Vernon Edwards

Between 1930 and 1948 Bolton Museum purchased a series of models of pre-historic creatures from R.F. Damon & Co. of London. They had been created by the noted modelmaker, Vernon Edwards.

Edwards had been in the Navy, but upon his retirement he began making models for the British Museum of Natural History in London. Apparently, modelling had been a traditional family hobby.

Each model was to scale and was based on the latest scientific ideas about the animals. Although most are no longer scientifically accurate, they are of great historical significance.

His models were photographed by a company called Camerascopes Ltd and were used to illustrate the 1934 book “The Dinosaurs: A Short History of a Great Group of Extinct Reptiles”. This book was by W.E. Swinton of the British Museum of Natural History and was the first public science book dedicated to the dinosaurs.

All the models are currently on display at Bolton Museum.