Sarah's birth name was Eliza Thompson and although literate, smart and from a reputable Irish family, she was convicted in London as 17 year old Elizabeth Callaghan for using counterfeit money. Her punishment was 14 years transportation to Australia and she was sent to Tasmania via NSW, landing in Hobart in 1821 when she was 19 years old. She absconded many times, and the last time she absconded, she was located living as Eliza Thompson with John Batman in his home in the Tasmanian Midlands. John Batman gained the Lieutenant Govenor's permission to marry Eliza, and they married in March 1828, having already had three daughters together. Her name on the marriage certificate is Eliza Thompson, alias Elizabeth Callaghan, and she signed her name as Eliza Thompson.
When her husband John Batman moved to Melbourne in 1835, Eliza followed him a year later with their seven daughters. After her husband John died, she married one of his office clerks.
Eliza was violently murdered in a brawl in Geelong, aged 49, and no-one was ever convicted of the crime. The Melbourne suburb of Mt. Eliza is named after her.
Sarah's birth name was Eliza Thompson and although literate, smart and from a reputable Irish family, she was convicted in London as 17 year old Elizabeth Callaghan for using counterfeit money. Her punishment was 14 years transportation to Australia and she was sent to Tasmania via NSW, landing in Hobart in 1821 when she was 19 years old. She absconded many times, and the last time she absconded, she was located living as Eliza Thompson with John Batman in his home in the Tasmanian Midlands. John Batman gained the Lieutenant Govenor's permission to marry Eliza, and they married in March 1828, having already had three daughters together. Her name on the marriage certificate is Eliza Thompson, alias Elizabeth Callaghan, and she signed her name as Eliza Thompson.
When her husband John Batman moved to Melbourne in 1835, Eliza followed him a year later with their seven daughters. After her husband John died, she married one of his office clerks.
Eliza was violently murdered in a brawl in Geelong, aged 49, and no-one was ever convicted of the crime. The Melbourne suburb of Mt. Eliza is named after her.
Inscription
Sarah Eliza Willoughby. Formally Eliza Batman. Born 1802 in Ireland died 1852 in Geelong. Wife of John Batman & William Willoughby. Buried in an unmarked grave in this cemetery
Gravesite Details
The actual location of Eliza's unmarked pauper's grave is not on record, and the location of the memorial (as per the photos) is not where she is buried. And although Eliza married twice, she is not buried with either husband.
Family Members
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