William Gibbs

Who was William Gibbs?

William Gibbs was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Nelson Region of New Zealand.

Gibbs migrated to New Zealand in 1851 and purchased a large block of land at Totaranui. Much of this land is now incorporated into the Abel Tasman National Park. He completed a large homestead there for his wife and eight children, where they lived until moving to Nelson in 1892 when Gibbs retired.

His daughter Hannah Sarah Gibbs married Alexander Mackay at Collingwood in 1863.

He represented the Collingwood electorate from 1873 to 1881, when he was defeated for Motueka. His son W. B. Gibbs stood in the Nelson electorate in the 1887 election, but came third against Henry Levestam and Jesse Piper.

The town of Collingwood was originally called Gibbstown after Gibbs.