Nesbit Bentley

Nesbit Bentley was a second-generation native of Fiji, born in Suva, the son of Alexander Bentley, a shipbuilder. The Bentley family originally came to Fiji by way of his grandfather, Harry Bentley, an Englishman who sailed from Australia to Fiji, married a local and started a family.

Bentley grew up in Suva and worked for the postmaster general’s office there when he was sent to Melbourne for training; on this trip he would meet his future wife Ilva, the daughter of Italian immigrants. The couple later returned to Fiji to marry and had two children. A member of the Suva Yacht Club, Bentley was an avid yachtsman and was a member of the first Fijian Olympic delegation, competing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in sailing alongside John Gillmore. Later moving to Australia after taking up a telecommunications job with Telecom Australia, Bentley and his wife resided on farmland previously owned by his in-laws in the Melbourne suburb of Silvan. He continued to reside there until his death in 2019.