John Blaxland

John Blaxland (4 January 1769 – 5 August 1845) was a pioneer in Australia.

Early life

Blaxland was born in Kent, the eldest son of John Blaxland and Mary, "née" Parker, of Fordwich, Kent, England. He was the older brother of Gregory Blaxland. John Blaxland was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, later joined the army and rose to become a captain. He resigned his commission in 1792, managing the family estates at Newington, Kent.

Australia

In 1805 Blaxland decided to emigrate to Australia with his brother Gregory after persuasion from Joseph Banks. Blaxland made a good bargain with the English government which agreed that if he brought £6000 to the colony he would be granted 8000 acres (32 km²) of land, the labour of 80 convicts who would be fed for 18 months by the government, and a free passage for himself, his wife, children and servants. He decided, however, to charter a ship and arrived at Port Jackson on 4 April 1807, with instructions to Governor Bligh to give him various concessions in place of the free passage. Bligh was no more helpful than he thought necessary, but Blaxland obtained cattle from the government herd, started a dairy in Sydney, and also sold meat and vegetables.

Blaxland did a very useful piece of work in reducing the prices of these necessities, but Bligh insisted that he should go in for agriculture as well as grazing. He antagonized Blaxland, who joined in the deposition of Bligh in January 1808, but Blaxland could not get the concessions he wanted from Colonel Johnston.

Return to England

Blaxland then decided to return to England. Bligh, however, succeeded in getting him arrested at Cape Town and taken to London. After three years in London he obtained a letter to Macquarie directing that the original agreement should be carried out. But Macquarie was obsessed with the idea that the land grants were for the purpose of growing grain and put various obstacles in his way.

Australia again

Blaxland returned to Sydney on 27 February 1818, on board the "Laurel". With him was Mak Sai Ying, the first known Chinese man to settle in Australia. Mak Sai Ying was later to negotiate land deals favourable to Blaxland, while working as a carpenter, until 1821.

However, in the 1820s, under Governor Brisbane, Blaxland obtained good land in the Hunter Valley and was successful as a stock owner. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1829 to 1844 and died at Newington on 5 August 1845. Blaxland was twice married and was survived by sons and a daughter.

Blaxland was a keen man of business, anxious to drive a good bargain, and as a free settler was in a stronger position than the emancipists. But he antagonized both Bligh and Macquarie and met with much opposition. In spite of this Blaxland as a pioneer grazier became an important figure in the early development of Australia.

References

*T. H. Irving, ' [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010110b.htm Blaxland, John (1769 - 1845)] ', "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 1, MUP, 1966, pp 117-118.
*Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=John|Last=Blaxland|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogBe-Bo.html#blaxland2