Edsel Francis Ward
- montvillehistorygr
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
1930 – 2025
Neighbour, Adventurer, Chorister, Woodie
The neighbours of 203 Western Avenue remember Edsel as a delightful neighbour, gregarious, quick-witted and charming with a wicked sense of humour. They tell of a sprightly nonagenarian always willing to lend a helping hand and give anything a go – with a story.
Edsel was born in Wynnum, Brisbane in 1930. Schooling wasn’t much fun for him because he was a ‘leftie’ and suffered accordingly in those days. He left school after Grade 10 and took on an apprenticeship with a plasterer however his real passions were singing and bush walking in the National Parks of South East Queensland.
The Adventurer
In the early 50s, Edsel hitch-hiked around Australia – his first travel adventure but he was now firmly hooked by the travel bug. He and his bush-walking mate, Keith Basset, then started planning an overseas trip. Initially, they thought to explore the wilds of Canada but Edsel had a brain wave. Why not go overland through South Asia and Europe to Great Britain? They bought a Japanese, ‘Rabbit’ motor scooter, named it Mirrabooka (An Aboriginal word for the Southern Cross) and had bespoke panniers fitted to carry their gear.
They were ready to start early in 1960. They got themselves to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) by boat and armed with Australian produced road maps of variable accuracy, set off on the adventure of a lifetime. Their journey lasted 12 months and covered some 24,000 miles of rugged terrain across two continents.
The Asian leg saw them starting in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), travelling up India’s east coast, west across northern India with a detour into Nepal, then crossing Pakistan, Persia (Iraq) and Iran before arriving in Turkey. From there, they entered Europe, heading north-west through the heart of Europe to the Scandinavian countries before turning south through western Europe to France. Here Mirrabooka (nicknamed Mirra) died and they crossed the channel by ferry to get the scooter re-built while they travelled the UK without it.
Arriving back home, Edsel married his sweetheart, Lorraine who he had met through bushwalking. Lorraine admitted years later that she heard him before she saw him but whether she was referring to his singing or his talking (or both) is not clear. They settled in Brisbane, first in Morningside then Hawthorne and had three children: Gareth, Meredith and Ewan. Edsel became a sales rep. for North Coast Sawmills and later started up his own company, Edlaw. As a timber merchant, he specialised in pole homes and worked with architects and engineers in their design and build.
Life on the Blackall Range
When the ‘kids’ had finished high school in 1989, Edsel and Lorraine moved to Flaxton and built their own pole home in Carramar Court before downsizing to 203 Western Avenue in 2016. For most of this time, Edsel was active member of the Mapleton Choir and in 2000, joined the Blackall Range Woodcrafters Guild.
A chorister
Long time friend, Brad Drew, remembers Edsel as a member of the Mapleton Choir.
“We have sung with the choir for well over twenty years now and Edsel was a firmly established, very active member when we first joined its ranks. He had come from a long-established songster past back in Brisbane, broadened and emboldened by the theatrical aspects of singing back then. A natural funny man and impulsive clown, he revelled in musicale, musical comedy, all of the old Broadway shows and, possibly above all else, Gilbert and Sullivan. I suspected he had always been a larger-than-life character in these roles, ever open for the moment to flaunt his ever-ready sense of humour.
He loved his choir to the end and was acutely frustrated when mobility issues prevented his continued participation. He had always been there for it, ready to help out practically where ever he could, having been responsible for the construction of a series of timber risers which the choir used for years in the Mapleton and, later, the Kureelpa Halls.”
Some years ago, Brad also helped Edsel publish two books on his great ‘boys own’ adventures with mate, Keith Basset, riding a motor scooter from Ceylon to England in 1960. Scooter Nomads tells of their adventures through South Asia while Scooter Nomads 2 recounts their travels through Europe. They reveal the harrowing excitement and challenge of crossing unknown frontiers of geography and culture.
Joining the Woodies
John Muller, who shared over 20 years as a Woodie with Edsel after knowing him through the timber industry also formed a lasting friendship with him.
He recalls “Edsel and Lorraine joined the Blackall Range Woodcrafters Guild (the Woodies) in July, 2000 with the very early membership numbers of 88 and 89. The guild was only four years old at the time and still in its first premises, the old packing shed on Western Avenue, Montville.
I joined in June, 2005 when the guild had moved to its permanent home at the Montville Sports Ground, not long after selling our timber engineering business and moving to the Range. In our business we had a loyal and reliable customer, Edsel Ward who I had spoken to many times over the phone but had never met. On joining the Woodies, I finally met him and with our shared history and interests we became good friends.
As a member of the Woodies, Edsel fitted in so well with its ideals of sharing knowledge and being creative, and in the camaraderie of like-minded people pursuing a rewarding past-time in retirement. As a BRWG Woodie he was always a cheerful and contributing member respected by everyone.
In 2022, Edsel moved into care at Erowal, Maleny. Like most woodies who had access to timber during their working life, he had accumulated a significant stock of wood for his hobby. Clearing out his workshop was quite a job.
After moving to Erowal, Edsel enjoyed regular visits to the Woodies where no more hands-on woodwork was done but a lot of talking and coffee. Everyone enjoyed his yarns. We celebrated his 90th birthday with a wooden cake with 9 candles, one for each decade.”
Edsel will be missed by his family, his neighbours and all those who shared his passions for adventure, music and woodcraft.
Vale, Edsel Ward.
Doug Patterson
(July, 2025)
Comments