In childhood, his father, William Bidder, a stonemason, exhibited him as a "calculating boy", first in local fairs up to the age of six, and later around the country.

In this way he was introduced to engineering and parliamentary practice at a period of great activity which saw the establishment of the main features and principles that have since governed English railway construction.

In 1837 he was engaged with R. Stephenson in building the Blackwall railway, and it was he who designed the peculiar method of disconnecting a carriage at each station while the rest of the train went on without stopping, which was employed in the early days of that line when it was worked by means of a cable.

[5] Bidder also investigated the practicality of steam trawlers in conjunction with Samuel Lake,[6] also of Dartmouth, and proved to be a technical success, but not at that time to be commercially viable.

[7] Bidder died at his residence of Ravensbury Dartmouth, Devon, aged 72, on 20 September 1878 and was buried at Stoke Fleming in St Peters church.

[9][10] His son, George Parker Bidder Jr. (1836–1896), who inherited much of his father's calculating power, was a successful parliamentary counsel and an authority on cryptography.