Transcript

of

Lieut. Colonel William George Tomlin Bickford [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol.  44, (1912). pp. 37-38.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was presented at the Association’s July 1912 Exeter meeting. Colonel Bickford’s ancestral home Dunsland, is a historic manor and was a former mansion in the parish of Bradford (or Cookbury). It was successively home to the Arscott, Bickford, Coham and Dickinson families and, although ownership records are incomplete, it is probable that the estate passed in an unbroken line from the time of the Norman Conquest until 1947. The house was destroyed by fire in 1967, just after extensive restoration by the National Trust. A great deal if information about the Colonel’s genealogy is presented in an article in Wikipedia. The obituary may be found in a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal that can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Lieut.-Colonel Bickford was the son of Captain William Bickford, H.E.I.C.S., commanding the Worcester, and of Newport House, Stonehouse, Devon, a descendant of the Arscott Bickfords of Dunsland, N. Devon. He was born in 1842 and obtained his first commission as Second Lieutenant in the Royal Marine Artillery on 18 June, 1859 ; was promoted to Lieutenant, 24 October, 1864 ; and to Captain, 24 January, 1874. In 1873-4 he served in the Ashantee War, for which he received the medal and clasp. In 1878, he passed the Staff College and was for seven years Military Instructor to the Royal Marines, becoming Brevet-Major in 1881, Major in 1883, and Lieut.-Colonel in 1887. On his retirement, on 25 January, 1888 he took up the appointment of Barrack-master at Eastney Barracks, Portsmouth. For some time after his retirement from the service he resided at Dunsland, N. Devon, moving afterwards to Newquay, Cornwall, where he died on 19 September, 1907.
He took a great interest in all matters connected with antiquities, genealogy, and heraldry, and became a life member of the Association in 1895.
In 1867 he married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of T. K. Shaw, Esq., of Saddleworth, Yorkshire, by whom he had issue nine children. His wife, two sons, and three daughters survive him.
Mr. Alger died at Plymouth, in his seventy-sixth year, on 21 February, 1912.