ps_John_Batman

__John Batman__ Homepage | The Discovery of Melbourne | The Settlement of Melbourne | The Aboriginals Mind Map | Alex's Reflection | Danny's Reflection | Bibliography | Founding Fathers  John Batman 21 January 1801- 6 May 1839 John Batman’s parents came to Sydney in 1797 aboard a ship called The Ganges. Their names were William and Mary Batman and he a brother named Henry. John Batman was born in Rosehill, Parramatta which is now a suburb of Sydney on the 21st of January 1801.

In 1821 Batman and his brother Henry sailed on a ship to the northeast side of Van Diemans now called Tasmania and settled near Ben Lomond (where Ben Lomond National Park is now). In Tasmania Batman met a woman called Elizabeth Callaghan, who was a convict. He and his wife had seven daughters and only one son. There only son drowned in a river soon after they settled in Melbourne.

Once settled Batman went to get a loan from the local bank to start a cattle business and built it up very successfully. When his business grew so did the amount of land he owned and when there was none left for him he when to get land grants in the Western Port of Victoria, but they rejected his idea so in 1835 he sailed to what is now Melbourne as a leading member of the Port Phillip Association in his ship the schooner Rebecca. When he was there he set up the Batman Treaty and settled Melbourne along with John Pascoe Fawkner.

Batman and his family settled on what used to be called Batman’s Hill the western end of Collins Street. In 1833 Batman was diagnosed with the STI, and from 1836 soon after he had built his house on Batman’s Hill the syphilis deteriorated his health extremely rapidly and he became disfigured and crippled as the months went by. On May 6th 1839 he passed away.

Batman was buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery, where there is a memorial of him, but he was dug up and put in the Fawkner Cemetery, named after his arch rival, John Pascoe Fawkner.

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