Giblin family

The Giblin family of Tasmania was an influential family in the early days of the colony of Tasmania, then named Van Diemen's Land.

Origin

Robert Wilkins Giblin (17 May 1780 – 1 September 1845) was an English emigrant who arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land aboard the Sir Charles Forbes in 1827 with his wife and eight children. He had run a school in England which failed in the financial crash of a few years before, and would run a school near Hobart in the 1830s and early 1840s before being declared insolvent. Some of his descendants and their spouses occupied influential positions in the young colony.

Notable family members

• Vincent Wanostrocht Giblin (13 November 1817 – 15 May 1884), a son of Robert Wilkins Giblin; he was a cricketer and manager of the bank of Victoria, then Australian Joint Stock Bank, Sydney. On 13 January 1841, he married Jane Isabel (c. 1819 – 29 May 1905), daughter of G. W. Evans, Deputy Surveyor-General of Van Diemen's Land. His daughter, Jessie Isabel (1843 – 1915), married Charles Alfred Robey, son of politician and businessman Ralph Meyer Robey.
• Charlotte Giblin (1813 – 3 January 1879), daughter of Robert Wilkins Giblin, married Ebenezer Shoobridge (1820–1901); their children were William Ebenezer Shoobridge (1846–1940), Robert Wilkins Giblin Shoobridge (1847–1936), and Louis Manton Shoobridge (1851–1939). The three brothers were agriculturalists and industrial innovators; William and Louis were both involved in politics.
• Dr. Edward Owen Giblin (23 November 1849 – 27 December 1895), a grandson of Robert Wilkins Giblin; he was a medical doctor and politician, and married Edith Harriett Westbrook on 6 August 1879
• Mary Giblin (1886 – 1983), a great-granddaughter of Robert Wilkins Giblin, married painter Lucien Dechaineux (15 July 1869 – 4 April 1957) on 21 December 1909; by his first marriage, Lucien was father of Emile Dechaineux (3 October 1902 – 1944) killed in WWII in command of HMAS Australia.
• Ronald Worthy Giblin (3 January 1863 – 13 March 1936), a grandson of Robert Wilkins Giblin; he was a land surveyor and historian of Tasmania.
• William Robert Giblin (4 November 1840 – 17 January 1887), a grandson of Robert Wilkins Giblin; he was Premier of Tasmania in 1878, puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. On 5 January 1865, he married Emmely Jean (c. 1841 – 2 January 1926), eldest daughter of John Perkins, M.H.A.; Their son, Lyndhurst Falkiner Giblin DSO, MC (29 November 1872 – 1 March 1951), was a political economist.

Bibliography

• William Coleman, Selwyn Cornish, Alf Hagger Giblin's Platoon: The Trials and Triumph of the Economist in Australian Public Life ANU Press. ISBN 978-1920942496. This book includes many references to L. F. Giblin's family and antecedents.
• Wilfrid W. Giblin Kith and kin : some notes on our branch of the family privately pub. Hobart 1945
• Lloyd Ashton Giblin Tracing my Giblin ancestors pub. Lagpress, Sandy Bay (Tas.) c. 1982