Edward william cole biography

Australian bookseller (1832–1918)

Edward William Cole, also known as "E. W. Cole of the Book Arcade", (4 January 1832 – 16 December 1918) was a bookseller and founder of the Cole's Book Arcade, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.^[2]

Early life

Cole was born at Woodchurch, Kent, England, to Harriet Cole, on 4 January 1832.

Harriet's husband, Amos Cole, was on the hulks in Plymouth at the time of Edward's conception and therefore Amos could not be Edward's father, whose identity remains unknown.^[3] Harriet herself was both illegitimate and illiterate.

Cole received little formal education and he himself confirmed that "he had as a boy only six months' schooling."^[4]

When Cole was four, despite no record of a divorce, his mother Harriet married again to Thomas Watson, on 27 February 1836, just two months before Amos was transported to Van Diemen's Land on 24 April, 1836.^[3] Aged 18, Cole moved to London