A mingled yarn': Henry edwards, thespian and naturalist, in the austral land of plenty, 1853-1866

Abstract

Henry Edwards was a man of diverse interests across the arts and sciences. In the realm of so-called 'amateur' science, he perhaps had few contemporary rivals. An actor by profession, Edwards came to Melbourne as a young man in the early 1850s, and was involved in the burgeoning scientific circles of the period. He made many collections around Melbourne, and the National Museum of Victoria's collection of Australian insects was partly established from his private material. Edwards left Australia for America in 1866, and died in New York in 1891. His private entomological collection, one of the largest in the world at the time, was acquired by the American Museum of Natural History. Edwards h..