 It has been estimated that the Hibbert family was awarded £103,000 in compensation upon the ending of slavery in the Caribbean, with George Hibbert awarded £16,000.Perhaps owing to his family's planting interests in Jamaica, Hibbert became interested in gardening and botany.A respected botanist and bibliophile, he was a founder of the London Institution in 1805 (vice-president in 1806) and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1811.