1. John Dibbs is credited as the European discoverer of Rarotonga and several other islands.
28 Facts About John Dibbs
1. 2.
John Dibbs was believed for over 170 years to have disappeared at sea in 1835.
3.
John Dibbs 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.
4.
John Dibbs was born and educated in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland.
5.
John Dibbs's parents were John Dibbs and Elizabeth Simpson and he was one of several children.
6.
The East India Company College started in 1806, and trained 16- to 18-year-olds, and if so John Dibbs would have been one of the earliest intakes of students.
7.
John Dibbs would have graduated to the East India Company Maritime Service in 1808.
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The idea that John Dibbs was in the Royal Navy comes from a story first published in 1865 detailing an 1828 voyage to England in a ship, the Lady Mary, under the command of a Captain John Dibbs, a former Royal Navy lieutenant, and how he outwitted pirates off the coast of Brazil.
9.
John Dibbs joined the Westmoreland in Leith, Scotland, as 2nd officer in 1820.
10.
John Dibbs was one of 26 immigrant ships that embarked some 4000 persons under the Albany Settlement Scheme of 1820, the aim being to settle them in South Africa.
11.
On his arrival in Sydney in 1821 on the Westmoreland John Dibbs became acquainted with Robert Campbell Sr.
12.
On 25 July 1823, Captain John Dibbs discovered Armstrong Island, and nearby islands Mitiero and Mauke.
13.
John Dibbs was present in Otahiete for the coronation of King Pomare III on 21 April 1824, before heading to Sydney with cargo and a group of missionaries, notably George Bennet and Daniel Tyerman.
14.
John Dibbs was appointed the London Missionary Society Master of Ships for the Pacific station and served in this capacity until 1827.
15.
The vessel appears to have been under the command of the 1st officer, a Mr Doyle, as John Dibbs was still in Otaheite, and rejoined the Haweis in Hobart.
16.
In December 1828 John Dibbs married Sophia Allwright the daughter of convicts Thomas Allwright and Sophia Langford, in Sydney, and took her back to St Andrews in early 1829 on the Lady Blackwood.
17.
For generations, it was thought and always said by the family that John Dibbs disappeared at sea in 1835, and was never heard of again.
18.
Examination of shipping records between 1829 and 1833 show that John Dibbs was engaged mostly in the seal and whaling trade in the Lady Blackwood.
19.
Aug 1835 John Dibbs departs for Calcutta aboard the Africaine, restrained in his cabin.
20.
John Dibbs appears to have been accompanied or escorted by a Captain Carew.
21.
Nov 1837 John Dibbs is shipped to England aboard the Catherine at a cost of Rs.
22.
John Dibbs was reportedly so uncontrollable that he had to be placed in a straight jacket.
23.
The 1841 census in England lists John Dibbs, born in Scotland around 1790, in an East India Company Asylum, Pembroke House, in London.
24.
John Dibbs's former place of abode was 'unknown' but he himself stated that he was born in St Andrews, Scotland, that his father was a grocer and alive in 1829 and that his wife and children were in Sydney, where he had property.
25.
John Dibbs spent the next 37 years in the care of the East India Company, moving with them to their new Royal India Asylum in Ealing, London.
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John Dibbs was buried from the Royal India Asylum, Ealing, in the South Ealing Cemetery.
27.
Captain John Dibbs remained as master until September 1824, when he took command of the Haweis.
28.
John Dibbs was licensed by the HEIC under the system which existed after the Company lost its monopoly of trade to India in 1813.