Benjamin Boyd
Australian businessman
Died when: 50 years 55 days (601 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Benjamin Boyd (21 August 1801 – 15 October 1851) was a Scottish entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, grazier, politician and slaver, exploiting South Sea Islander labour in the British 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 practice of enslaving South Sea Islanders.
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".
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