Armytage received sizable grants of land at Bagdad, and later obtained larger areas in Western Victoria as a pastoral squatter.

[2] A subsequent punitive expedition against local Aboriginals apparently served as "a warning to the natives not in the future to commit wanton excesses" against the British occupiers.

[3] The advantages of obtaining vast areas of land virtually for free were soon realised and the Armytages became exceedingly wealthy, owning famous mansions such as The Hermitage in Geelong, and Como House in Toorak.

During this period Armytage was part of the Bagdad division of the Tasmanian police who were heavily involved in the Black War that resulted in the deaths of a possible 900 Indigenous Australians.

During 1836 an investigation into the murder of local indigenous people took place in regard to a Charles Franks who had been employed by George Armytage to secure selection of desired parcels of land.