Benjamin Boyd, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Benjamin Boyd

Australian businessman

Date of Birth: 21-Aug-1803

Place of Birth: Wigtownshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Date of Death: 15-Oct-1851

Profession: politician, entrepreneur, banker, stockbroker

Nationality: Australia

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Benjamin Boyd (21 August 1801 – 15 October 1851) was a Scottish entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, grazier, politician and pioneer of exploiting South Sea Islander labour in the colony of New South Wales.Boyd became one of the largest landholders and graziers of the Colony of New South Wales; before suffering financial difficulties and becoming bankrupt.
Boyd briefly tried his luck on the Californian goldfields before being purportedly murdered on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Many of his business ventures involved blackbirding, the practise of coercing and kidnapping South Sea Islanders as slave labourers.Boyd was a man of "an imposing personal appearance, fluent oratory, aristocratic connections, and a fair share of commercial acuteness".
Georgiana McCrae, with whom he had dinner when he first came to the Port Phillip District, looked at him with an artist's eye and said: "He is Rubens over again.
Tells me he went to a bal masque as Rubens with his broad-leafed hat".