Frederick Wallace Edwards, 1888-1940

Abstract F. W. Edwards was born at Fletton, Peterborough, on 28 November 1888, and his premature death took place at Letchworth on 15 November 1940—within a few days of his fiftysecond birthday. He was a son of Cephas Luther Edwards, who came of a line of farmers and craftsmen of Welsh origin that had settled in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire for several generations. Although a commercial traveller by profession, Edwards’s father had an unusual interest in philosophy. When he retired his business colleagues were astonished by his selection of a set of Greek classics as a parting gift. Edwards’s mother was Miss Automella Sargent, daughter of a solicitor and of Hugenot descent. She had a strongly developed personality and was keenly devoted to outdoor nature. O f their children Frederick was the eldest of three brothers, of whom the youngest (D. L. Edwards) is now director of the Norman Lockyer Observatory at Sid— mouth, and the second brother (W. N. Edwards) is keeper of the Geological Department of the British Museum (Natural History). After a brief period at a private school the brothers went to the then newly opened Cambridge and County School for Boys. They all had developed great interest in the world of nature around them and were fortunate in coming under the influence of a stimulating biology teacher in the person of Dr Maria Dawson, who had previously been a pupil of Professor H. Marshall Ward, F.R.S. Dr Dawson recalls the great devotion shown by Frederick to both zoology and botany and his enthusiasm for field work along with the Natural History Club.