John Fawkner
| John Pascoe Fawkner | |
|---|---|
Portrait of John Pascoe Fawkner, founder of Melbourne, by William Strutt, 1856: oil on canvas; 61.3 x 51.2 cm. National Library of Australia.
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| Born |
20 October 1792 Cripplegate, United Kingdom |
| Died | 4 September 1869 (aged 76) Collingwood, Victoria |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman, pioneer, politician |
| Spouse(s) | Eliza Cobb |
| Parent(s) | John Fawkner, Hannah Pascoe |
John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, 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 and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne.
John Pascoe Fawkner was born near Cripplegate London in 1792 to John Fawkner (a metal refiner) and his wife Hannah née Pascoe, whose parents were Cornish. As a 10-year-old, he accompanied his convict father, who had been sentenced to fourteen years gaol (jail) for receiving stolen goods, being transported on HMS Calcutta—alongside his mother and younger sister Elizabeth— as part of a two ship fleet to establish a new British colony in Bass Strait in 1803. The colony landed at Sullivan Bay, near modern-day Sorrento, and the next day Fawkner turned 11. For several months the colony struggled to survive. There were some 27 convict escape attempts, including that of William Buckley. Lack of wood and fresh water eventually persuaded Lieutenant-Governor David Collins to abandon the colony in 1804 with the settlers and convicts departing for the new town of Hobart in Van Diemen's Land.
In 1806 the family obtained a farm, upon which he worked without horses, without capital, and with scarcely any other appliances than a spade and a hoe. At eighteen years of age he apprenticed himself to a builder and a sawyer, and laboured for some years in a saw-pit.
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