William Edward Bickerdike
WILLIAM EDWARD BICKERDIKE 1843-1930 - Obituary Notice
..."William Edward Bickerdike was born in Lancaster and educated at Lancaster Grammar School. He subsequently studied chemistry privately in his own laboratory. Early in his career he was associated with Messrs. Bowdler, Lowe and Graesser, manufacturers of carbolic acid, and with Messrs. Hirst and Brooke, of Leeds. Later he formed, in partnership with Mr. A. C. Bowdler, the firm of Bowdler and Bickerdike, Manufacturing Chemists, at Oswaldtwistle.
Consequent on his visit to Berlin in 1872, where he became imbued with the increasing importance of the application of science to industry, Mr. Bickerdike was largely instrumental in founding Blackburn Technical School (now College), which, supported at first by voluntary contributions, was subsequently taken over by the Corporation. He was a member of the Technical Instruction Committee and for 16 years was Vice-chairman of the Higher Education Sub-committee. He was an original member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he became a Vice-president in 1905, and a Justice of the Peace for the county of Lancaster. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry in 1878. Mr Bickerdike was elected a Fellow in December, 1865, and attained his diamond jubilee as a Fellow in 1925. At the time of his death he was the oldest Fellow..."
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Sources of Information
- RSC [1] Obituary Notice