sketcher, merchant and politician, was born in England on 11 October 1810, son of Samuel Bickley. He travelled to Western Australia via India, arriving aboard the Protector on 26 February 1830. Three years later he married Marianne Thomson. Despite being given several large land grants in the Avon and Rottnest districts, Bickley soon fell into debt. He left for India in 1835 and worked for the Bengal government and the East India Company. His second marriage, to Elizabeth Burke, née Tynan, took place in 1842. He and his first wife had a daughter and there were seven children of the second marriage.
Bickley returned to Western Australia on 6 November 1851, aboard the Isa , and settled at Kenwick Park on the Canning River. Throughout the 1850s he bred horses for export to India but later took up other business interests. In 1869 he was invited to tender for the Fremantle Harbour improvements, although ultimately the problems of this unrealised contract were inherited by 'Satan’ Browne ( Thomas Henry Browne ). Appointed to the Legislative Council in 1872, Bickley served until his death at Fremantle on 30 June 1876.
The only evidence of artistic work by Bickley comes from a hand-coloured aquatint View of Fremantle, Western Australia (from the Canning Road) signed 'W. Bickley fect’. It was published on 20 September 1832 by the London engraver J. Cross. Although the topography is rather inaccurate, it depicts the town’s chief landmarks and buildings and carries an identification key.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
