Frank Biddles

Captain Frank Biddles
Born	1851 Mount Barker, South Australia
Died	1932

Captain Frank Biddles (1851-1932) was a pearler from Broome, Western Australia.

As captain of the Alto in 1901, he was involved in rescuing 121 people following the wrecking of the SS Karrakatta in King Sound.^[1]

At the 1901 state election in Western Australia, Biddles stood for the seat of West Kimberley, as an Oppositionist (opponent of the government of George Throssell). He was defeated by the sitting member, Alexander Forrest, who supported Throssell's government.^[2]

He retired to Fremantle in 1902 (aged 51). In 1909 he married Blanche Isobel Brodrick (youngest daughter of G. W. Brodrick, a solicitor from New Zealand). They would go on to have two sons and a daughter.^[3]

In 1912 he had the Princess Theatre built. In 1913 or '14 he moved to Ivanhoe, a large residence on the corner of Ord and High Streets, where his family lived until 1948.^[4] Biddles also served as a JP in the Fremantle police courts.^[5] He died in 1932.^[6]

References

1. "CABLEGRAMS". Zeehan and Dundas Herald (Tas. : 1890 - 1922). Tas.: National Library of Australia. 3 April 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
2. Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics : Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, [W.A.]: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0730984095.
3. "BIDDLES—BRODRICK". Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 26 June 1909. p. 41. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
4. "Ivanhoe". 1914.
5. "FREMANTLE". The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 6 July 1925. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
6. "THE LATE CAPTAIN BIDDLES". Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 26 June 1932. p. 8 Section: First Section. Retrieved 6 November 2015.

Further reading

• Ferguson, Gerald Richard (2001). Pearls of the Past: a Biography of one of Australia's Pioneers, Captain Frank Biddles. G.R. Ferguson. ISBN 978-0-9579207-0-5.
• "A WEALTHY ESTATE". Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947). Qld.: National Library of Australia. 26 July 1932. p. 7. Retrieved 6 November 2015.