John Bicknell solicitor to the Admiralty and the Prince Regent, became father-in-law to John Constable. His eldest daughter Maria Elizabeth Bicknell married Constable in 1816. John Bicknell John Bicknell, the elder (baptised 1746 – 1787) was an English barrister and writer. He was co-author with Thomas Day of the abolitionist poem "The Dying Negro" from 1773. Bicknell has also been credited with "Musical Travels through England", a pseudonymous satire on Charles Burney. The second son of Robert Bicknell of the Inner Temple, he was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1761. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1769.
Jessie Bicknell Bicknell was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross for her wartime services. In 1917 Bicknell returned to New Zealand and her role as a hospital inspector. In 1923, Hester Maclean retired and Bicknell became director of the Division of Nursing in the Department of Health, and matron in chief of the Army Nursing Service. As part of her preparation for her appointment she was sent to England to observe new developments and became even more committed to nurse education; on her return she attended the Registered Nurses' Association conference in Dunedin and advocated for university training for nurses.