John Dibbs
| John Dibbs | |
|---|---|
Captain John Dibbs, master mariner, aged about 40.
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| Born |
8 November 1790 St.Andrews, Fifeshire |
| Died | 1872 (aged 81) Ealing, Middlesex |
| Occupation | Australian sailor |
Captain John Dibbs, (1790–1872) was a master mariner prominent during 1822–1835 in the seas around the colony of New South Wales, New Zealand and the Society Islands (now part of Tahiti). Dibbs was master of the colonial schooner Endeavour 1822–1824, the brig Haweis 1824–1827 and the barque Lady Blackwood 1827–1834. He is credited as the European discoverer of Rarotonga and several other islands. Most of his voyages involved the transporting of missionaries, trade, whaling and seal hunting. He was believed for over 170 years to have disappeared at sea in 1835. He was the father of Sir George Dibbs, a pre-Federation Australian politician, Sir Thomas Dibbs, an Australian banker, and John Campbell Dibbs, a successful Sydney businessman.
Very few verifiable facts are known. John was born and educated in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. His parents were John Dibbs and Elizabeth Simpson and John was one of several children. His father, uncle and grandfather did military service prior to his birth in 1790.
It is very likely he trained as a midshipman through the Marine Society around 1806. The East India Company College (Hertford Heath, near Hertford) started in 1806, and trained 16- to 18-year-olds, and if so John would have been one of the earliest intakes of students. He would have graduated to the East India Company Maritime Service in 1808. His activities 1808–1818 are unknown, but there are two general possibilities.
In 1808 at age 18 he graduates and becomes eligible for posting as a midshipman. Reportedly 25% of Scottish males served in the military between 1792 and 1815, so it's possible (given his father's and grandfather's military service) that John joined the Royal Navy that was then involved with the War of 1812 and Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon's final defeat in 1815 at Waterloo the British economy went into recession, and there were thousands of ex-navy seamen out of work.
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