Thomas Allwright Dibbs (1 November 1833 – 18 March 1923) was an Australian banker. Dibbs was born in George Street, Sydney, the second son of Captain

John Dibbs Captain John Dibbs (8 November 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 ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and brother of

New South Wales Premier The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Sir

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the ...

. His father was institutionalized in the Royal India Asylum when he was a boy, and at the age of 14 Dibbs entered the service of the

Commercial Banking Company of Sydney The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited, also known as the CBC, or CBC Bank, was a bank based in Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1834, and in 1982 merged with the National Bank of Australasia to form National Australia Bank. ...

as a junior clerk. In 1857 he became accountant, and 10 years later was appointed general manager, a position he held for 48 years. In 1877 Dibbs published a booklet ''Interest Tables'' and established some important banking practices in Sydney. In 1915 Dibbs retired at the age of 82, when he was made an honorary director of the bank and given a pension of £2000 a year. In 1916 he presented his house, Graythwaite, North Sydney, to the Commonwealth for a home for sick and wounded soldiers. Dibbs died at Sydney on 18 March 1923. He married in 1857 Tryphena Gaden who survived him with six daughters. He was knighted in 1917. He was much interested in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, and was treasurer of the church buildings loan and other funds. He was also a trustee of various public funds. He was well known as a yachtsmanHe owned the Steam Yacht "Ena". In the early 1990s the sunken wreck of the Ena was located in a river in Tasmania. Due to the depth and cold fresh water, the vessel was almost fully intact and in surprisingly good condition. After being raised, it was returned to Sydney, completely restored at a cost of about A$2 million. See http://www.cruiseryacht.com.au/cruiser-yacht-news/1991/11/2/a-dream-of-a-steamer-whos-keen-to-buy-ena/. The Ena is now a charter vessel. See http://www.enasteamyacht.com.au/ and for some years was commodore of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. Dibbs was regarded as an ideal banker. He built up a fine staff from which he had complete loyalty, and he guided the affairs of his bank with ability for a period which was probably record-breaking. He discouraged the land-booming of the 1880s, and when the crash came in 1893 met the situation with wisdom. For many years Dibbs was the trusted confidential adviser in financial matters of the various New South Wales governments, and when he retired in 1915 the government of the state presented an address to him expressing "profound recognition of the invaluable services rendered by him to vital public interests . . . a testimony without parallel in the history of Australian business life".

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dibbs, Thomas Allwright 1832 births 1923 deaths Australian bankers