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A few weeks before Jean Batten was born in Rotorua, New Zealand in 1909, French pilot Bleriot became the first man to fly across the English Channel. Batten's mother Ellen cut out a newspaper article about this, and pinned it to the wall beside Jean's cot. The clipping of Bleriot was another sign of things to come. Throughout Jean Batten's life her mother was to be her single greatest influence. The two were incredibly close. The family moved from Rotorua to Auckland when Jean was four. Jean's school and teenage years were an unhappy time. Although Jean went to a private school and the family were never really poor, it seems money was always an issue. Since Jean's birth, the family had been split down gender lines: Ellen, with Jean, against Fred and the boys. When the parents finally split up in 1920 Ellen took Jean; to her the boys were Fred's concern. |
