Hugh Edwards born 1932 is a Western Australian author and marine photographer who has written numerous books on maritime, local and natural history and diving.

Shipwrecks

He played a major part in the discovery of the famous Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 shipwrecks of the 17th and 18th centuries on the Western Australian coast.

Books and awards

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

Batavia (ship)

Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...

, lost in the Abrolhos Islands in 1629, won the Sir Thomas White Memorial Prize for the best book written by an Australian in 1966. It covers the loss of the Dutch East Indiaman, the mutiny

Mutiny

Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...

 and massacre on the island, and the retributions.

Wreck on the Half Moon Reef is another of Edwards' books, on the loss of the Zeewyk in 1727. Recent titles include Shark - The Shadow Below, and Port of Pearls (on the north-west town of Broome

Broome, Western Australia

Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...

and its pearling industry). He lives in Perth, Western Australia and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on 8 June 2009.