Very Sad News from Wilson Edward Toy SoldiersRandy Bond - 21Dec11 6:37AMFrom John O'Brien Australian Collector:
Sad news about Wlison Edwards Toy Soldiers
I received this email last night from a friend of Craig Pearse of Wilson Edwards Toy Soldiers:
My name is Greg Blake.
I am a good friend and fellow model soldier enthusiast of Craig Pearse of Wilson Edward Toy Soldiers.
It is with immense sadness that I have to tell you that Craig passed away today.
This is as you can imagine a massive shock to his family and all his friends.
I know that you have had some connection to Craig through his beautiful toy soldiers and thought you would like to know.
Could I ask a favor of you John?
Could you please make use of your extensive contacts in the Toy Soldier world and let them know that this has occurred.
Craig apparently was mowing the lawn when he collapsed and died.
I am not sure exactly why this occurred.
It happened this afternoon. (Wednesday)
As far as I am aware, and I knew him very well, he was in the prime of life and had no health issues at all.
The random suddenness of this is a massive shock and a real tragedy as he was really one of life's true blue fellows and a great mate.
Regards and best wishes.
Greg
I am deeply shocked about this, as I have been dealing with Craig for over 10 years, since he commenced making toy soldiers in Australia.
I was in contact with him this week, after receiving a shipment of castings I am about to paint, and there was even a message on his BLOG page today, so that’s even more of a shock.
He was a Sergeant in the Victorian Police force, stationed in Ballarat, and his toy soldier business was he relaxation for the day job.
Any condolences can be sent to his WETS email
soldiers@aapt.net.au
John
1. Randy Bond - 22Dec11 3:18AM
Her is a tribute written by Craig's friend Greg Blake:
Craig Pearse was one of life's true gentlemen and it is with immense sadness that we acknowledge his untimely passing. Craig's passion for Toy Soldiers was boundless and reflected in his tireless enthusiasm for sculpting, painting and displaying his own Wilson Edward Toy Soldiers as well as collecting many other lines of miniatures. I knew Craig for many years and he was for me a true inspiration for opening my eyes to the wonderful world of 54mm model soldiers. Whenever I visited his home he would show me his latest acquisition which would be proudly displayed in one of several glorious glass fronted cabinets. I recall fondly his absolute delight for his lovely collection of Trophy Toy Soldiers including a very impressive collection of Trophy artillery models. It was only this year that Craig began to collect King and Country and I remember the absolute excitement he exhibited when he got to meet with Andy Neilson of King and Country earlier this year.
Craig was a Police Sergeant with the Victoria Police and served the people of Maryborough the town where he lived. He was extremely competent in his job and highly respected by both his police colleagues and the people of Maryborough. As you can imagine his day job came with great challenges and stresses, but Craig was a lucky man for in Wilson Edward Toy Soldiers he had the perfect counter to those stresses. After a hard days toil Craig would delight in losing himself in the world of Wilson Edward where he would meticulously assemble, undercoat, paint, pack and dispatch multitudes of delightful toy soldiers to his growing legion of customers around the world. Craig, along with his brother Jason, established Wilson Edward Toy Soldiers about ten years ago and built the business from the ground up. I can honestly say that Craig's total dedication to his Toy Soldier business would leave me in awe. He seemed to possess tireless energy and his love of the hobby never ever diminished.
Craig's passion was for things Australian and he produced a vast line of Australian First World War figures as well as other figures from Australian history such as the Eureka Stockade and Bushrangers. I had the privilege to sculpt some of these latter figures and working with Craig was a true pleasure. Amongst the ever growing lines of models Craig also produced a wonderful line of figures for the Boxer Rebellion.
It was with the greatest personal pleasure to see him establish his Wilson Edward Blog earlier this year after I had introduced him to the magical world of Blogging. Craig simply thrived on letting everyone know what he was up to with his toy soldiers. It was a mark of his true generosity of spirit that he opened his Blog to other toy soldier enthusiasts to share images of their models.
Craig Pearse was a very close and personal friend. I will miss him immensely as I am sure his passing will be equally regretted by all those people who ever got to know him either personally or through Wilson Edward toy soldiers.
Vale Craig.
|
2. Randy Bond - 22Dec11 3:20AM
Here are samples of Craig's work for those not familiar with Wilson Edward
|
3. M. J. Clitheroe - 23Dec11 2:33AM
I feel I must say how sorry I am for this sad loss.
I only contacted Craig a few months ago to get a list of his wonderful figures to go over after seeing the reference to his palm trees to use with my War Along the Nile set.
It always seems that some are gathered too soon.
|
4. Steve Mills - 7Jan12 6:44PM
Oh no!!! I received my first order from Craig only 2 months ago. That is very sad news.
|
5. - 24Jun12 1:45PM
[Australian Tim Anderson sends along this condolence]
I had some contact with Craig regarding toy soldier models of Pikemen and soldiers at the Eureka Stockade, only by checking links to his site did I discover the sad news today six months later.
I found some google cached pages of his work to link to and made a link to your tribute to Craig.
Bless him and his family, gosh I had a heart attack myself mowing the lawn and could have gone with him around the same time. I loved his work and promoted it on my site.
I had some contact with Craig regarding toy soldier models of Pikemen and soldiers at the Eureka Stockade, only by checking links to his site did I discover the sad news today six months later.
I found some google cached pages of his work to link to and made a link to your tribute to Craig.
Bless him and his family, gosh I had a heart attack myself mowing the lawn and could have gone with him around the same time. I loved his work and promoted it on my site.
Yours Faithfully,
Tim Anderson
|
6. Alexander Jordan - 24Jun12 6:11PM
I would just like to say God Bless Craig Pearce and his family & friends. I'm am new and a relative younger member of this classic toy soldier family/collectors and I'm learing how close-knit this group/hobby is.
Amen.
-Alexander Jordan
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
|
