John Batman was born in Parramatta in 1801, the son of a convict. He arrived in Tasmania in 1821 and took land as a grazier. He gained fame for his part in the capture of the notorious bushranger Mathew Brady and also for his involvement in the appeasement campaign among the native Aboriginals.

In 1834 he, along with Joseph Gellibrand, founded the Port Phillip Association in order to secure mainland grazing lands. He explored the Port Phillip area and the Yarra River in 1835, and is credited with the foundation of Melbourne that same year - a claim hotly disputed by supporters of John Pascoe Fawkner, who also founded a settlement there in the same year. John Batman died in 1839.

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