John+Batman

=John Batman, by Miss Wall= John Batman (1801-1839) was born in January 21st in NSW. His family came to NSW on the convict ship the Ganges in 1797. John’s father William was convicted for stealing saltpeter. His mother, Mary, paid her fare and brought along her daughter and son.

John became a blacksmith in Sydney in 1816. After his master was executed for burglary he became a farmer.

In December 1821, Batman moved to Van Diemen’s Land and worked as a grazier. He bought a large acreage ‘Kingston’. In 1826 Batman caught notorious bushranger Matthew Brady. As a reward the government gave him additional land. John Batman became a bounty hunter between 1828-1830 and shot and killed many Aboriginals.

As Van Diemen’s Land had no more land available for farming, Batman formed the Port Phillip Association and sailed to the mainland in 1835 in the schooner Rebecca. He explored much of Port Phillip and declared on the 8th June 1835, “This will be a place for a village.” He also declared the land ‘Batmania’.

John Batman reported that he had signed a treaty (a contract or agreement) with the local Aboriginal people, to rent 2000 km of land around Melbourne and another 400 km around Geelong. In exchange he gave the eight chiefs whose marks he acquired on the treaty, 40 blankets, 100 knives, 30 tomahawks, 50 scissors, 100 pounds of flour, 200 handkerchiefs and 6 shirts.

Some people claim that John Batman forged the marks as they appear very similar to marks made in his diary. These people believe that the treaty was not real.

John Batman and his wife Eliza built one of the first houses in Melbourne on Pleasant Hill. It has now been flattened to make way for Spencer Street (Southern Cross) Station.

John Batman marked a spot on the Yarra River for settlement, then settled three servants and five Sydney Aboriginal at Indented Head to mark his purchase. He then went back to Launceston to report his findings to the Port Phillip Association and ready them for settlement. Batman, meanwhile, had returned to Launceston to make preparations to move. He also bragged through the town how he had become the "largest landholder in the world", sparking the envy of another farmer whose eyes were set on the region, John Pascoe Fawkner.

In April 1836, Batman returned, and the township was founded near today's Queen Bridge; it was named Bearbrass due to mishearing of the area's Aboriginal name, Bararing. Other names, such as Batmania and 'Dutergalla' (and even occasionally Glenelg) appeared in Launceton papers, but it was generally known as 'the settlement' to outsiders.

The treaty was later declared invalid by Governor Bourke and that the land didn't belong to the Aborigines, but rather to the Crown. This leads some people to believing that Batman did not settle Melbourne.