Edwyn Temple

Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1835, d.1920

New Zealand glacier

Edwyn Temple regularly travelled throughout the South Island from the time of his arrival in Canterbury in 1879. In January 1892 he spent two weeks in the Mount Cook region where he completed numerous studies of Aoraki Mount Cook, including New Zealand glacier. Though largely self-taught, Temple acquired skills in painting and drawing during his education in England and Italy. He also painted regularly during his time with the British Army, which he joined in 1854. After serving in the Crimean campaign and in India, Temple returned to England in 1866. In 1879 he and his family travelled to New Zealand. He was a founding member of the Canterbury Society of Arts in 1880 and was elected the society’s first secretary treasurer. He also showed work in the CSA’s first exhibition. Temple made many sketching trips throughout the South Island during the 1880s and 1890s.