A baker, William Dibsell arrived in New Zealand in 1862, settling in Thames in 1868. Later he moved to the Waihou district to run a hotel and store at Te Kawana, near the future Te Aroha, transferring to the latter settlement in 1884 because his business had become isolated from the developing township. A baker and grocer, as at Thames he acquired small interests in Te Aroha’s mines, which would not have provided any profit unless he sold them speedily. He was so successful financially that he could become a moneylender, a rapacious one in the case of one man who became indebted to him. Concentrating on making money, he had only a limited involvement in the community.