[MELBOURNE] A small archive of original poetry by G. H. Batten, Master of Richmond Grammar School and Honorary Secretary to Governor Sir Henry Barkly. 1859-1880.

A$2,200 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books · No longer available

G. H. Batten (1819-1881) was a schoolmaster in Devon for many years before emigrating to Port Phillip in 1856, where he served for a brief time as Honorary Secretary to the Governor of Victoria, Sir Henry Barkly. In January 1857, Batten became the proprietor and master of the Richmond Grammar School, a school for young gentlemen in Lennox Street, which he continued to run throughout the 1860s. His own residence was a stone cottage on nearby Church Street hill. The democratically-minded Batten was involved in local politics and was a prominent member of the Land Convention, a radical populist organisation which opposed the squatting system and campaigned for land reform in the colony. Erudite and an accomplished public speaker, Batten gave numerous lectures in Melbourne on scientific and religious topics. In 1875, in collaboration with his son, Hannibal, Batten published a school textbook on English literature, The students manual of complete information upon Il Penseroso, The Progress of Poesy and The Bard : containing biographies of Milton and Gray; analysis, parsing, derivations and copious notes, introductory, explanatory and critical / by H.J.L. Batten ; including original notes by G.H. Batten (Melbourne : Samuel Mullen); and, in 1880, he published a pamphlet titled The Pharaoh of the Exodus found at last . (Melbourne, George Robertson). The State Library of Victoria holds the manuscript of Batten s draft of an inaugural cantata for the Melbourne International Exhibition

• Binding: Hardcover

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