William Hugh Edwards (born 29 July 1933) is a

Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

former journalist, author and marine photographer who has written numerous books on maritime, local and natural history and diving.

Shipwrecks

Edwards played a major part in the exploration of

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

shipwrecks of the 17th and 18th centuries on the Western Australia coast. He was recognised as primary discoverer of the ''

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

'' and '' Zeewyk''.National Centre for History Education
''The Batavia and Her Detectives''

Books and awards

His book '' Islands of Angry Ghosts'' on his expedition to the site of ''

'', lost in the Abrolhos Islands in 1629, won the '' Sir Thomas White Memorial Prize'' for the best book written by an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n in 1966. It covers the loss of the Dutch East Indiaman, the

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

and massacre on the island, and the retributions. ''Wreck on the Half Moon Reef'' is another of Edwards' books, on the loss of ''Zeewyk'' in 1727. Recent titles include ''Shark – The Shadow Below'', and ''Port of Pearls'' (on the north-west town of Broome and its pearling industry). Edwards' autobiography ''Dead Men's Silver'' detailing 60 years of diving, shipwreck discovery and salvage, was published in 2011. He lives in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia and was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

on 8 June 2009.

Works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Hugh Living people Photographers from Western Australia Historians from Western Australia Writers from Perth, Western Australia Historians of the Dutch East India Company 1933 births