John+Pascoe+Fawkner

=John Pascoe Fawkner=


 * John Pascoe Fawkner** (1792 – 1869) was a pioneer of early Melbourne.

In 1835 he paid for free settlers to sail from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to mainland Australia in his ship, //Enterprize.// They sailed into Port Philip and up the Yarra River to start a settlement.

Early Life
Fawkner was born in England. In 1803 when he was 10 years old he came to Australia with his father who was a convict. (He had been sentenced to 14 years in Australia for stealing). They were sent to Sullivan Bay to start a new settlement under the leadership of Lieutenant-Governor David Collins, but the settlement failed because there was not enough fresh water there.

A successful businessman in Tasmania
After that in 1804 the settlers and convicts moved to the new town of Hobart in Tasmania. The family eventually had a farm but in 1819 John Pascoe moved to Launceston, got married to Eliza and set up a bakery,a timber business, a bookshop, a newspaper, a nursery, an orchard and a hotel.

The race for settlement in Port Phillip
In 1835 Fawkner bought the ship Enterprize to explore the Port Phillip District. But he couldn't go with the other settlers because he owed money to people. At the same time, John Batman set off to explore the Port Phillip District on board the ship Rebecca. He explored where the northern suburbs now are, and thought it was ideal for running a sheep farm.

Settlement in Port Phillip
On 15 August 1835, the //Enterprize// sailed into the Yarra River, and moored at what is now William St. The settlers built a store there and cleared land to grow vegetables. Three months later on 16 October 1835 the Fawkners arrived and set about starting all kinds of businesses.

John Pascoe Fawkner
 * built a farmhouse and a townhouse and lived in it between 1840 and 1855
 * opened Melbourne's first hotel
 * started the first newspaper
 * bought property in Coburg in 1839 and called it Pascoeville
 * was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1851 (when Victoria separated from New South Wales and became a separate colony)

He died in 1869. There was a huge funeral with about 15,000 people lining the streets, He was buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery. He had no children.

Click [|here] to see a picture of Fawkner's wife Eliza, the ship Enterprize, his funeral, his grace and a statue of him.

Source: [|John Pascoe Fawkner (Wikipedia)]