Samuel Osborne-Gibbes

Who was Samuel Osborne-Gibbes?

Sir Samuel Osborne-Gibbes, Second Baronet was a British Army officer, Freemason, plantation owner and politician. Born in England, he spent his early years on his father's sugar plantation on Barbados. After his parents' death, he was brought up by an uncle in England. After some military service, he took over the sugar plantation in Barbados, where he remained until the abolition of slavery in 1833. He returned to England, but left his home country in 1850 for Sydney in Australia, where he met up with his nephew, Colonel John Gibbes. In 1855, he emigrated to New Zealand, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was one of the highest Masons in the country and was a Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 1855 to 1863.

The baronetcy was inherited from his grandfather and passed on to his son Edward.