Bitchener was born in 1864 in Stagsden, Bedfordshire, England.[1] His father was Alfred Bitchener, who was born in 1844 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.[2] His mother was Mary Ann Bitchener (née Welch), and his parents had married on 9 February 1864. John Bitchener had two younger sisters. After his wife's death, Alfred Bitchener decided to emigrate to New Zealand together with his sister Anne, who had married a brother of his late wife. The Bitchener and Welch families arrived in Lyttelton Harbour in January 1875 on the Lady Jocelyn[3] and the Welchs had two infants at the time.[4]
Alfred Bitchener moved to the Waimate District and worked as a farm labourer for three or four years, and then became a saw milling contractor.[2] John Bitchener received his education at Waimate Public School and then joined his father as a contractor in Waimate, before moving to Southland for four years.[1] His father bought a farm in Hook, some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of Waimate, and John Bitchener moved to live there, too.[2]
Like his father,[2] John Bitchener joined many organisations and took leading roles.[1] He was chairman of the Hook School Committee, he was a member of the Waimate County Council for eleven years, was a member of the Timaru Boys' High School Board including chairman for some time, was a member of the Timaru Harbour Board, was on the Waimate High School Board, and was president of the South Canterbury Farmers' Union. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Farmers' Union in Wellington, was chairman of the Waimate Cooperative Flour Milling Company, and a director of the Canterbury Farmers' Cooperative Association.[1]
While living in Southland, Bitchener married Mary Laughton from Scotland in Invercargill in 1887. Their son was John Alfred Bitchener.[9] They had a daughter, Jessie Laughton Bitchener, who died on 6 December 1895 at age four.[10] Another daughter, Eva Laughton Bitchener, lived until old age and died in 1985 aged 89.[10] His father, Alfred Bitchener, died suddenly in January 1918 at Waimate.[11] His wife, Mary, died on 17 August 1946.[10] John Bitchener died on 10 March 1952.[10] Apart from John Alfred Bitchener, all of these are buried in the Bitchener family grave at Old Waimate Cemetery.[10]
