Sir Thomas Bilbe Robinson (24 November 1853–15 May 1939) was an English-born Australian businessman and public servant. Robinson was born in

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

, London, the son and grandson of

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

s. His father was Robert William Robinson and his mother was Frances Sarah, daughter of Thomas Bilbe. In 1881 he emigrated to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and went into business, becoming involved in many companies. He also joined the Queensland Militia and rose to the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

commanding the 1st Queenslanders and was later senior officer in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...

. In 1910 he returned to London as

Agent-General An Agent-General ( or , masculine and feminine respectively) is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province or an States and territories of Australia, Australian state and, h ...

for Queensland and served until his retirement at the end of 1919. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

gave him the responsibility of procuring and distributing frozen meat to the Allied Forces. This job he carried out exceptionally well, and by the end of the war he had dealt with 3,500,000

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s of meat, the largest quantity that had been handled by a single organisation at any time in history to date. It was one commodity that the Allied Forces were never short of. Robinson was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1910 shortly after his appointment as Agent-General, appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in 1913,

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(KBE) in 1917, and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the

1920 Birthday Honours The 1920 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

. He was also an Officer of the ''

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

'' (for his services as a commissioner of the Franco-British Exhibition), and a Commander of both the Order of the Crown of Belgium and the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

Footnotes

References

* Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 16 May 1939
Robinson, "Sir Thomas Bilbe (1853–1939)"
by Paul D. Wilson, in ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 11, (MUP), 1988 {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Thomas Bilbe 1853 births 1939 deaths People from Rotherhithe English emigrants to colonial Australia Australian businesspeople Australian diplomats Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Officers of the Legion of Honour Businesspeople from Queensland 19th-century Australian businesspeople Colony of Queensland people Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Businesspeople awarded knighthoods