John Pidgeon
PIDGEON, John, MICE FRCI (1859-1920)
John Pidgeon was born in County Kildare, Ireland on October 7,1859. He was the son of John Pidgeon. He studied engineering under James Price MA MICE, and in 1882 went to South Africa to join the Government Railways Department as a draughtsman. He was subsequently appointed as an assistant engineer on construction. He returned to Ireland in 1886.
Later in 1886 Pidgeon travelled to Australia arriving at Albany on the “Carthage” on September 20, 1886. He then worked as an assistant engineer on the Western Australian Land Company’s Great Southern Railway from Beverley to Albany.
On October 24, 1888, Pidgeon married the daughter of prominent Albany businessman William Grills Knight. Following his marriage to Ada Constance Knight they had five sons, one of whom was killed in action in WW I. Their middle son, John Ashe Pidgeon, was an engineer with the Midland Railway.
In 1891 Pidgeon was elected a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute (now known as the Royal Commonwealth Society). Also in 1891, he became Resident Engineer in the WA Government Railways at Geraldton. In this role he was the construction engineer for the Geraldton to Mullewa Railway Line. In 1897 he returned to Albany as Resident Engineer. From 1900 to 1903 he was the District Engineer, Eastern Goldfields moving from there to take up the role of District Engineer Perth.
In 1915 Pidgeon enlisted in the Army, despite being well over the age limit. His previous military experience, including three years in the Australian Intelligence Corps and four years as Commanding Officer of the 13th Field Engineers, allowed him to enlist at the rank of Major. He embarked for Egypt on HMAT “Ceramic” on November 23, 1915. He served in Egypt and France, but was allowed to return home for family reasons as his wife had contracted tuberculosis. He returned to Fremantle on HMAT “Nestor” on March 9, 1917.
Pidgeon was Senior District Engineer and Deputy Chief Engineer for the Way and Works Branch in the WA Government Railways in 1920.
John Pidgeon died at his home in Mount Lawley on November 22, 1920, having been in poor health. He was survived by his wife and four of his sons. His wife only lived a few more years, succumbing to tuberculosis in 1922.
John Pidgeon was a founding member of the WA Institution of Engineers and was a member of its Council from 1910 to 1913.
References:
J. S. Battye (ed), Cyclopedia of Western Australia, vol 1 (Adel, 1912)
Guildford Anzacs, http://www.guildfordanzacs.org.au/anzac/513 accessed December 23, 2019
West Australian, 23.11.1920, p7
