Eliza Batman, the Irish convict reinvented as 'Melbourne's founding mother', was both colonised and coloniser on two violent frontiers
- Written by: Penny Edmonds, Matthew Flinders Professor, Flinders University
Reminiscence of John Batman’s house above the Yarra Falls. A group of Aboriginal people camp at the lower right side near the river. Artist: WFE Liardet, 1875. Watercolour, pen, pencil and ink.Courtesy State Library of Victoria.On June 8 1835, 188 years ago today, pastoralist John Batman crossed the Bass Strait and arrived on the shores of...



















