Port Phillip Association, Documents 1835 Jun. 6 – Jun. 30, State Library Victoria

Based in Van Diemen's Land, the Port Phillip Association was formalised in June 1835 to settle the land acquired by the Batman treaty. An agreement concerning the Melbourne and Geelong purchases was drawn up between Batman and other association members including lawyer and former attorney-general Joseph Bannister, police magistrate James Simpson, banker Charles Swanston, surveyor John Helder Wedge and Henry Arthur, nephew of the Van Diemen’s Land Lieutenant-Governor, George Arthur. As Batman had privately purchased the land for the Port Phillip Association, and not the Crown, the agreement gave Scotsman George Mercer authority to negotiate with the British Government with a view to validating the deeds' terms, which were indeed deemed unlawful by Governor Bourke back in Sydney. The rules and regulations for the conduct of a colonial settlement were also outlined in the documents.