Riley Knight has just published a book called The Most Interesting People You’ve Never Heard Of.
One of the chapters is devoted to William Buckley, a runaway convict who lived in the bush with the local Aborigines for about 30 years from 1803.
Unfortunately, Riley Knight makes the mistake of repeating one of the most persistent myths in the Australian language, when he claims that the expression Buckley’s chance— ‘is thought to have originated with the English convict William Buckley.’
Oh no it didn’t!
Totally wrong.
That old theory was debunked many years ago.
For a start, the dates just don’t fit.
The convict William Buckley died in 1856, and the expression ‘Buckley’s chance’ did not appear until 1887.
And here is the true story behind the phrase.
In 1851, a certain Mr Mars Buckley, in partnership with one Crumpton Nunn, set up a store in a small shack in Melbourne.
The business of Buckley and Nunn flourished—and it became a large and prominent store in Melbourne.
Then in 1893 a depression hit Melbourne and there was a run on the banks.
Wily old Mars Buckley accompanied by four assistants carrying four leather suitcases, pushed through the crowds around the bank (who were demanding their money) and withdrew 10,000 gold sovereigns which he then locked away in a safe in his shop—leaving no chance that the bank might fritter away his fortune among other anxious depositors.
But earlier, in 1887, the expression ‘Buckley’s chance’ first appeared—in the longer, original form of ‘You’ve got two chances, Buckley’s and none’—as a play on the name of the (by then) famous store.
This is the source of the meaning of the expression—namely, no chance at all; a snowball’s chance in hell: sometimes said these days as ‘You’ve got two chances, mate – yours and Buckley’s!’ (meaning: ‘Give up – you haven’t got a chance).
So, sorry Riley—the convict had nothing to do with it!
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BY THE WAY...
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