK)
''Founding Documents—Documenting Democracy'', National Archives of Australia.

References

{{Wikisource, Governor Bourke's Proclamation, 26 August 1835 1835 in Australia 19th century in New South Wales August 1835 events 1835 documents