George Dibbs
Encyclopedia
Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions.

Early years

Dibbs was born in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, son of Captain John Dibbs
John Dibbs
Captain John Dibbs, was a master mariner prominent during 1822-1835 in the seas around the colony of New South Wales, New Zealand and the Society Islands . Dibbs was master of the schooner Endeavour 1822-1824, the brig Haweis 1824-1827 and the barque Lady Blackwood 1827-1834...

, who disappeared in the same year. He was educated at the Australian College under Dr Lang
John Dunmore Lang
John Dunmore Lang , Australian Presbyterian clergyman, writer, politician and activist, was the first prominent advocate of an independent Australian nation and of Australian republicanism.-Background and Family:...

, obtained a position as a young man in a Sydney wine merchant's business, and afterwards was in partnership as a merchant with a brother. In 1857, he married Anne Maria Robey. He travelled abroad, and established a branch in Valparaiso in 1865, which involved running a Spanish blockade during the Chincha Islands War
Chincha Islands War
The Chincha Islands War was a series of coastal and naval battles between Spain and its former colonies of Peru and Chile from 1864 to 1866, that began with Spain's seizure of the guano-rich Chincha Islands, part of a series of attempts by Isabel II of Spain to reassert her country's lost...

. In 1867 his business failed and he went bankrupt, but eight years later called his one time creditors together and paid them all in full.

Political career

Dibbs entered parliament in 1874 as MLA
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 for West Sydney
Electoral district of West Sydney
West Sydney was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian State of New South Wales created in 1859 from part of the electoral district of Sydney, covering the western part of the current Sydney central business district, Ultimo and Pyrmont, bordered by George Street,...

, as a supporter of business interests and compulsory, secular and free education, which involved withdrawal of the support from denominational schools, provided under the Education Act of 1866. He lost his seat at the 1877 election due to his support for assisted immigration, which gave him a reputation as an "enemy of labour". Subsequently, a seamen's strike broke out against the Australian Steam Navigation Co, because it had begun to employ Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 sailors on the Australian coast, and he was obliged as a director of the company to defend its policy, further reducing his popularity. He went to jail in 1880 for a year for refusing to pay a slander judgement to a lawyer who had committed adultery with Dibbs' sister-in-law. Nevertheless, this restored his political popularity.

In 1882, he won St Leonards
Electoral district of St Leonards
St Leonards was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, originally created in 1859, partly replacing Sydney Hamlets, and named after the Sydney suburb of St Leonards. It extended from North Sydney to Broken Bay, including the Northern Beaches...

 with the support of the unions. In January 1883 he was given the portfolio of Colonial Treasurer in the Stuart
Alexander Stuart (Australian politician)
Sir Alexander Stuart KCMG was Premier of New South Wales from 5 January 1883 to 7 October 1885.-Early years:Stuart was born at Edinburgh, the son of Alexander Stuart and his wife Mary, née McKnight. Stuart was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and attended the University of Edinburgh, but did not...

 ministry, and was committed to continued railway-building although revenue was under pressure due to a suspension of land sales. The Assembly refused to pass an increase in property tax, so he decided to borrow an unprecedented £14m, giving him a subsequent reputation for extravagance. Stuart resigned due to ill-health in October 1885 and Dibbs became Premier. In the October 1885 elections, he was beaten by Henry Parkes
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...

 in St Leonards, but he won Murrumbidgee
Electoral district of Murrumbidgee
Murrumbidgee is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, named after the Murrumbidgee River. It is represented by Adrian Piccoli of the National Party of Australia....

. Although his government polled badly overall, he attempted to govern on, but he was forced to resign after less than three months when it became clear that there would be a budget deficit of over £1m.

Dibbs was Colonial Secretary in the Jennings
Patrick Jennings (Australian politician)
Sir Patrick Alfred Jennings KCMG was an Irish-Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales.-Early life:...

 ministry from February 1886 to January 1887, and became Premier again on 17 January 1889, but was succeeded by Parkes
Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, GCMG was an Australian statesman, the "Father of Federation." As the earliest advocate of a Federal Council of the colonies of Australia, a precursor to the Federation of Australia, he was the most prominent of the Australian Founding Fathers.Parkes was described during his...

 a few weeks later. He had been a convinced free-trader, but gradually moved into the opposite camp, and was responsible for the first New South Wales protectionist tariff. When Parkes resigned in October 1891 Dibbs came into power in a time of great financial stress. He went to England in June 1892 on a borrowing mission, not only as the representative of New South Wales but also of Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and carried out his negotiations successfully. During the banking crisis of May 1893 he showed himself to be a firm leader, saving the situation at Sydney by giving the banks power to issue inconvertible paper money for a period, although most of them failed to take advantage and went bankrupt. In 1893, his electoral reform removed rural over-representation. He was elected as the member for Tamworth
Electoral district of Tamworth
Tamworth is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Kevin Anderson of the National Party of Australia...

 in 1894. He later received a substantial public testimonial for his services at this time.

Federation

Dibbs had little influence on the question of federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

. He was a member of the 1891 convention and sat on the judiciary committee, but was never more than a lukewarm advocate for it. In June 1894, writing to Sir James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...

, then Premier of Victoria, he suggested the unification of New South Wales and Victoria, in the hope that the other colonies would join in later on. A few weeks later his ministry was defeated at a general election and Reid became Premier in August. In the following year Dibbs lost his seat at the election held in July, having being portrayed as reactionary and unprincipled by William Lyne
William Lyne
Sir William John Lyne KCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales and a member of the first federal ministry.-Early life:...

.

Later life

Dibbs retired from public life, and was appointed managing trustee of the savings bank of New South Wales. He held this position until his death in the Sydney suburb of Hunter's Hill
Hunter's Hill, New South Wales
Hunters Hill is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Hunter's Hill.Hunters Hill is situated on a...

in 1904. He was survived by Lady Dibbs, two sons and nine daughters.
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