11506
HICKINBOTHAM, Alan Robb
| Service Numbers: | 38150, S73158 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 13 March 1917, Geelong, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 10th (SA) Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 15 August 1898 |
| Home Town: | Moolap, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Geelong High School, Melbourne University, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | 2 July 1959, aged 60 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Freeling WW2 Memorial, St Albans Concord Division O.S.T. No 8 Honor Roll |
Biography contributed by Robert Wight
Alan Robb Hickinbotham was born at Geelong, son of David and Annie (nee Laurie), and spent his childhood on the family property at St. Albyns. An excellent student at school, he went from Geelong High School to Melbourne University.
His studies here were interrupted by the war, and he spent two years with the 108th Howitzer Battery in France in 1917-1918, before returning to complete a science degree with honours and a Bachelor of Education Degree.
Hickinbotham worked for several years as a teacher at Geelong Grammar School and Geelong College, the Bendigo School of Mines, Scots College (Sydney) and Haileybury College. He was science master a Longerenong Agricultural College from 1926, after which he accepted a position as Lecturer in Physical and Chemical Sciences at Roseworthy in 1929.
In 1948 Hickinbotham moved to the Government Chemistry Department. His interest in wine making led him to write a thesis on the subject, and in the 1950s he bought into a winery at Greenock. He also bought into a house construction business in partnership with his wife and eldest son, Alan, in 1954. He died in 1959.
Source: State Library SA