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A Study of the Life of
Edward William Treadaway Hoare
1864-1927


Colin Guy Treadaway Hoare ("Trig")


- Only Child of EWTH's Third Marriage -


Trig was born in Christchurch, Hants, England on October 20th, 1923 and lived his early years in Southbourne (CLICK HERE FOR FAMILY TREE).  Just before he turned four, in 1926, his father, EWTH
(PORTRAIT), died.  Three and a half years later, his mother, Elsie Hoare, née Hooper PORTRAIT), also died, leaving Trig, not yet seven, an orphan.  Cared for by guardians, his education was seen to by the Masons (his father had been very active in Masonic work), and from 1932 to 1940, he was a boarder at the Royal Masonic Public School.

 

It was already at this early stage of his life that Trig became fascinated by butterflies and moths, an interest that developed into a lifelong avocation and resulted in his becoming one of the world's leading lepidopterists with respect to butterflies of the Philippines.

 

Trig has few memories of his father:  that he drove an open car, that he was known around town as "the youngest old man we ever knew", that he had the reputation of being a most charming and popular person, particularly with the ladies.  Trig does recall several other individuals in the Bournemouth area who helped look after him after his parents died, mostly Masons:  Mr C R Blissett, a chartered accountant, and the Reverends Goddard and Bloomfield (who was plump, Trig remembers, and rode a tricycle!).

 

One of Trig's early recollections is particularly intriguing.  Apparently from out of the blue, a man called Sidney West appeared at the Royal Masonic School in a chauffer-driven limousine. It was just after Trig's 10th birthday day in 1933.  West asked for a tour of the premises, specifying that Trig be his guide.  It was only six and a half years later, in 1940, when Trig was departing for Canada, that he was told that West had at that time offered to adopt him, officially, with full financial and social support.  The school had forwarded this offer to Trig's official guardian, Clifford Hooper, his mother's youngest brother, a resident of Canada, with a strong endorsement, but Clifford wrote back refusing permission.  (In conjunction with our research into EWTH's life, we've identified Sidney West and explored his history and ancestry (CLICK FOR THE WEST NARRATIVE), but no explanation for his interest in Trig, nor any connection between the West and Hoare families - West was not a Mason - has yet been found.)

 

In 1940, Trig was sent abroad to his guardian in Canada.  It was during the exodus of English children from London at the time of the blitz.  He left Liverpool in April 1940 aboard the "Duchess of Bedford" (several months later, the ship "City of Benares", on a similar mission, was torpedoed and sunk, ending the British program of evacuating children to Canada - CLICK FOR ARTICLE).  After he arrived in Canada, he made his way on his own, at age 16, by train, via Montreal and Toronto, to St Catharine's, Ontario, to his uncle's farm, where to his dismay he was treated as an indentured servant and was worked 6 1/2 days a week. 

 

In September 1940, Trig was enrolled as a day student in the Bishop Ridley College, St Catharine's, which he attended until June 1941, his tuition paid for by money left him by his mother's father (though uncle Clifford claimed credit).  He continued working on the farm that summer, but in September he finally became so desperate that, with but two Canadian dollars in his pocket, he ran away.

 

He soon found a job with a road construction gang which paid him $20 a week, enough to keep him until, in December, he started working as assistant to the Chemical Engineer of the Lightening Fastener Company of St Catharine's (thus establishing his initial career orientation).

 

In 1942, Trig joined the RCAF, and was taught navigation at London, Ontario, graduating at the top of his class as a Pilot Officer, Navigator.  After further training in Canada, he was sent to England for operational training, and was then assigned to the 427 Squadron as navigator for the squadron leader. 

(See  http://www.rcaf.com/squadrons/400series/427squadron.php  )

He completed his tour of operations in Europe, which included night and day bombing trips as well as night mining trips, and in the process was promoted to Flying Officer and later to Flight Lieutenant.

 

After being discharged from the RCAF 1946, Trig entered McGill University in Montreal to study Chemical Engineering, and in 1947 was awarded the "Jane Redpath Scholarship" as top student in first year studies.  He accepted an invitation to join the honor students' fraternity, Phi Epsilon Alpha, earned a letter for playing English Rugby, and graduated in 1951 with honors.  He spent the summers of 1949, 1950 and 1951 with the RCAF Air Material Command in Ottawa.

 

On June 1st 1951, Trig married Irene M. Gardiner in the McGill University Chapel.  In September of that year, he started his career with Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati.  At that time he stopped using "Treadaway-Hoare" as his last name, reducing it simply to "Treadaway".

 

After Trig had gained experience in running production departments in Cincinnati, he was posted, in March 1953, to P&G's Philippine Manufacturing Company (PMC), in Manila, as Oil Mill Supervisor.  It was there that he became actively involved with entomology, focusing specifically on Philippine lepidoptera.  And it was there, in November 1953, that his first child, Alexandra, was born.

 

Trig's career progressed well.  In April 1954 he was appointed the personnel manager of the PMC.  He subsequently was sent for further training in production management to P&G's subsidiary in Venezuela, and in February 1955 returned to the PMC to be made Supervisor of the Soap Group.

 

In January 1956 the family was transferred to P&G Indonesia, where Trig was given the responsibility of Manufacturing Manager of the subsidiary, and in early 1958 was made acting General Manager.  In February 1958, his wife returned to the more modern medical facilities of Manila to give birth to Andrew, their second child.

 

In mid 1958, Trig was sent to P&G Peru to become familiar with the processes of starting up of P&G operations in a developing country (P&G's Philippine subsidiary was a fully mature business).  In September 1958, Trig became manager of P&G's subsidiary in Morocco, responsible for the company's business there, and in particular for establishing its manufacturing operation:  purchasing land for the factory, building it, and starting it up.

 

In September 1960, Trig was assigned responsibility for creating the manufacturing arm of P&G's new subsidiary in Germany:  acquiring land, hiring staff, and overseeing plant construction.  This initiative in Germany was a major undertaking for P&G, and from the startup on, proved to be a most successful one;  the German subsidiary quickly reached a size larger than that of the entire worldwide P&G corporation less than a generation earlier.  As the business grew, Trig's responsibilities did as well.  At different times, he managed not just the company's Manufacturing function, but also Personnel, Public Relations, Traffic, and Buying.  Eventually, in 1978, he was appointed Director of the company (Arbeitsdirektor, P&G GmbH), and was made a member of the board.

 

During this segment of his life in Germany, his personal situation evolved.  In February 1971 he divorced Irene and in October of that year, married Waltraud Warnecke.  A year later, in November 1972, their daughter Steffi was born.

 

This period also saw Trig's entomological avocation reach new levels when, in 1981, he was appointed an honorary member of the Senckenberg Research Institute.

 

In 1987 Trig retired from P&G GmbH.  The family moved from Frankfurt am Main to the village of Wagenschwend in Baden Württemberg, located in a rural area near Heidelberg, where Trig had had a house built.  After his retirement, he became even more deeply involved in the study of Philippine Lepidoptera.  In association with the Senckenberg, he made research trips almost every year to the Philippines, camping for weeks in jungles.  He had many notable adventures, some quite challenging, involving encounters with pirates, guerilla groups (Communists, Islamist extremists, and the notorious "Huks"), as well as a wide variety of "interesting" animals and snakes.  In 2003 he was appointed honorary staff member of the Malaysian University, Sarawak, North Borneo.

 

During the period of 1980 to 2005, Trig participated in the publishing of over 100 journal articles in Japan, Germany, Holland, England and the Philippines, mostly on butterflies and moths of the Philippines, covering over 300 holotypes (single specimens designated as defining a newly discovered species or subspecies).  In addition, he took part in publishing the following books:

- "Hesperiidae of the Philippines", by de Jong and Treadaway, 1993

- "Checklist of the Butterflies of the Philippines" by C G Treadaway, 1995

- "Contributions to the Knowledge of the Insects of the Philippines", Treadaway CG being substantially involved as co-editor and co-contributor, 1998

- "Papilionidae of the Philippine Islands", by Page, MP, and Treadaway, CG, 2003

- "Papilionidae of the Philippine Islands" supplement, by Page, MP, and Treadaway, CG, 2004

-  For the Zoological Society of London in Animal Conservation, a key article "Priority Conservation Areas for Butterflies (Lepidoptera:  Rhopalocera) in the Philippines", published in 2004 by Danielson, F. and Treadaway, C. G., copies of which were requested by a number of universities around the world.

- "Amathusiini of the Philippine Islands", by Schroeder and Treadaway, 2005

 

The family continues to reside in Wagenschwend, where Trig is kept quite busy not only writing and publishing scholarly works, but also serving as consultant in his field to museums and universities around the world.

Aside from the events of his professional career and of his family life, and the accomplishments of his entomological his avocation, it is noteworthy that Trig also is possessed of his father’s considerable social skills:  graciousness, urbanity, easy charm (think a cross between Fred Astaire and David Niven - CLICK FOR PICTURE), and, like EWTH, a most ingratiating way with ladies.