Edgar Stead

Edgar Fraser Stead(22 October 1881 – 7 February 1949) was a New Zealandornithologist,engineer, horticulturist and marksman. He was born inChristchurchand educated there atChrist's CollegeandWanganui Collegiate School.He then studiedelectrical engineeringatCanterbury College,followed by three years atSchenectady, New York,at the research laboratories of theGeneral Electric Company.

Following the death of his father,George Gatonby Stead,in 1908, Stead returned to New Zealand and, in 1914, bought a property atIlam,close to Christchurch, on 20 ha of land adjacent to the riverAvon.He had inherited enough to not have to pursue a career in engineering and he devoted the rest of his life to ornithology,angling,huntingandsports shooting,as well as to growing and hybridising prizerhododendronsandazaleason his property. His collection eventually came into the possession of theUniversity of Canterbury,which maintains it asIlam Gardens.He became an expert at all these pursuits and acquired an international reputation for hismarksmanship,winning competitions atMonte Carloand elsewhere. He frequently travelled toBritainwhere he acted as a rhododendron judge at theChelsea Flower Show.In 1915 he married Irene Mary Phillips in Christchurch, with whom he had a son, Roland.

Ornithology

Stead acquired a detailed knowledge of the birds ofCanterbury,as well as of New Zealand's offshore islands through many field trips. He built up an important collection of skins and eggs which was bequeathed to theCanterbury Museum.He wrote many papers for theTransactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealandand other journals, as well as a book,The Life Histories of New Zealand Birds,published in 1932. He named two new subspecies offernbirdand a new subspecies ofbush wrenfromStewart Island(Stead's bush wren,Xenicus longipes variabilis). His field studies and contributions tonatural historyand ornithology were recognised in 1948 by his election as afellowof theRoyal Society of New Zealand.

Stead died at his home in Ilam, survived by his wife and Roland. In 2011, Roland left $110,000 for the maintenance of the Ilam gardens.

References

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