Important People
As you read more and more you will encounter the names of numerous people who were important in the development of the Port Phillip District. You will need to know a number of important people from this time period and be able to discuss them in relation to questions in the SAC and the Exam. Below is a very brief biography on some important people (most are edited entries from the well-regarded Australian Dictionary of Biography). If you would like to gain more information please click on "learn more..." or refer to more thorough historical documents.
As you read more and more you will encounter the names of numerous people who were important in the development of the Port Phillip District. You will need to know a number of important people from this time period and be able to discuss them in relation to questions in the SAC and the Exam. Below is a very brief biography on some important people (most are edited entries from the well-regarded Australian Dictionary of Biography). If you would like to gain more information please click on "learn more..." or refer to more thorough historical documents.
The Hentys
The Henty family were the first Europeans to settle within the Port Phillip district (now country Victoria). Edward Henty and his brother Stephen arrived at Portland Bay in 1834. As they could not farm in Van Diemen’s Land (no productive land available), they turned their attention to ‘the opposite coast’, the virtually unknown Port Phillip district of New South Wales.
Their father petitioned the British Government in London three times to settle in the Port Phillip district but was rejected each time. The British authorities forbade the settling of land that was not easily accessible from Sydney. The Hentys then decided to settle the Port Phillip district illegally. They did so in the belief that they would eventually be granted the land.
In the early years of settlement, the Hentys established a small farm and began whaling at Portland Bay. Their move inland came after they were found, to the surprise of both parties, by Major Thomas Mitchell’s expedition. Mitchell told the Hentys about the good farming land that was nearby and encouraged them to move their sheep northward to the fertile land surrounding the Wannon River.
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The Henty family were the first Europeans to settle within the Port Phillip district (now country Victoria). Edward Henty and his brother Stephen arrived at Portland Bay in 1834. As they could not farm in Van Diemen’s Land (no productive land available), they turned their attention to ‘the opposite coast’, the virtually unknown Port Phillip district of New South Wales.
Their father petitioned the British Government in London three times to settle in the Port Phillip district but was rejected each time. The British authorities forbade the settling of land that was not easily accessible from Sydney. The Hentys then decided to settle the Port Phillip district illegally. They did so in the belief that they would eventually be granted the land.
In the early years of settlement, the Hentys established a small farm and began whaling at Portland Bay. Their move inland came after they were found, to the surprise of both parties, by Major Thomas Mitchell’s expedition. Mitchell told the Hentys about the good farming land that was nearby and encouraged them to move their sheep northward to the fertile land surrounding the Wannon River.
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John Batman
John Batman (1801-1839), pioneer of Melbourne, who was born on 21 January 1801 in New South Wales but was better known for his influence on Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and Victoria. He was a pastoralist who organised the Port Phillip Association to obtain land from Australia Felix and would later form a "village" that would become Melbourne. Uniquely in 1835 Batman and his expedition party engaged with what they thought were local Aboriginal leaders to sign a treaty that gave land (600,000 acres) to the Association in exchange for goods (blankets, knives, tomahawks, etc.). Despite his insistence that the treaty was clearly explained to these Aboriginal leaders it is doubtful they understood the significance of the transaction especially considering their intimate connection to the land (social, economical, political, cultural and religious).
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John Batman (1801-1839), pioneer of Melbourne, who was born on 21 January 1801 in New South Wales but was better known for his influence on Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and Victoria. He was a pastoralist who organised the Port Phillip Association to obtain land from Australia Felix and would later form a "village" that would become Melbourne. Uniquely in 1835 Batman and his expedition party engaged with what they thought were local Aboriginal leaders to sign a treaty that gave land (600,000 acres) to the Association in exchange for goods (blankets, knives, tomahawks, etc.). Despite his insistence that the treaty was clearly explained to these Aboriginal leaders it is doubtful they understood the significance of the transaction especially considering their intimate connection to the land (social, economical, political, cultural and religious).
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John Pascoe FawknerJohn Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail to the mainland in his ship, "Enterprize". Fawkner's party sailed to Port Phillip Bay and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne. He opened Melbourne's first hotel on the corner of William St and
Flinders Lane. He published the "Melbourne Advertiser" on 1 January 1838 which was the district's first
newspaper. The Advertiser's first nine or ten weekly editions were handwritten
in ink. It was to last for a further 17 editions when it was closed down on 23 April 1838 for want of a newspaper license
from Sydney. The
"Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser" was commenced on 6 February 1839 by newly licensed John Pascoe
Fawkner. In 1851 he was elected to the first Legislative Council of the Port
Phillip District (Talbot electorate), and in 1856 he was elected to the first
Parliament of the self-governing colony of Victoria, as MLC for Central
Province.In Melbourne as in Launceston, he made many enemies, before dying as
the grand old man of the colony on 4
September 1869 in Smith Street, Collingwood at
the age of 77.
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Sir Thomas Mitchell
Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792-1855), surveyor-general, was born on 15 June 1792 at Grangemouth, Scotland. In 1828 he became surveyor-general (maps the land, designs major roads and provides information on allocating land). On his third expedition he led a party into what is now Victoria and was so enchanted by the area he called it Australia Felix. Travelling chiefly west and south he reached the mouth of the Glenelg on 20 August and some days later, to their mutual surprise, he found the Henty brothers already established at Portland. He turned north-east, reached the Murray on 17 October and on 3 November arrived back in Sydney ahead of the main party. His accounts of the lush farmland he discovered led to the rapid occupation of Australia Felix. Already settlers from Van Diemen's Land were crossing Bass Strait and soon others were driving their flocks south-west along the tracks which Mitchell's heavy wagons had cut into the earth on their return to Sydney.
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Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792-1855), surveyor-general, was born on 15 June 1792 at Grangemouth, Scotland. In 1828 he became surveyor-general (maps the land, designs major roads and provides information on allocating land). On his third expedition he led a party into what is now Victoria and was so enchanted by the area he called it Australia Felix. Travelling chiefly west and south he reached the mouth of the Glenelg on 20 August and some days later, to their mutual surprise, he found the Henty brothers already established at Portland. He turned north-east, reached the Murray on 17 October and on 3 November arrived back in Sydney ahead of the main party. His accounts of the lush farmland he discovered led to the rapid occupation of Australia Felix. Already settlers from Van Diemen's Land were crossing Bass Strait and soon others were driving their flocks south-west along the tracks which Mitchell's heavy wagons had cut into the earth on their return to Sydney.
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Governor Bourke
Sir Richard Bourke (1777-1855), governor, was born on 4 May 1777 in Dublin. In March 1830 he was appointed governor of New South Wales. He arrived with his family in Sydney on 3 December 1831. when he learnt in 1835 that squatters were crossing from Van Diemen's Land to Port Phillip and claimed to have a treaty with the Aboriginals, he pressed for the establishment of areas of permanent settlement there, arguing that much evil might be averted by the early introduction of official control. Meanwhile, to protect crown rights, he issued a proclamation declaring that the agreement with the Aboriginals was void, and the squatters were intruders. The Colonial Office acceded to Bourke's request and gave him wide discretion in the form of government to be established. Bourke acted at once. In September 1836 he sent Captain William Lonsdale to Port Phillip to act as police magistrate, military commander, head of the civil administration, and protector of Aborigines. Foundations were thus laid for rapid but orderly development of the Port Phillip District. Bourke himself visited it in 1837, had a plan of streets drawn up, and ordered the first hundred building lots to be measured and offered for sale. 'I have had the pleasure of affixing Whig names in the Bush', he wrote to his son, 'Melbourne is a beautiful site for a Town and there will soon be a very pretty one erected'. At the request of the settlers, the first county in the district was named after him.
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Sir Richard Bourke (1777-1855), governor, was born on 4 May 1777 in Dublin. In March 1830 he was appointed governor of New South Wales. He arrived with his family in Sydney on 3 December 1831. when he learnt in 1835 that squatters were crossing from Van Diemen's Land to Port Phillip and claimed to have a treaty with the Aboriginals, he pressed for the establishment of areas of permanent settlement there, arguing that much evil might be averted by the early introduction of official control. Meanwhile, to protect crown rights, he issued a proclamation declaring that the agreement with the Aboriginals was void, and the squatters were intruders. The Colonial Office acceded to Bourke's request and gave him wide discretion in the form of government to be established. Bourke acted at once. In September 1836 he sent Captain William Lonsdale to Port Phillip to act as police magistrate, military commander, head of the civil administration, and protector of Aborigines. Foundations were thus laid for rapid but orderly development of the Port Phillip District. Bourke himself visited it in 1837, had a plan of streets drawn up, and ordered the first hundred building lots to be measured and offered for sale. 'I have had the pleasure of affixing Whig names in the Bush', he wrote to his son, 'Melbourne is a beautiful site for a Town and there will soon be a very pretty one erected'. At the request of the settlers, the first county in the district was named after him.
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Governor Gipps
Sir George Gipps (1791-1847), soldier and governor, was born at Ringwould, Kent, England. In governing New South Wales Gipps had many problems with the settlers in the Port Phillip District until October 1839 when Charles La Trobe became its superintendent. The close, cordial, personal relation that developed between the two men is revealed in their private correspondence, of which some 394 letters by Gipps and 21 by La Trobe remain. The Port Phillip settlers' sturdy economic development bred a spirit of almost arrogant self-confidence; the label of 'southern province' reminded them too much of government from Sydney. They demanded separation, which Gipps had predicted as early as December 1840 and was constantly surprised that it did not come during his administration. The imperial Act of 1842 gave only six seats to Port Phillip and granted no separate colonial status. Time and expense prevented local residents from travelling 600 miles (966 km) to Sydney to attend Legislative Council meetings, and denied the district proper representation. Another reason why Port Phillip demanded separation was the convict problem. The district had received very few convicts after its settlement and, wanting no more in any form, strongly resisted the sending of 'exiles' under the Pentonville system in 1844.
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Sir George Gipps (1791-1847), soldier and governor, was born at Ringwould, Kent, England. In governing New South Wales Gipps had many problems with the settlers in the Port Phillip District until October 1839 when Charles La Trobe became its superintendent. The close, cordial, personal relation that developed between the two men is revealed in their private correspondence, of which some 394 letters by Gipps and 21 by La Trobe remain. The Port Phillip settlers' sturdy economic development bred a spirit of almost arrogant self-confidence; the label of 'southern province' reminded them too much of government from Sydney. They demanded separation, which Gipps had predicted as early as December 1840 and was constantly surprised that it did not come during his administration. The imperial Act of 1842 gave only six seats to Port Phillip and granted no separate colonial status. Time and expense prevented local residents from travelling 600 miles (966 km) to Sydney to attend Legislative Council meetings, and denied the district proper representation. Another reason why Port Phillip demanded separation was the convict problem. The district had received very few convicts after its settlement and, wanting no more in any form, strongly resisted the sending of 'exiles' under the Pentonville system in 1844.
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William Barak
William Barak (1824-1903), Aboriginal spokesman, variously called 'King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe' or 'Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri Willum horde whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers', was the son of Bebejern and great-nephew of prominent Victorian tribal leaders Billi belleri, Captain Turnbull and Jakki Jakki. He was regarded with more romance than reason by contemporaries as an innocent witness to the first European intruders, William Buckley and John Batman.
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William Barak (1824-1903), Aboriginal spokesman, variously called 'King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe' or 'Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri Willum horde whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers', was the son of Bebejern and great-nephew of prominent Victorian tribal leaders Billi belleri, Captain Turnbull and Jakki Jakki. He was regarded with more romance than reason by contemporaries as an innocent witness to the first European intruders, William Buckley and John Batman.
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Katherine Kirkland
Katherine Kirkland (1808-1892), née Hamilton, was born on 23 February 1808 in Glasgow. The Kirkland family and their party arrived at Hobart Town in October 1838 and the men went to Port Phillip to select a farm. Kirkland chose one at Trawalla, 120 miles (193 km) north-west of Melbourne, returned to Launceston, bought livestock, equipment and provisions, and in January 1839 took the family to Geelong. Katherine's impressions of the journey through rugged country to her new home and of her two years of life there are recorded in the article Life in the Bush which, though published anonymously in Chambers's Miscellany in 1845, is undoubtedly the work of this intrepid woman. The publication is important because it gives the woman's angle on the social life of the rural community of the 1830s. She was distressed by the behaviour of many of the men, who prided themselves on the roughness of their dress and manners. Servants also were a problem, for they ran away if the settlers criticized their slovenly and dishonest practices.
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Katherine Kirkland (1808-1892), née Hamilton, was born on 23 February 1808 in Glasgow. The Kirkland family and their party arrived at Hobart Town in October 1838 and the men went to Port Phillip to select a farm. Kirkland chose one at Trawalla, 120 miles (193 km) north-west of Melbourne, returned to Launceston, bought livestock, equipment and provisions, and in January 1839 took the family to Geelong. Katherine's impressions of the journey through rugged country to her new home and of her two years of life there are recorded in the article Life in the Bush which, though published anonymously in Chambers's Miscellany in 1845, is undoubtedly the work of this intrepid woman. The publication is important because it gives the woman's angle on the social life of the rural community of the 1830s. She was distressed by the behaviour of many of the men, who prided themselves on the roughness of their dress and manners. Servants also were a problem, for they ran away if the settlers criticized their slovenly and dishonest practices.
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William Lonsdale
William Lonsdale (1799-1864), soldier and administrator, was born on 2 October 1799. Early in 1836 news of increasing numbers of unauthorized settlers in the south and of their outrages against the Aboriginals reached Sydney. Further attention was attracted in June when some inhabitants, led by John Batman, petitioned for the appointment of a resident police magistrate. In September Lonsdale was chosen by Governor Sir Richard Bourke to be the first police magistrate at Port Phillip. Lonsdale's duties were straightforward although his powers were less precise. Bourke's instructions conferred on him not only the ordinary jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, but also 'the general superintendence in the new settlement of all such matters as require the immediate exercise of the authority of the government' in accordance with the applicable laws of England and the acts of the governor and council. He was to send in returns and reports, take a census particularly noting land occupation, protect and conciliate the Aboriginals and try to induce them to offer their labour in return for food and clothing, employing as the medium of communication with them 'the European named Buckley'.
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William Lonsdale (1799-1864), soldier and administrator, was born on 2 October 1799. Early in 1836 news of increasing numbers of unauthorized settlers in the south and of their outrages against the Aboriginals reached Sydney. Further attention was attracted in June when some inhabitants, led by John Batman, petitioned for the appointment of a resident police magistrate. In September Lonsdale was chosen by Governor Sir Richard Bourke to be the first police magistrate at Port Phillip. Lonsdale's duties were straightforward although his powers were less precise. Bourke's instructions conferred on him not only the ordinary jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, but also 'the general superintendence in the new settlement of all such matters as require the immediate exercise of the authority of the government' in accordance with the applicable laws of England and the acts of the governor and council. He was to send in returns and reports, take a census particularly noting land occupation, protect and conciliate the Aboriginals and try to induce them to offer their labour in return for food and clothing, employing as the medium of communication with them 'the European named Buckley'.
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William Buckley
William Buckley (1780-1856), 'wild white man', was born at Marton, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, the son of a small farmer. He was taken to Port Phillip in April 1803 in the Calcutta with a party under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins, and there he and two companions absconded from the camp. Fearful, weary and hungry, they sent signals of distress to the Calcutta from the other side of Port Phillip Bay but these were not noticed. Buckley's friends turned back and were not heard of again. He fed on shellfish and berries, and was befriended by Aboriginals of the Watourong tribe, who believed the big white stranger to be a reincarnation of their dead tribal chief. He learnt their language and their customs, and was given a wife, by whom, he said, he had a daughter. For thirty-two years he lived mostly in a hut that he built near the mouth of Bream Creek on the coast of southern Victoria. Buckley said there were occasional white visitors to Port Phillip during these years, but he was afraid to give himself up until July 1835, when he overheard the Aboriginals plotting to rob a visiting ship and murder the white intruders. He surrendered to the party under John Wedge at Indented Head. At first he had forgotten his own language, but he was identified by the tattoo mark on his arm, and the initials 'W.B.' Wedge, who thought he would be a valuable intermediary, obtained his pardon from Lieutenant-Governor (Sir) George Arthur. John Batman employed him as interpreter at a salary of £50, and he later became government interpreter. But he was confused in his loyalties, and felt that neither the Aboriginals nor the whites trusted him entirely. Unhappy and disillusioned, he left for Hobart in December 1837. He became assistant store-keeper at the Immigrants' Home, and from 1841 to 1850 was gate-keeper at the Female Factory.
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William Buckley (1780-1856), 'wild white man', was born at Marton, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, the son of a small farmer. He was taken to Port Phillip in April 1803 in the Calcutta with a party under Lieutenant-Governor David Collins, and there he and two companions absconded from the camp. Fearful, weary and hungry, they sent signals of distress to the Calcutta from the other side of Port Phillip Bay but these were not noticed. Buckley's friends turned back and were not heard of again. He fed on shellfish and berries, and was befriended by Aboriginals of the Watourong tribe, who believed the big white stranger to be a reincarnation of their dead tribal chief. He learnt their language and their customs, and was given a wife, by whom, he said, he had a daughter. For thirty-two years he lived mostly in a hut that he built near the mouth of Bream Creek on the coast of southern Victoria. Buckley said there were occasional white visitors to Port Phillip during these years, but he was afraid to give himself up until July 1835, when he overheard the Aboriginals plotting to rob a visiting ship and murder the white intruders. He surrendered to the party under John Wedge at Indented Head. At first he had forgotten his own language, but he was identified by the tattoo mark on his arm, and the initials 'W.B.' Wedge, who thought he would be a valuable intermediary, obtained his pardon from Lieutenant-Governor (Sir) George Arthur. John Batman employed him as interpreter at a salary of £50, and he later became government interpreter. But he was confused in his loyalties, and felt that neither the Aboriginals nor the whites trusted him entirely. Unhappy and disillusioned, he left for Hobart in December 1837. He became assistant store-keeper at the Immigrants' Home, and from 1841 to 1850 was gate-keeper at the Female Factory.
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