Benjamin Robbins

Benjamin Conrad Robbins
14th Mayor of Tauranga
In office
6 May 1912 – 5 May 1915
Preceded byCharles Jordan
Succeeded byCharles Macmillan
In office
9 May 1929 – 11 May 1933
Preceded byBradshaw Dive
Succeeded byAlfred Francis Daly Tunks
Personal details
Born1857
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Died20 January 1953
Resting placePresbyterian Cemetery, Tauranga
Political partyLiberal

Benjamin Conrad "Cockie" Robbins (1857 – 20 January 1953) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 9 March 1936 to 8 March 1943; and 9 March 1943 to 8 March 1950.[1]

Robbins was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, son of Capt. B. Robbins, and educated at the Yarmouth Academy.[2] He arrived in Wellington in 1874, and was a storekeeper in Hawera from 1881. In Hāwera he organised a local dairy factory and the National Dairy Association. He was on various local boards; Fire Board (3 years), Hospital Board (chairman 1906–09), and the Wanganui Education Board 1897–1906.[3] His first public service was as a member of the school committee in Hāwera for a good decade, where he was chairman for most of that time.[4] He was a member of the Hawera Borough Council for fifteen years and Mayor of Hawera for seven years.[5] Robbins stood in the 1893 election in the Egmont electorate and came second of three candidates.[6] He contested the Hawera electorate in the 1896 and 1905 elections. He came a close second in 1896,[7] and came third in 1905.[8]

Robbins moved to Tauranga in 1911, and was Mayor of Tauranga twice, from 1912 to 1915 and 1929 to 1933.[5] He retired from the mayoralty in 1915 and did not contest the election, which was won by Charles Macmillan over John Cuthbert Adams.[9]

Robbins stood against the incumbent, William Herries of the Reform Party, in the 1919 election in the Tauranga electorate and was beaten with a margin of over 30% of the vote.[10] He initially declared himself an Independent Progressive Liberal but received the endorsement of Joseph Ward and was the official candidate of the Liberal Party.[11]

He was appointed to the Legislative Council by the First Labour Government. He died in January 1953 aged 96 and is buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery on 18th Avenue in Tauranga.[12]

He married in 1877 Jane Anne Ross (died 6 March 1950).[3]

  1. ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 163. OCLC 154283103.
  2. ^ "Upper House". Auckland Star. Vol. LXVII, no. 59. 10 March 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b Who's Who in New Zealand, 5th edn p200 (1951)
  4. ^ "The General Election". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. XVIII, no. 7254. 25 October 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Robbins Park, Tauranga". Tauranga City Libraries. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  6. ^ "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Electoral District of Hawera". Hawera & Normanby Star. Vol. XXXIII, no. 3418. 9 December 1896. p. 3. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. ^ The General Election, 1905. National Library. 1906. p. 2.
  9. ^ "Borough of Tauranga". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. XLIII, no. 6361. 21 April 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  10. ^ Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. p. 3.
  11. ^ "Liberal Selection for Tauranga". Wairarapa Daily Times. Vol. 45, no. 13977. 11 November 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Cemeteries Detail". Tauranga City Council. Retrieved 7 December 2014.