John Pascoe Fawkner

John Pascoe Fawkner (1792–1869) was a pioneer and adventurer. The self-educated son of a convict, he spent his early years in Van Diemen’s Land, pursuing a variety of occupations from baker to builder to bush lawyer, often finding himself in trouble with the law largely because of debts. He launched the Launceston Advertiser in 1828 and edited it for the next two years, championing the emancipist class and attacking officialdom. In 1835 he organised an expedition to what is now Melbourne. Landing in Hobson’s Bay, Fawkner soon acquired substantial property. A member of the Legislative Council from its introduction in 1851 until his death, Fawkner railed in his Port Phillip Patriot against the privileged squattocracy and was known as ‘the tribune of the people’.
Boston-born Perez, Freeman, Benjamin and Nathaniel Batchelder were among the number of American photographers who came to Victoria during the gold rush. Perez, the eldest, arrived in Melbourne from San Francisco in 1852 and was later joined by his brothers in the business he established in Collins Street. In 1857 another American, Daniel O’Neill, joined the business, which became one of Melbourne’s most successful portrait studios.