Date of Birth: 07/11/1807
Place of Birth: Poole, Dorset, England
Date of Death: 11/03/1874
Place of Death: Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Parliamentary Service
| Murders by the Aborigines on the Dawson River Committee No.22 |
15 Jun 1858 |
26 Nov 1858 |
5 months 12 days |
|
| Member for Stanley Boroughs |
01 Feb 1858 |
11 Apr 1859 |
1 year 2 months 11 days |
|
| Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly |
01 Feb 1858 |
11 Apr 1859 |
1 year 2 months 11 days |
|
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 died in 1820 after returning from the Napoleonic Wars in ill health, 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 Assembly and the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Congregationalist.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3.
A Biographical Register of the Queensland Parliament 1860-1929.
Johnson, Beth. Robert Cribb: from an iceberg to Brisbane town. Auchenflower, Qld. Longleat House Publishing, 2005.
Image curtesy of John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland Neg No: 60837
