fireworks displays for entertainment. Bickerton's idea for the property was to create a new form of society based around his socialist beliefs, however this social experiment was discontinued after several years. From 1903 the property was turned more into a theme park to provide family income, with a zoo, 7,000 person amphitheatre, conservatory, aquariums, cinema, medicine and fireworks factories, and mock naval battles on a man-made lake – it attracted hundreds of thousands of people over the coming years. In the end the Pleasure Gardens as they were called started running at a loss and was closed by 1914. Hope for theory recognition In 1910 after significant developments in the astronomic field Bickerton believed he had another chance to get his Partial impact theory recognised. He went to London the same year, leaving his wife and five sons and two daughters in charge of the Wainoni home. Bickerton hoped he could get support from his most famous student Ernest Rutherford who commented on the theory: “the only satisfactory theory of accounting for the remarkable phenomena observed at the time of the appearance of a new star”. Rutherford wasn't an astronomer though, and he failed to sway opinion. Bickerton wasn't able to provide new evidence to explain his theory, and could only repeat what he previously thought. The theory did achieve some recognition by being included in authoritative writings as a possible explanation in the appearance of novae. Some years later Rutherford showed in experiments that third bodies would be produced by atomic impacts resulting in disintegration of one of the atoms. Later life His wife having died in 1919, Bickerton, aged 79 Bickerton was married again to Mary Wilkinson in 1920. He wrote a number of books during his life including: The Romance of the Heavens, The Romance of the Earth, and The Perils of a Pioneer. Sometimes close to destitution he never lost hope that his theory would one day be recognised. He died on 21 January 1929 holding the title of Professor Emeritus of Canterbury College. Legacy The suburb Wainoni is now an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand – taken from the name of Bickerton's home translated from Māori meaning "the bend in the water" Bickerton St in Christchurch was named after him, and is in the location of the original Wainoni Home An asteroid found in 1989 is named after him: 4837 Bickerton References 1842 births