{{Short description|New Zealand politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Benjamin Conrad Robbins | honorific_suffix = | image = Mayor Benjamin Conrad Robbins.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | order = 14th | office = Mayor of Tauranga | majority = | term_start = 6 May 1912 | term_end = 5 May 1915 | predecessor = Charles Jordan | successor = Charles Macmillan | term_start2 = 9 May 1929 | term_end2 = 11 May 1933 | predecessor2 = Bradshaw Dive | successor2 = Alfred Francis Daly Tunks | birth_date = 1857 | birth_place = Yarmouth, Nova Scotia | death_date = 20 January 1953 | death_place = | resting_place = Presbyterian Cemetery, Tauranga | resting_place_coordinates = | party = Liberal | spouse = | relations = | children = | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = }} '''Benjamin Conrad "Cockie" Robbins''' (1857 – 20 January 1953) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 9 March 1936 to 8 March 1943; and 9 March 1943 to 8 March 1950.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=James Oakley |year=1985 |title=New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition=4th |orig-year=First ed. published 1913 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location=Wellington |page=163 |oclc=154283103}}</ref>

Robbins was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, son of Capt. B. Robbins, and educated at the Yarmouth Academy.<ref name="AS profile">{{cite news |title=Upper House |newspaper=Auckland Star |volume=LXVII |issue=59 |page=9 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19360310.2.91 |access-date=18 July 2015 |date=10 March 1936}}</ref> He arrived in Wellington in 1874, and was a storekeeper in Hāwera from 1881. In Hāwera he organised a local dairy factory and the National Dairy Association. He was on various local boards; Fire Board (3 years), Hospital Board (chairman 1906–09), and the Wanganui Education Board 1897–1906.<ref name="New Zealand p200">Who's Who in New Zealand, 5th edn p200 (1951)</ref> His first public service was as a member of the school committee in Hāwera for a good decade, where he was chairman for most of that time.<ref name="BoP bio">{{cite news |title=The General Election |newspaper=Bay of Plenty Times |volume=XVIII |issue=7254 |page=3 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=BOPT19191025.2.11 |access-date=7 December 2014 |date=25 October 1919}}</ref> He was a member of the Hawera Borough Council for fifteen years and Mayor of Hawera for seven years.<ref name="Robbins Park">{{cite web |title=Robbins Park, Tauranga |publisher=Tauranga City Libraries |url=http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_local_history/topics/show/632 |access-date=9 January 2014}}</ref> Robbins stood in the {{NZ election link|1893}} in the {{NZ electorate link|Egmont}} electorate and came second of three candidates.<ref name="1893 election">{{cite web |title=The General Election, 1893 |publisher=National Library |year=1894 |page=1 |url=http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1894-I.2.3.2.21 |access-date=19 November 2013}}</ref> He contested the {{NZ electorate link|Hawera}} electorate in the {{NZ election link year|1896}} and {{NZ election link|1905}}s. He came a close second in 1896,<ref name="1896 election">{{cite news |title=Electoral District of Hawera |newspaper=Hawera & Normanby Star |volume=XXXIII |issue=3418 |page=3 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=HNS18961209.2.17.1 |access-date=9 January 2014 |date=9 December 1896}}</ref> and came third in 1905.<ref name="1905 election">{{cite book

| title = The General Election, 1905 | publisher = National Library | year = 1906 | url = http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&cl=search&d=AJHR1906-I.2.1.5.7 | page = 2 }}</ref>

Robbins moved to Tauranga in 1911, and was Mayor of Tauranga twice, from 1912 to 1915 and 1929 to 1933.<ref name="Robbins Park" /> He retired from the mayoralty in 1915 and did not contest the election, which was won by Charles Macmillan over John Cuthbert Adams.<ref>{{cite news |title=Borough of Tauranga |newspaper=Bay of Plenty Times |volume=XLIII |issue=6361 |page=3 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=BOPT19150421.2.16.4 |access-date=7 December 2014 |date=21 April 1915}}</ref>

Robbins stood against the incumbent, William Herries of the Reform Party, in the {{NZ election link|1919}} in the {{NZ electorate link|Tauranga}} electorate and was beaten with a margin of over 30% of the vote.<ref name="1919 election">{{cite book |last=Hislop |first=J. |year=1921 |title=The General Election, 1919 |publisher=National Library |url=http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1921-I-II.2.3.2.45 |page=3}}</ref> He initially declared himself an Independent Progressive Liberal but received the endorsement of Joseph Ward and was the official candidate of the Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liberal Selection for Tauranga |newspaper=Wairarapa Daily Times |volume=45 |issue=13977 |page=5 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=WDT19191111.2.25.5 |access-date=7 December 2014 |date=11 November 1919}}</ref>

He was appointed to the Legislative Council by the First Labour Government. He died in January 1953 aged 96 and is buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery on 18th Avenue in Tauranga.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cemeteries Detail |publisher=Tauranga City Council |url=https://www.tauranga.govt.nz/council-facilities/cemeteries/cemeteries-search/cemeteries-detail/tabid/2455/tctl/5323_/Default.aspx?plotid=PRESBYTERIAN*B1602 |access-date=7 December 2014}}</ref>

He married in 1877 Jane Anne Ross (died 6 March 1950).<ref name="New Zealand p200" />

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Ben}} Category:1857 births Category:1953 deaths Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians Category:20th-century mayors of places in New Zealand Category:Canadian emigrants to New Zealand Category:Mayors of Tauranga Category:Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Category:New Zealand Labour Party MLCs Category:People from Hāwera Category:Politicians from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1893 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1896 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1905 New Zealand general election Category:Unsuccessful candidates in the 1919 New Zealand general election