Obituaries Australia

The Late Mr. H. V. Edwards

A FREQUENT contributor to the 'Sydney Mail' Outdoor Australia page, Henry Vasal Edwards, died at Bega recently. His extensive contributions, under the nom de plumes of 'Bournda,' 'H.V.E.,' and 'Te Whare,' were the work of a man of wide sympathies and keen observation. Born on Monaro, at his father's Maharatta station in the sixties of last century, Mr. Edwards in his youth qualified as a solicitor, but never practised. He loved the open spaces, the spotted gum and burrawang hills, the sassafras gullies, the glittering beaches, and the rocky head lands between Bermagui and Tathra, and there spent much time with his camera and notebook studying reptiles, insects, fishes, birds, and many furry friends. In his youth he was a keen cricketer, and during the eighties of last century, in the annual inter-district matches between Monaro and the South Coast, played alternately at Bega and Cooma. The Tablelanders always depended upon him and his brother W.T. to keep the scorers busy. A lovable friend and a charitable, gentle type was H.V.E. Some years ago he published a book containing an in teresting collection of his observations and photographs, which had a wide circulation. He was closely related to the well-known pioneer Wren and Stiles families of Bega. —'Halby.'