Ernest John BICKFORD

Ernest John BICKFORD Update Details

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BICKFORD, Ernest John

Service Number:	22221
Enlisted:	31 August 1917
Last Rank:	Private
Last Unit:	7th Field Company Engineers
Born:	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 July 1861
Home Town:	Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Recruiting Officer
Died:	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 19 April 1940, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Field Of Mars Cemetery, Ryde, NSW
Memorials:

World War 1 Service

31 Aug 1917:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 22221, Field Company Engineers
21 Mar 1918:	Involvement Sapper, 22221, Field Company Engineers, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '5' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: ''
21 Mar 1918:	Embarked Sapper, 22221, Field Company Engineers, HMAT Persic, Sydney
25 Sep 1919:	Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 22221, 7th Field Company Engineers, per HT Port Denison
13 Dec 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 22221, 7th Field Company Engineers

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Ernest was the fifth of ten children of Nicholas Moysey Bickford (born 1822 in Devon, England) and Jean Pearce Wills (born 1830 in Devon, England). Nicholas was a Land Surveyor when he arrived in Port Phillip Bay in 1844 on board the Sea Queen. Jean arrived in Port Phillip Bay with her parents in 1840 on board the John Bull. Nickolas and Jean married in Melbourne, Victoria in 1848 and settled at Gardiner's Creek where Nicholas was appointed Officer to Prevent Trespass on Crown Lands. By 1859 the family had moved to Melbourne, where Nicholas was Inspector of Crown Lands and Overseer of Parks and Reserves, and in 1873 was appointed as Curator of Fitzroy Gardens.

Ernest was an Inventor (he patented the sprung seats used in theatres and railways), Botanist and Author (writing major articles on wildflowers and orchids). In 1886 he married Alice Carter Wood (born 1862 in Melbourne, Victoria) in Melbourne. Following Alice's death in 1891 Ernest moved to Perth, WA in 1894 to manage a Furniture Factory. He married second wife Mary Dixon (born 1869 in Melbourne, Victoria) in 1895. Ernest was nominated for Membership of the Linnean Society in 1897 for his studies and lectures on orchids. He was the inaugural President of the Meuller Botanic Society in WA (1897 - 1902) and served as a Perth City Counciller (1898 - 1901) and was a confidant of the Premier of the Colony (Lord John Forrest) and was a Justice of the Peace. He was convenor of the General Purposes Parks and Gardens Committee which laid out Perth Gardens (including Queen's Gardens and Hyde Park). In 1904 Ernest faced a court case for Bankruptcy (EJ Bickford & Co - furniture manufacturers and importers) and returned to the Eastern States with his wife and eight children.

In 1917 Ernest was a Recruiting Officer in Sydney, NSW when he enlisted in the AIF as a Sapper (Service No:22221) with 7th Field Coy Engineers. Ernest was Discharged in December 1919. Sons - Howell Nicholas (Corporal; Service No:3752) Richard Watson (Private; Service No:11909) and Leslie Wills (Private; Service No:93746) also served in WWI, Sons Percy Dixon (WOI; Service No:NX19671) and John Frederick (WO; Service No:23049) served in WWII.

Mary died in 1928, and Ernest settled in Sydney, NSW after the War. In 1920 he was Manager of the Soldiers' Repatriation Showrooms, and later a Furniture Exporter. Ernest died in 1940.

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