Obituary Edgar Dell

2010·3.1 MB·English

by  John Dell

OBITUARY
EDGAR DELL
Born: 28 November 1901
Died: 18 April 2008
Edgar Dell photo taken ca. 1972.
Edgar Dell was born in London Rossner was a gifted artist and
on 28 November 1901, the third among other things painted the
of four children to Edwin ceiling of the Ball Room in
William Dell and Emily Blanche Buckingham Palace for Prince
(nee Rossner) Dell. To put this Albert and Queen Victoria. Other
time in perspective it is worth examples of Carl Rossner’s art¬
noting that Queen Victoria had work are the ornate ceilings in
died only a few months before. Singer’s Oldway Mansion in
People’s ability to fly didn’t Paignton, Devon.
happen until nearly three years
Edgar’s mother had a fondness for
later with the first flight by the
the arts including Shakespeare,
Wright brothers.
and she played the piano at
home. One of Edgar’s favourite
Edgar’s maternal grandfather was
pieces of music was Chopin’s
Carl Rossner who moved to
Opus 10, Etude No 3 in E major,
England from Hanover, Germany
which his mother often played.
and worked for the family of
Isaac Merritt Singer, the inventor The world that Edgar lived in as
of the sewing machine. Carl a young boy was both rich in
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botanical knowledge as well as in his artwork as Dudley Heath and
the arts. He grew up surrounded Edgar took his advice to only use
by plants as his father was a two names, and never used his
nurseryman who managed his middle name, Hope, in any of his
own business, primarily artwork signatures.
responsible for the bedding
To order to save money to further
plants, shrubs and trees of many
his art career, Edgar travelled to
private estates in London. The
Canada and worked on a wheat
botanical and horticultural
farm in the prairies, for a summer
knowledge were to stand him in
and autumn, before returning to
good stead in his early adulthood.
London and attending another
Not only did he have the whole
year of night schooling. He then
nursery as a back-yard as a boy,
saw advertised a call for workers
but also Golder’s Green and
in Western Australia. However,
Hampstead Heath were within
unlike the Canadian scheme
walking distance and together
where the Canadian Government
with the Smith boys he and his
paid the sea fare both ways and
brother Robert regularly visited
the railway fare to the point of
these areas and made them their
pickup by the farmer, the
own.
Australian scheme was quite
Edgar attended a public school miserable in that the traveler had
where the classrooms were mixed to pay his fare back from the
boys and girls. However, unlike wages he earned. Consequently,
today, the girls entered from one Edgar arrived in Australia in debt.
side of the room, the boys from The week that Edgar was due to
the other and the playgrounds sail from England, he was
were partitioned on two sides of approached by Curtis Botanical
the classrooms so the sexes could Magazine to become an illustrator
not meet. Edgar graduated from but felt he had to decline as he
school at the age of 14, one year had already committed himself to
after the start of World War I. The the shipping company. This trait
War was to have drastic of not being able to make the best
consequences on his father’s decision for himself, in due
business which never recovered. consideration of others, was to
haunt him for the rest of his life.
After the War, Edgar became an
assistant draftsman, working for a As it was, Edgar parted without
large firm in central London by saying goodbye to his Mother and
day and attending paid night Father, nor to his sisters who he
classes in drawing. His teacher loved dearly, because he knew he
was Mr Ernest Dudley Heath, an was returning, but it was never
accomplished painter, who to be...and the remorse for never
became principal of the seeing his family again stood
Hampstead Garden Suburb heavily on his conscience,
School of Arts and Crafts. especially in the latter years of his
Interestingly, he always signed life.
185
The ship carrying Edgar to his working on an orchard in Bickley
selected destination in Australia in the hills near Carmel. This was
could not dock at Fremantle due 1924. Shortly after this, he formed
to storms and carried onto a lifelong friendship with the
Melbourne. After several days he ornithologist Will Foaring. This
was able to get a ship back to unfortunately ended with Will’s
Fremantle and arrived to a wharf death in February 1968.
with farmers looking for workers
In the late 1920’s Edgar, on advice
and commercial touts wanting to
from the Agricultural Bank,
make a quid. One of the latter
purchased an old timber mill site
convinced Edgar that Australia
consisting of about 40 acres in
was a dangerous place and to
the bush in Pauli’s Valley near
survive he needed to buy a
Mundaring Weir to start his own
special snake kit at what must
orchard. The timber mill was
have been an exorbitant price,
owned by Port and Honey and
which he duly purchased! In the
operated from about 1907 to 1913
queue for work, he was first
when it closed as timber ran out.
offered a job on a farm in
As children, we were used to
Grasspatch, which he quite liked
finding pieces of the old wooden
the possibility because the name
tramways and metal objects from
sounded horticultural. However,
that time. Apparently the mill
he ended up letting someone else
had been established there due to
take this job and settled for
a fresh-water spring. Driving
Photo taken in 1992 while visiting England at age of 91.
186
through the forest to Mundaring popularity was demonstrated by
Weir it is now hard to imagine the fact that it was reprinted
that horse-drawn wagons once seven times, (in 1938, 1941, 1943,
hauled the sawn timber to the 1945,1947,1950 and 1951).
railhead at Mundaring Weir.
In 1958 this book was revised and
Edgar married Elneth Maureen enlarged to accommodate 80 of
O’Neil on 24 June 1935 and had Edgar Dell’s watercolours and
five sons and two daughters and with an expanded text by
15 grandchildren and at the time Charles Gardner. This book
of his death had 19 great¬ became the major reference book
grandchildren. on WA’s wildflowers for many
years. This book was again
Edgar began a fruitful botanical
revised for a completely new
partnership with Charles
edition in the early 1970’s as
Gardner who had joined the
‘Wildflowers of Western Aus¬
Department of Agriculture as an
tralia’ and was reprinted a
assistant to W.M. Carne in the
number of times.
same year that Edgar arrived in
WA. In 1926, Gardner succeeded A second book titled “Poison
Carne as economic botanist and Plants of South-western Aus¬
plant pathologist and became tralia” was published in 1937. This
Government Botanist and was hugely important for the
curator of the State’s Herbarium pastoral industry in identifying
in 1929. Edgar began utilising his those plants that were re¬
artistic skills and started painting sponsible for large numbers of
Western Australian wildflowers stock deaths. Paintings from this
during the early 1930’s. They book were included in the major
were painted for West Australian hard cover book “The Toxic
Newspapers Ltd, who published Plants of Western Australia” by
one a week as a colour supple¬ C.A. Gardner and H.W. Bennetts
ment to the Western Mail with a in 1956.
botanical description by Charles
Life was incredibly hard during
Gardner. These watercolour
the Great Depression and income
paintings proved so popular that
from the paintings was meagre. To
West Australian Newspapers Ltd
supplement his income Edgar
published them in book form in
began cutting jarrah timber in the
1935 titled ‘West Australian
forest to be used in the Number 1
Wildflowers’.
wood-fired pumping station on
This book was immensely the Mundaring Weir to Kalgoorlie
popular and began to introduce waterpipe. This often necessitated
thousands of Western Aus¬ him camping out in the forest in
tralians and tourists alike to the makeshift camps often in
spectacular beauty of our wild¬ atrocious weather especially in
flowers and helped greatly in winter. Anyone who has worked
increasing awareness and the with jarrah knows just how hard
need for their preservation. Its this timber cutting would have
187
Billardiera floribunda Gastrolobium capitatum
Calytrix fraseri Isopogon dubius
188
been. There were no mechanical Edgar used to go to the kerbside
saws - the trees were felled with markets and later the auction
axes and crosscut saws and the markets in Perth, leaving home
logs cut into either 3 foot or 6 foot about 4 am. Produce was taken
lengths before being split with on an old Fargo truck and later
metal hammers and wedges into on a Morris truck. The latter had
separate billets and transported to doors, which kept out the cold
Mundaring Weir or other air. The children would ride on
transport depots. Later, during the back perched high on the
World War II, Edgar was jute bags of poultry food, en¬
manpowered for timber cutting - joying the view.
his health did not allow him
Flowers especially daffodils and
selection for active duty overseas.
chrysanthemums became a major
love of Edgar as he got older as
During this time, Edgar
these he could manage without
developed his orchard by hand
the use of machinery. He often
clearing the massive trees and
walked the 10 km into
ploughing the land with horses
Kalamunda pushing a wheel¬
before planting fruit trees
barrow of chrysanthemums or
(oranges, mandarins, grapefruit,
daffodils when he was in his 80’s,
pears, cherries, apricots, peaches,
parked the wheelbarrow, and
plums and nectarines). Eventu¬
loaded the bundles of flowers on
ally, in 1951, Edgar purchased a
the bus to take to florists in
little grey Fergie TEA-20 tractor
Perth.
to make the ploughing and
cultivation faster and easier. Edgar was always an avid reader
Edgar always kept poultry for and loved books. Throughout his
eggs and had a range of breeds of life he would often use well-
different colours including the chosen quotes to reinforce his
speckled Plymouth Rocks, Rhode views. To him the original always
Island Reds, black Australorps had to be of prime importance.
and the aggressive white and Modifications or popular versions
black Sussex. Poultry were should be shunned. For example,
becoming increasingly popular “My Fair Lady” should never be
and Edgar built a number of preferred to George Bernard
sheds to house the egg-laying Shaw’s original “Pygmalion”.
hens and the meat-producing Because of his wide knowledge
broiler chickens. Eggs were sold to and interests, especially in
the egg board but the live broilers botany, he encouraged study and
all had to be crated up and was immensely proud when his
transported by truck to pro¬ two youngest children were
cessors in Perth. Edgar was the admitted to university the same
first farmer in Western Australia year to study science.
to grow sweetcorn commercially During the late 70’s and
and other growers copied and a continuing through the 1980’s
new industry had begun. Edgar became progressively blind
189
because of cataracts. However, For someone born before people’s
modern surgery was moving ability to fly it is not surprising
ahead in leaps and bounds and that Edgar had difficulty in
he was able to have both eyes accepting some changes especially
operated on which restored in technology and he mistrusted
almost perfect vision. How little many appliances convinced that
he had been able to see, especially radio waves might impact on the
seeing his children grow older, human brain. One of the
was revealed with his startling newspaper clippings he kept was
comment to one of his sons who - Today’s thought: To err is
was the first to visit him after the human, but to really foul things
operation. “Goodness how old up requires a computer - Paul
you look”! Having regained his Ehlich. In contrast, however, he
eyesight meant that he could strongly advocated using the
now do things he had not newest varieties of fruit and
attempted before. For instance he flowers because of market
had not flown in an aircraft since advantage.
shortly after World War I. In 1992
Edgar’s last years were marked by
at the age of 91 he flew to
increasing frustration at not
England to see his older brother,
Robert, who he hadn’t seen for
about 68 years. Robert had
worked for the London Passenger
Transport Board and its
successors between the ages of 16
and 70, and was Signal Engineer
responsible for the entire
department from 1941.
ABOVE: Edgar Dell
aged 104 with his
daughter Marjory.
LEFT: Visiting his
older brother Robert
in 1992.
190
being able to physically attend to water was available to overcome
his thousands of daffodils that the effects of climate change. His
he grew for supply to florists. final two days were affected by
However with family help in pneumonia and he passed away
planting he remained optimistic peacefully in Swan Districts
and even at the age of 101 Hospital about 2pm on 18 April
imported more bulbs from 2008 aged 106 and 4 months.
Melbourne to expand his
Other biographical information
business! He continued to pick
on Edgar Dell is available in:
daffodils until he was 103. He
Carol Mansfield (1997), ‘Edgar Dell,
preferred to use first one, then
A Singular Talent’, Australian Gar¬
two garden forks in preference to
den History, Vol 9, No.2, Sept-Oct
a walking stick when outside.
1997 pp. 6-8.
Later, in 2005, as he became more
Keighery, G. (2008). ‘Edgar Dell: No¬
frail he transferred to Sunshine
vember 28th 1901-April 18th
Hostel in Lesmurdie, but he still
hoped he might be able to return 2008’. Australian Systematic Botany
to his beloved flowers. Society Newsletter 135, pp. 11-13.
Only a week before his death he
-JOHN DELL and
was suggesting that another bore
BERNARD DELL
and windmill should be
organized to ensure sufficient
191