Julian Bickersteth

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First World War
Awards
Mentioned in Despatches
Military Cross

Kenneth Julian Faithfull Bickersteth,

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen
.

Early life and education

Bickersteth was born in 1885 in

Alice in Wonderland". His nephew is Bishop John Bickersteth.[4]

Bickersteth was educated at

Master of Arts (MA Oxon).[3]

After completing his undergraduate degree, Bickersteth spent a year teaching English in the

theological college to train for ordained ministry.[3] As a graduate, he only needed to spend one-year training before ordination.[4]

Career

Early ministry

Bickersteth was

independent boarding school in Melbourne.[3]

Military service

In 1915, one year after the start of the

chaplain to the forces, he served with the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.[4] His duties included taking services in makeshift chapels, caring for the wounded, ministering to men condemned to execution, and taking burials; he took seventy on the second day of the Battle of the Somme.[4] He found himself preparing men for confirmation one day and then burying them the next.[4] He first served as chaplain to The Rangers, British Army, and then as senior chaplain to the 56th (London) Infantry Division.[4] He ended the war as a deputy assistant chaplain-general (equivalent in rank to lieutenant colonel) attached to the XV Corps.[4]

On 9 June 1917, Bickersteth was

ribbon to wear on his uniform, he had to wait till 1919 to receive the medal itself. That year, during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, he stood side by side with one of his brothers as they were both awarded the Military Cross by George V.[4] Having reached the rank of chaplain to the forces third class (equivalent to major), he relinquished his commission on 20 February 1920 and was allowed to keep his rank on an honorary basis.[7]

Post-war service

Between the wars, Bickersteth returned to teaching. In 1919, he was offered the position of headmaster of The Collegiate School of St Peter in Adelaide, Australia, which he accepted without ever attending an interview. Following his arrival at the school in 1920, he increased pupil numbers from 550 to 720, and "built a war memorial hall, science laboratories, and several boarding-houses".[4] He was also involved in the wider education sphere of Australia: he was the driving force behind the first residential college of the University of Adelaide (St. Mark's College) which opened in 1925, and he co-founded the Headmasters' Conference of the Independent Schools of Australia in 1931. He also continued his military service and was a senior chaplain to the Australian Military Forces between 1928 and 1933.[3][4]

He was then headmaster of

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC).[8]

He died at Kent and Canterbury Hospital in 1962.[9]

References

  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
  2. ^ a b "The Julian Bickersteth Memorial Medal". ihgs.ac.uk. The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Miller, J. S. C. (1979). "Bickersteth, Kenneth Julian Faithfull (1885–1962)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  4. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74205. Retrieved 26 June 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  5. ^ "No. 30101". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 May 1917. pp. 5315–5324.
  6. ^ "Awarded the Military Cross". The Edinburgh Gazette. No. 13186. 2 January 1918. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  7. ^ "No. 31893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1920. p. 5347.
  8. ^ "No. 40005". The London Gazette. 3 November 1953. p. 5857.
  9. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995
Church of England titles
Preceded by Archdeacon of Maidstone
1942–1958 		Succeeded by
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