Thomas Edgecumbe Hickman

Thomas Edgecumbe Hickman DSO (25 July 1859 23 October 1930) was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician.[1][2]

Hickman was one of sixteen children of Sir Alfred Hickman, industrialist and member of parliament for Wolverhampton West.[1][2] Educated at Cheltenham School, in 1881 he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot, which became the 2nd Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment in July of the same year.[2] From 1884 to 1894 and again from 1896 to 1900 he was attached to the Egyptian Army, serving in the Camel Corps during the Mahdist War.[1][2] He was awarded the Osminieh Order (fourth class)[3] and Order of the Medjidie (fourth class)[4] by the Khedive of Egypt, and made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order.[5] He also served in the Second Anglo-Boer War, and he remained in South Africa until 1908.[1] He was placed on half-pay on return to the United Kingdom, and officially retired from the army with the rank of brigadier-general in April 1914.[2]

Hickman entered politics, and was elected as Conservative member of parliament for Wolverhampton South at the general election of January 1910.[1] He held the seat until its abolition at the 1918 general election.[1] With the outbreak of World War I Hickman returned to the army, and was appointed general officer commanding the 109th Brigade, 36th (Ulster) Division, in September 1914.[2] He remained with the brigade in France until 1916, then involving himself in recruitment activities.[1]

At the 1918 general election he was elected as Coalition Conservative MP for the new seat of Wolverhampton Bilston.[1] He retired from parliament at the next election in 1922.[1] He was the director of a number of companies and was master of the Albrighton Hunt. He died at his residence, Wergs Hall, near Wolverhampton, aged 71.[1][6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "Obituary: Brigadier-General Hickman". The Times. 25 October 1930. p. 17.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bourne, John. "Thomas Edgecumbe Hickman". Centre for First World War Studies. University of Birmingham. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  3. "From the London Gazette". The Times. 28 August 1886. p. 11.
  4. "From the London Gazette". The Times. 18 January 1890. p. 10.
  5. "From the London Gazette". The Times. 9 November 1889. p. 8.
  6. "Wills & Bequests: General Hickman's Estate". The Times. 19 January 1931. p. 17.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir Henry Norman
Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South
January 19101918
Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton Bilston
19181922
Succeeded by
Charles Howard-Bury