Establishment of Melbourne
Both Batman and Fawkner settled in the new town, which had several interim names, including Batville, before being officially named Melbourne in honour of the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, in March 1837.
Batman farmed at Batman's Hill, an area now covered by the Spencer St railway yards. He was an alcoholic and had advanced syphilis, and he died young in 1839.
Fawkner, on the other hand, had a long and stormy career in the colony. He opened Melbourne's first hotel on the corner of William St and Flinders Lane. He founded the Melbourne Advertiser, the city's first newspaper, in 1838. He became a major landowner at Pascoe Vale north of Melbourne. In 1851 he was elected to the first Legislative Council of the Port Phillip District, 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 in 1869.
Read more about this topic: Foundation Of Melbourne
Famous quotes containing the words establishment of:
“The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)