THE CHRONLCLES
OF EARLY
MELBOURNE.
son-in-law and grandson). T h e Ln Memoriam is an obelisk of dressed blue stone, erected at a cost of ,£120, and on the side looking towards the city, bears this inscription:— JOHN BATMAN, Born at Parramatta, N.S.W., 1800. Died at Melbourne, 6th M a y , 1839. H e entered Port Phillip Heads 29th M a y , 1835, As leader of an expedition which H e organised in Launceston, V.D.L., T o form a settlement, and founded one O n the site of Melbourne, then unoccupied. This monument was Erected By public subscription in Victoria, 1881. Circumspice !
though blessed with a family of eight children, had only one son, and through a strange fatality, this boy was drowned in the Yarra some six years after his father's death. Unable to find any printed particulars of the manner in which he met his untimely end, I applied through the H o n . G. F. Belcher, of Geelong, to the Mr. William Weire before mentioned, to supply so important an omission, and through his courtesy, I append an account of the melancholy occurrence in Weire's o w n words: " T h e particulars of the boy's death, as often told to m e by Mrs. Batman, her daughter (my late wife) Elizabeth Mary, and her youngest daughter Pelonomena (Philemena?)—born n t h July, 1834, and died in July, 1859, and, indeed, by every member of the family, are as follow : — T h e family, after Batman's death in May, 1839, resided in the large two-storey brick house then, at the corner of William and Collins Streets, on the site n o w occupied by the Australian Mutual Provident Society and other offices. O n the d a y — n t h February, 1845—when the boy was drowned, his sister Pelonomena took him down to the Yarra at the "Falls," as she had done many times previously. H e had a littlefishingrod with him, and got on the stones at the "Falls" for the purpose offishing,when, owing to the stones being slippery, he fell off into the river, striking his head against a stone, and was drowned before assistance could be given. It was said that Pelonomena was a short distance away from the place where her brother went on tofish,and she was much blamed by the family for her apparent carelessness and neglect for not better looking after him. It was also said that the lad took off his shoes and stockings to go on the stones to fish. If such was the case it would cause him to slip off more readily than otherwise. This is a brief outline of the death of 'John Charles Batman'—John Batman's only son and heir! H a d he lived, the fortunes of the small remnant of the family n o w left might, perhaps, be of a brighter character." Since the foregoing was written, I regret to add that Mr. Weire has followed the Batmans to the world beyond the grave.
JOHN BATMAN, JUNIOR.—Batman,
funeral was witnessed in Melbourne on 14th February, 1840, when Captain Chesser, of the barque " Mary Ridgway," was buried, and all the ship-masters, officers, and most of the seamen in port were in attendance. T h e deceased died of consumption, and during a short stay in the province came to be much thought of.
CAPTAIN CHESSER.—A
sad accident occurred two months after at a station of Mr. Yuille, at Buninyong. There had recently arrived as surgeon of the barque " Caroline," from Leich, Mr. Alexander Jolly, w h o made a trip to the country, and one day whilst bathing was drowned. H e was a young m a n of the highest professional promise, and, as he purposed remaining in Melbourne, his loss was regarded as a serious one as matters then stood.
MR. ALEXANDER JOLLY.—A
an Edinburgh gentleman of considerable means, arrived with his wife and family, to invest largely in cattle breeding, and he secured a tract of depasturing country some fifty
MR. ALEXANDER SCOTT,
