Ronald Worthy Giblin (3 January 1863 – 13 March 1936) was an Australian land surveyor, colonial historian of Tasmania, and public servant.
Early Life and Education
Giblin was born in Hobart, Tasmania, to Thomas Giblin, a banker, and Mary Ann, née Worthy. He was the grandson of Robert Wilkins Giblin, who had arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1827, and a cousin of economist Lyndhurst Falkiner Giblin. He was educated at The Hutchins School and received an associate of arts degree from the Tasmanian Council of Education in 1879.
Career as a Surveyor
After travelling and working on the land in Tasmania and Queensland, Giblin joined the Lands Department in Hobart in 1884. He moved to New South Wales, where he became a licensed surveyor in 1889 and worked for the Public Works Department and the Department of Lands. In 1894, he was nominated by G. H. Knibbs to be one of two Australian surveyors engaged to work in the Royal Survey Department of Siam (now Thailand). He served as director of that department from 1901 until 1910, retiring with a pension and the Order of the White Elephant. In 1906, he was a founding director of the Kombok Rubber Co. Ltd, initially based in Singapore.
Later Career and Historical Work
After leaving Siam, Giblin settled in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. In 1916, he became indent officer in the London office of the Tasmanian Agent-General. In 1921, the Tasmanian government commissioned him to research the first fifteen years of Tasmanian settlement. He completed this work in 1922 to high praise, which led to a proposed three-volume history of Tasmania (1642–1853). He resigned from the Agent-General's office in 1924 to focus on research and writing.
His first volume, The Early History of Tasmania, volume one (1642–1804), was published in 1928 with the help of a Tasmanian government grant of £300. It received favourable reviews and has been regarded as a definitive work on early Tasmanian exploration, geography, flora, fauna, and Aboriginal peoples. Volume two (1804–36) progressed slowly due to illness. Giblin died in London on 13 March 1936 before completing it. His partially finished manuscript and notes were edited by Archer Collier, librarian of the Tasmanian Public Library, and published in 1939 as volume two (1804–18), with some material extending to 1836.
Memberships and Recognition
Giblin was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Colonial Institute. He became a member of the Royal Society of Tasmania in 1926 and published articles on Tasmanian history in its Papers and Proceedings (1925 and 1929). He was also a recipient of the Order of the White Elephant (Thailand).
