John Blaxland

John Blaxland (4 January 1769 – 5 August 1845) was a pioneer settler and explorer in Australia.

Blaxland was born in Kent, the eldest son of John Blaxland and Mary, née Parker, of Fordwich, Kent, England. He was the older brother of Gregory Blaxland. John Blaxland was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, later joined the army and rose to become a captain. He resigned his commission in 1792, managing the family estates at Newington, Kent. His first wife Sarah, née Davies, whom he married in 1794, died in childbirth. In 1797 he married Harriet, daughter of Jean Louis de Marquett, merchant of Calcutta; they had four sons and six daughters.

In 1805 John Blaxland and his younger brother Gregory were persuaded by Joseph Banks to emigrate to Australia. Blaxland made a good bargain with the English government which agreed that if he brought £6000 to the colony he would be granted 8000 acres (32 km²) of land, the labour of 80 convicts who would be fed for 18 months by the government, and a free passage for himself, his wife, children and servants.

Gregory was the first to sail to New South Wales while John remained to sell the family estate in Kent. John Blaxland reached Sydney on 4 April 1807, having, in conjunction with Hulletts brothers, of London, built The Three Brothers, a ship of 252 tons, carrying eight guns and a crew of 21 to bring himself, his wife, and four daughters, a governess, two female servants, a bailiff, a carpenter, a man for agricultural purposes and a boy to this land, Oliver Russell being the master.

He arrived with instructions to Governor Bligh to give him various concessions in place of the free passage. Bligh was no more helpful than he thought necessary, but Blaxland obtained cattle from the government herd, and started a dairy in Sydney, and also sold meat and vegetables.

Blaxland did a very useful piece of work in reducing the prices of these necessities, but Bligh insisted that he should go in for agriculture as well as grazing. He antagonized Blaxland, who joined in the deposition of Bligh in January 1808, but Blaxland could not get the concessions he wanted from Colonel Johnston

Within ten days of the First Fleet arriving in Australia, records had been made of "The Flats", the extensive tidal wetlands at Homebush Bay. Between the years 1788 and 1831, blocks of land ranging from 100 to 10,000 acres (40 km²) were given out to the first European settlers by dividing up the Wanng-al clans' land. These land grants were inked in on County of Cumberland maps, with names of owners and land granted clearly indicated. In 1807, John Blaxland acquired 520 hectares of land, reserving the original grants of Waterhouse, Shortland, Archer and Haslam. He named the estate Newington after his family estate in Kent, England. Blaxland established a series of salt pans on the banks of the Parramatta River and by 1827, was producing 8 tons of salt each week for the Sydney market. Blaxland also established a tweed mill, limekiln and flourmill. In 1843, Blaxland mortgaged the property to the Australian Trust Company. After he died in 1851 the Trust Company sold the property to John Dobie to recover the mortgage. The Blaxland family re-purchased the estate from Dobie in 1854 but offered it as security against a large loan. The property was transferred to the Official Assignee of the Insolvent Estate of Edward James Blaxland in 1860 and subsequently leased to the Methodist Church, who established Newington College on the estate. The building is now listed on the Register of the National Estate.

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