The Dixson family were great Australian philanthropists, but their wealth was built on slave labour

By Joel Barnes, Honorary Research Fellow, History, The University of Queensland; University of Sydney

The barque Glenswilly arrived in Sydney Harbour from Greenock, outside Glasgow, on October 29 1839. Among the new arrivals were Hugh Dixson, his wife Helen, and their infant son, also named Hugh.

At 29 years old, Hugh Dixson had been in business as an Edinburgh tobacco manufacturer and retailer for a decade. He came to Sydney, according to the standard story, to evade high excise duties on tobacco in Scotland, and possibly at the urging of the immigration reformer and pillar of the Sydney Scottish community…

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