John Batman

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John Batman (born January 21, 1801 in Rosehill near Parramatta , † May 6, 1839 in Melbourne ) was an Australian farmer and businessman and one of the first settlers in the Melbourne area. His name went down in Australian history because he signed a written contract for the use of land with the Aborigines ; this was named after him Batman's Treaty . Batman is also known for his commitment to founding what is now the state of Victoria in Australia.

Life

Memorial to the spot where Batman landed at Indented Head in 1835.
Signing the Batman's Treaty of 1835 in a painting circa 1880

Batman was born in Rosehill near Parramatta (now a suburb of Sydney ). He lived in Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land ) for a while , where he began farming on government-approved land, but his company wanted to expand by buying land. In December 1825 or early 1826, Batman captured the infamous bush ranger Matthew Brady .

Batman was diagnosed with syphilis in 1835, which altered and crippled him spiritually and estranged him from his wife, Elizabeth Callaghan. They had seven daughters together and a son who drowned in the Yarra River . Batman and his family settled on Batman's Hill on the west end of Melbourne's Collins Street, where he laid the foundation stone for his home in April 1836 and lived until his death. In his final months he was cared for by the local Aborigines. After his death, his widow and family left the Batman's Hill home and the government requisitioned the home for government offices.

Contract negotiations

Batman tried to obtain guarantees on land in the Western Port area of ​​Victoria, but the relevant British colonial authorities prevented this. Therefore, in 1835 he sailed as a leading member of the Port Phillip Association with the schooner Rebecca to Port Phillip . Batman concluded with eight Wurundjeri elders , including Billibellary , the Batman's Treaty , which went down in Australian history (also known as Dutigulla Treaty , Dutigulla Deed , Melbourne Treaty or Melbourne Deed ). The subject of the contract was the lease of the land from the Aborigines to Batman for 40 blankets, 30 axes, 100 knives, 50 scissors, 30 mirrors, 200 handkerchiefs, 100 pounds of flour and 6 shirts.

It is unclear whether the Aborigines understood or agreed to this trade. William Buckley later served as an interpreter for Batman and Percival Serle wrote: " No doubt the blankets, knives, tomahawks, etc., that he gave them were very welcome " (no doubt the blankets, knives, axes etc. he gave them were very welcome). In any case, the governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke , considered this treaty to be invalid, since the land belonged to the crown and not to the Aborigines.

When Batman found what is now Melbourne, he wrote in his diary: “ This will be the place for a Village. "(This will be a place for a village) and declared the land" Batmania ".

Legacy

Statue of John Batman in the former National Mutual Plaza on Collins Street in Melbourne, unveiled January 26, 1979

Batman was buried in Old Melbourne Cemetery , where a memorial stone commemorates him. He was later exhumed and buried again in Fawkner Cemetery , a cemetery named after his colonist friend, John Pascos Fawkner . A number of statues around Melbourne as well as the Batman Railway Station and the Batman Bridge in northern Tasmania remind of Batman . A direct descendant of his was the Australian sprinter Daniel Batman .

literature

  • A Pictorial History of Bushrangers, Prior, Wannan and Nunn , 1968, Paul Hamlyn Pty Ltd, Melbourne

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Percival Serle: Batman, John (1801-1839). Project Gutenberg Australia, Dictionary of Australian Biography, available online . Retrieved March 14, 2008
  2. ^ Sid Brown: Batman's Hill to Southern Cross - via Spencer Street, pp. 335-347, Newsrail 2002
  3. ^ On These Days - Parliament of Victoria . Retrieved June 7, 2008
  4. ↑ John Batman on www.whitehat.com.au ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved June 7, 2008  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.whitehat.com.au
  5. ↑ Jacquelin Magnay: Brat's all folks: sprint ace Batman comes of age . In: Sydney Morning Herald . www.smh.com.au. March 5, 2005. Retrieved July 6, 2008.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Batman, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian farmer and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Rosehill at Parramatta
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1839
Place of death Melbourne