Benjamin Harris Babbidge

Benjamin (Ben) Harris Babbidge (2 October 1836 – 19 February 1905) was an alderman and mayor of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Personal life Benjamin Harris Babbidge was born on 2 October 1836 in Newport, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, England, the son of John Babbidge (a tailor ) and his wife Elizabeth (née Harris).

He married Elizabeth Ann Damp, the daughter of George and Jane Damp, on the Isle of Wight in 1856. Soon after their marriage they immigrated to Queensland on the "New Great Britain" arriving in Moreton Bay on 6 January 1857. Arthur Harry (b. 1863, m. 1887 Harriet Jane Young, m. 1895 Catherine Maxwell, d. 1919)

After three years in Newcastle, New South Wales, he relocated to Moreton Bay where he worked for John Petrie for a number of years. In 1865 he established his own business as a ship's smith. In 1885, his workshop assembled Brisbane's first tram cars (the cars themselves being imported from America).

Public life Babbidge was an alderman of the Brisbane Municipal Council from 1879 to 1886. He was mayor in 1885. He served on the following council committees: Improvement Committee 1880 Legislative Committee 1880, 1884, 1885 Finance Committee 1881, 1883, 1886 Works Committee 1882, 1884, 1885 Health Committee 1885, 1886 Town Hall Committee 1885, 1886

He left the Brisbane Municipal Council when he was defeated by William Stephens in the 1887 election for the south ward.

He was also an alderman of the South Brisbane Municipal Council from 1900 to 1902, where he served on the following council committees:

In addition to his council roles, he was also a member of: the Provisional Committee of the Proposed Technical College (1882) the Fire Brigade Board in Brisbane in 1884 the Licensing Board in Brisbane in 1885 the United Municipalities (president in 1886) the Anti-Chinese Committee (member 1886) the Brisbane Workman's Club (director 1886) the Victoria Bridge Board in 1902 the Brisbane and Suburban Shopkeepers' Association (president 1902–1904)