Career
He was variously General Manager of the Antofagasta & Bolivia Railway, General Manager of the Central Argentine Railway, General Manager of the General Mitre Railway, special adviser to the Argentine Ministry of Transport, President of the Bolivian Railway, a founding director of the Central Bank of Bolivia, President of Banco Mercantil, still one of the largest banks in Bolivia, and President of the National Cement Company of Bolivia. William Alfred Pickwoad was born in Belize as a British subject on 24 May 1886, the son of Robert Williams Pickwoad and Helen Marian Pickwoad. He was educated at Bedford Modern School and Street John's School, Hurstpierpoint.
Pickwoad started his career in 1904 with the Great Western Railway of Brazil.
After the war Pickwoad became General Manager of the Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway and President of the Bolivian Railway. In 1944 he was appointed General Manager of the Central Argentine Railway, a position he held until 1948 when he was made special adviser to the Argentine Ministry of Transport.
In 1949 he was made President of a significant import and export business in São Paulo Paulo, Brazil. In addition to his work on South American railways, Pickwoad was a founding director of the Central Bank of Bolivia, President of Banco Mercantil, still one of the largest banks in Bolivia, and President of the National Cement Company of Bolivia.
