Career
Born in Ashburton, Devon, England, Bickford moved to first Truro and then Tuckingmill in Cornwall, where he worked as a currier. Tuckingmill was then in the heart of the Cornish mining industry, and Bickford would have been aware of the large loss of life from explosive accidents in the mines. He died a short while before his company actually started up.
lieutenant took a while for miners to use the safety fuses, for the old ones were cheaper.
His company eventually became part of the Ensign-Bickford Company. Bickford"s grandson William Bickford-Smith became Member of Parliament for Truro.
