John Batman was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement

Foundation of Melbourne

The city of Melbourne was founded in 1835. The exact circumstances of the foundation of Melbourne, and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute.-Exploration:...

 which became Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and the colony of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

.
His parents, William and Mary Batman, came to Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 in 1797 aboard the Ganges. John was born in 1801 at Rosehill

Rosehill, New South Wales

Rosehill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rosehill is located 23 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region....

, Parramatta

Parramatta, New South Wales

Parramatta is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Parramatta River. Parramatta is the administrative seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Parramatta...

 (now a suburb of Sydney).
In 1821 John (aged 20 years) and brother Henry journeyed to Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by most Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania...

 (now known as Tasmania) to settle on land in the north-east near Ben Lomond

Ben Lomond (Tasmania)

Ben Lomond, 1,570 m AHD , is a mountain in the north of Tasmania. It is east of Launceston in the Ben Lomond National Park...

.