Mr Benjamin CRIBB (1807 - 1874)**

  • Date of Birth: 07/11/1807
  • Place of Birth: Poole, Dorset, England
  • Date of Death: 11/03/1874
  • Place of Death: Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
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Parliamentary Service

PositionStartEndPeriodNotes
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly1 Feb 185811 Apr 18591yr(s) 2mth(s) 11day(s)
Member for Stanley Boroughs1 Feb 185811 Apr 18591yr(s) 2mth(s) 11day(s)
2nd (1858 - 1859)
Murders by the Aborigines on the Dawson River Committee No.2215 Jun 185826 Nov 18585mths 12days
2nd (1858 - 1859)

Community Activity

Founder and Trustee of Ipswich Grammar School


Qualifications, occupations and interests

Merchant. After leaving school, Benjamin Cribb first worked as a grocer’s assistant. By 1832 he was manufacturing blacking and selling household appliances and matches in London. Exported goods to Australia on his voyage to migrate, enabling him to become a general merchant in Ipswich upon his arrival. He was a founder of Moreton Bay Immigration and Land Company (which was incorporated in 1855), and along with J.C. Foote founded Cribb & Foote Merchant Bankers in 1854. During the American Civil War he sponsored the cotton industry, exporting up to 7000 bales of wool per annum.


Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held

Member of the Parliament of Queensland. Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for West Moreton 1861 - 1867; and for Ipswich 1870 - 1873.


Local Government Activity

Alderman of Ipswich Council.


Personal

Son of John Galpin Cribb, a master mariner, shipowner and designer, and Mary Dirham. Married (1) Elizabeth Brideson on 28th August 1839 in Douglas, Isle of Man and had issue, 2 sons and 2 daughters. Married (2) Clarissa Foote in 1853 and had issue, 4 sons and 3 daughters. His father was killed fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, and consequently his mother opened a dame’s school in order to provide for the family. Arrived in Morton Bay in 1849 on a ship chartered by the Reverend J.D. Lang. Brother of Robert Cribb, who was also a Member of both the New South Wales Legislative Asssembly and the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Congregationalist.


Additional Information

Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3 A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929



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