MR THOMAS EDWARDS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2185, 10 July 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

MR THOMAS EDWARDS.

Thom*s Edwards, the' Banff naturalist, who attained wide famn by the strange story of his life written by Samuel Smiles, died on Tuesday, the 27th April, after a prolonged illness. Mr Edwards was born on Christmas Day, 1814. at Gouport, Portsmouth, where his father, tt private in the Fi feature Militia, was stationed after returninir from tho Peninsular War. The elder Edwards, who was a handloom weaver, subsequently settled in Aberdeen. Euly in life Thomas Edwards showed indications of a great lore of animals, inse-ts^and creatures of every description. He made nxtensive excursion in search of specimens, and many amusing anecdotes are told to illustrate his extreme fondness for even the must repulsive subjects in the animal creation. To his mother he win a source of constant trouble, for she disliked the " creepy " creatures which the boy constantly brought home in his pockeN, in his cap, or concealed about his body, It is related that on one occasion he took off his shirt to wrap a bees' " byke " iv it. He was an unmanageable boy with no love of books. He had been discharged from three schools before he was six years old, partly on account of a habit of playing truant and partly because he alarmed his fellow-scholars by bringing jackdaws, worms, bettles, and other objectionable creatures into school with him. Edwards was sent to work at n. tobacco factory at the age of six, aud subsequently to Grandholm wool mill. He had there the opportunity of indulging to the full his cra/e for natural object^, and pome remarkable stories are told of his expeditions. At 11 he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and at the age of 18 he had undergone many severe trials. He joined the militia, but his love of insects proved fatal to his military ambition, When at drill one day a butterfly fluttered past and Edward forgetting discipline broke from the ranks, pursued, and captured the insect. He was brought back a prisoner and subsequently discharged. In his 20th year Edwards went to work as a shoemaker at Banff, and there he pursued so successfully his researches in natural history that he added a great deal to his scientific store of knowledge. When Edwards married at 23, his wages were 9s 6d a week, and he had to work till late in the evening all the year round, but he often spent nights in tha fields and caves searching for insects and strange flowers. For 15 years he carried on the most of his researches by night and he had many narrow escapes by reason of the eagerness with which he pursued his object. He completed, however, a splendid collection, and in 1846 exhibited it in Aberdeen. The exhibition was a failure and he had to sell the collection for £20 to defray the expenses. He then set to work to form another collection and was most successful. His researches added greatly to the knowledge of natural history, as he embodied his ney discoveries in papers written to scientific magazines. In 1866 Edwards was elected a member of several leading scientific societies. Lately he had acted as curator of the Banff Museum. After the publication of his biography by Smiles, Edwards's genius was pnblioiy recognised by a presentacioa of £333 made to him in Aberdeen, and lie was awarded by the Queen a ponsiow of £50 a-year.

King Frederick VI. of Denmark, while travelling through Jutland, one day entered a village school, and found the children in it lively and intelligent, and quite ready to answer his questions. " Well, youngsters," he said, " what are the names of the greatest Kings of Denmark?" With one accord they cried out, "Canute the Great, Waldomar, and Christian IV." Just then a little girl, to whom the schoolmaster had whispered something, stood up and raised her hand. "Do you know another V" asked the King. " Yes ; Frederick VI. !" "What great actions did he perform?" The girl hung her head and stammered out, "I don't know." "Be comforted, my child, said the King, "I don't know