William Bickford (1841-1916) 1900-B11344
William Bickford may refer to: * William Bickford (1774–1834), inventor of the safety fuse * William Bickford (1815–1850), first pharmacist and pharmaceutical chemist in the colony of South Australia * William Bickford (1841–1916) A. M. Bickford and Sons was one of the first manufacturing chemists in South Australia and until 1930 one of the State's most significant family owned companies. In 1930, they amalgamated with half a dozen other similar Australian companies t ...

William Bickford (1774–1834)
William Bickford (1774–1834) was an English inventor, who, formerly a currier, invented the safety fuse for use in mining. Early life William Bickford was born in Ashburton, Devon, England, United Kingdom to William and Mary Bickford. He moved to first Truro and then Tuckingmill in Cornwall. 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. Inventor career He is best known as the inventor of the safety fuse, which was inspired by watching a friend, James Bray making rope. With his son-in-law George Smith, he established a factory in Tuckingmill for the production of his invention, and in its first year it produced 45 miles of fuse. He died a short while before his company actually started up. It 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. ''On the sou ...
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William Bickford (1815–1850)
A. M. Bickford and Sons was one of the first manufacturing chemists in South Australia and until 1930 one of the State's most significant family owned companies. In 1930, they amalgamated with half a dozen other similar Australian companies to form "Drug Houses of Australia" (DHA), which very successfully continued to produce the "A. M. Bickford and Sons" products: the "drugs" and "chemicals" under the DHA brand; the cordials and soft drinks under the "A. M. Bickford and Sons" brand. In the late 1960s, DHA became the target of a corporate raider and asset stripper, and by the mid-1970s DHA collapsed under the burden of servicing the imposed massive levels of debt. What was left was split up and sold. Reckitt & Colman acquired the major "drugs" and "chemicals" products and brands, and other people and companies acquired other bits. Melburnian Peter Abbott purchased the pharmacy products, eucalyptus oil operations, and soft drink products. The pharmacy products were on-sold; t ...
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