Edward: Australia’s most famous koala

Florence Oswin Roberts, the proprietor of Broadwater Guest House in Cowes was the only person to ever legally own a koala in Victoria.

His name was Edward.

He was found as  a helpless baby by Mrs Oswin Roberts clinging to its dead mother after the bushfires of 1939.

She took the defenceless creature back to Broadwater to raise it, and was assisted in its care by advice from her friend the famous naturalist Crosbie Morrison.

Her guesthouse became famous in 1939 when she turned it in to a koala hospital.

In the aftermath of the bushfires that had devastated parts of Phillip Island, Mrs Oswin Roberts rescued all the burned and homeless koalas she could find, set them up in hammocks in almost every room and on the verandas, and tended their wounds, hiring nurses to help her.

Edward always thrived under her care, and showed no signs of wanting to return to the bush.

He was allowed his liberty but he preferred the society of humans to that of his fellow creatures, and never wandered.

And so the Chief Inspector of Fisheries and Game gave Mrs Oswin Roberts permission to keep Edward.

She reared him with sweetened warm milk until he was old enough to eat manna gum tips.

Edward became so attached to his mistress that he rarely left her side, although all Phillip Island was his for the roaming.

For seven years, Edward held court at Cowes, receiving thousands of visitors, and regularly having his photo taken with them.

He slept in a special basket, and sat on a cushion in the car when being driven around.

He became famous during the war, making charity appearances for the war effort, and was a great favourite with the guests at Broadwater, as well as the people of Cowes that he met on his travels with his mistress around the town.

Edward died in 1944, reaching only about half the natural life span of a koala.

His death made headline news around Australia at the time, so many lives he had touched,with bulletins across the nation describing him as Australia’s most famous koala.

After his death, he was taken to a taxidermist and is now on display in the Phillip Island and District Historical Society.

As it turned out, Edward should actually have been called Edwina.

A plaque can still be seen today on the site of Edward’s favourite tree, in Dunsmore Road just up from the beach