John Louis Edwards
| First name | John Louis |
|---|---|
| Last name | Edwards |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 11/2/1844 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1859 |
| Submitted by | Patricia Braden |
Story
It was only after John Louis Edwards died in 1929, that his wife Dorothy opened his locked ‘Pandora\’s Box’, and found that she had actually been married to John Edward Price born in England in 1844 – What a shock!
Young John had run away from England when he was about 12 years old, and had stowed away on a Naval Ship. When discovered, in order to avoid punishment, the crew encouraged the young lad to ‘join the Navy’. After many adventures, and many countries, John arrived in Australia. He decided to stay and ‘jumped ship’, becoming a ‘deserter from the Navy’. As this offence was punishable by death, he changed his name to John Louis Edwards, and didn\’t tell anybody, as punishment would befall anyone who knew his crime. Also in John\’s box, was a Medallion for the heroic ‘Rescue efforts’ by William Booth during a shipwreck in South Australian waters in 1859. Why was this medallion so precious to John? And why had he kept it hidden for nearly 70 years? Did he use this name also? Was he a hero who couldn\’t tell anybody? He apparently then had more adventures as a member on the ‘William Landsborough Explorations of Northern Queensland’ and was possibly a member of the party in their search for Bouke and Wills in 1860-61. John said that he had worked amongst the horses when he was with Landsborough, and that he had to polish ‘Lord Landsborough\’s’ boots every day, even in the mud and rain. He told his son that he was a member of the party when they found the now famous Macadamia nut.
As time went on, John had Furniture/Importing shops in Balmain and Berry NSW. The crockery came out in barrels, and there was a mixed barrel of jewellery Ð some of it was good and some of it was horrible. John\’s son, George, said he could remember his stepmother, Dorothy, sitting over one of these barrels, sorting out the good jewellery from the bad and pricing it accordingly. In John\’s ‘box’ were unanswered letters from 50 years previously, written by his parents and sisters in London, begging his friend ‘John Edwards’ to write and let them know if ‘their John’ was dead or alive. He had written his first letter to them nearly 20 years after he ran away, but John had been unable to write back again for fear of discovery of his new identity. John had a total of 10 children, (7 living), and his grandchildren described him as a ‘lovely old man who showered them with affection’.