August 21, 1801 - Benjamin Boyd
A colonial entrepreneur who built one of New South Wales's largest pastoral empires, Boyd's operations extended beyond land and finance into the coerced labor of Pacific Islanders — a practice that shadows whatever legitimate commercial ambition he might otherwise represent. Blackbirding, the recruiting of South Sea Islanders through deception or force for near-slave conditions, was central to how his holdings functioned at scale.
From Wikipedia
Benjamin Boyd (21 August 1801 – 15 October 1851) was a Scottish entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, grazier, politician and blackbirder in the British colony of New South Wales. He was briefly a member of the Legislative Council.
Boyd became one of the largest landholders and graziers in the Colony of New South Wales before suffering financial difficulties and becoming bankrupt. Boyd briefly tried his luck on the Californian goldfields before venturing to establish a Pacific union, being purportedly murdered on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Many of his business ventures involved blackbirding, the practice of coercing South Sea Islanders to work in circumstances akin to slavery.
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