Melbourne illegal!

Melbourne started as an illegal settlement. A dubious treaty signed with aboriginal leaders in 1835 gave a syndicate of Tasmanian sheep farmers led by John Batman the 'ownership' of most of the land bordering Port Phillip Bay

New South Wales Governor Richard Bourke declared Batman's treaty illegal and the settlers to be trespassers. But within two years, more than 350 people and 55 000 sheep had landed and Melbourne was a fact.