Best remembered as a member of the 19th-century expedition that established a settlement near Australia's Port Phillip Bay that would later become the city of Melbourne, this farmer and businessman signed a treaty with Australian Aboriginals living in the area that is present-day Victoria.
In his early twenties, he moved from the Sydney area to Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land) to become a grazier (pastoral farmer).
In late 1829, he attacked and massacred or captured members of an Aboriginal family.
His marriage to Elizabeth Callaghan resulted in eight children: seven girls and one boy.
He and Hamilton Hume were both Australian explorers of the Nineteenth Century.