Edge, Henry Travers
(1867-1946). Edge was a personal pupil of Helena P. Blavatsky who devoted some fifty-eight years of his life to theosophical work. He was born at Cubbington, near Leamington, England, on January 6, 1867. His father, Francis Edge, was a Church of England clergyman; and his mother was Celia Tarratt Edge. Edge was educated at Malvern College and King’s College at Cambridge. In 1889 he entered for the Natural Sciences Tripos, in Chemistry, Physics and Geology, taking high honors.
Edge joined the Theosophical Society (TS) in 1888 and undertook literary and office duties for the Society until Blavatsky’s death in 1891. In 1899 he resigned his post as Demonstrator in Practical Physics at the Royal College of Science, London, to accept Katherine Tingley’s invitation to join the staff at the Theosophical Society, Point Loma, where he was eventually appointed Head Master of the Boys’ Department at the Raja-Yoga School. (See THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, PASADENA.) Edge was one of the founders of the Theosophical University on December 18, 1919, becoming its President on November 21, 1939. During his time at Point Loma, he taught Greek, Latin, Geology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.
Edge was a prolific writer on theosophical subjects. A collection of his contributions written for the magazine The Theosophical Path during a five year period (1911-16) included 197 articles. He wrote under his own name or initials and also under the pseudonyms H. Travers, T. Henry, Ariomardes, The Busy Bee, Magister Artium, T. H., and Student.
In 1921 Edge wrote, “The crowning privilege of an eventful life has been my intimate personal relationship with H. P. Blavatsky, as pupil of that great Teacher. This extended from 1887 until her death while she was carrying on at her London residence her work of promulgating Theosophy, by her receptions to inquirers and the publication of her books and magazines. She showed me that Theosophy is the most serious movement of the age, and that it requires of its adherents entire devotion to the Heart-Doctrine; and her own life was the noblest example of her teachings. In the face of illness, incessant and malicious opposition, and at great pecuniary sacrifice, she toiled heroically at her great work for the bringing of Truth, Light, and Liberation to discouraged humanity” (The Theosophical Path, Vol. XX, January 1921). Edge died at the Headquarters of The Theosophical Society, Covina, California, on September 19, 1946.
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