VICKERY, Frank (1880-1970)
Ebenezer Frank Vickery was was born on 12 January 1880 at Burburgate, near Gunnedah, New South Wales. He was the grandson of Ebenezer Vickery (1827-1906) who built up a vast commercial empire. His interests included coal-mines in the Hunter and Illawarra districts. From 1896, the family was the major shareholder of the Coal Cliff Coal Co. On 31 January 1902, the Vickery business was incorporated as a public company under the style of E. Vickery and Sons Ltd. It became a proprietary company in May 1937.
Frank Vickery inherited much of his grandfather's wealth and continued the family's involvement in the Methodist Church and its support of other charitable causes. One of his projects concerned Coalcliff where he envisioned the creation of a model village for the colliery's workers in 1919. His scheme involved building 50 cottages using profits from the mine. It never came to fruition as the scheme was opposed by other directors of the mine.
Vickery continued his charitable efforts elsewhere including providing land for a retirement village at Sylvania and donating the family home at Waverley for use as a hospital. He died at Bellvue Hill in 1970.
| Carr, R 'E F Vickery and his dream of a New World on the South Coast of NSW' in RAHS Journal vol 102 part 1 pp 88-110 | |
| Australian Dictionary of Biography |