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OBITUAEY. 

 William Hearder. 



We regret to hear of the death of our occasional contributor, 

 Mr. William Hearder, of Plymouth. The following extracts are 

 from a notice in the ' Western Daily Mercury ' of July 2nd : — 



" It was as an expert in the craft of fishing that the late Mr. 

 Hearder was best known. For a large number of years he had 

 carried on business in Union Street, Plymouth, in succession to his 

 father, the firm of Hearder and Son having been established as far 

 back as 1770. He was one of the founders of the British Sea 

 Anglers' Society, and wrote a good deal on the subject of sea and 

 river fishing in the neighbourhood of Plymouth. He was a regular 

 contributor to the ' Fishing Gazette ' and the ' Western Daily Mer- 

 cury,' and other journals. He was also the inventor of a large 

 number of fishing devices, some of which are manufactured by the 

 firm under patent rights. The late Mr. Soltau presented to Mr. 

 Hearder his famous collection of Trout flies peculiarly adapted for 

 Devon streams, and in recent years these patterns were manufactured 

 by Mr. Hearder, who styled them ' Soltau's pattern.' The deceased 

 gentleman had quite a museum of fishing lures of various dates, and 

 was ever willing to explain to visitors the evolution of modern baits 

 from the oldest and most primitive patterns. He specially studied 

 for many years the perfection of the gear used for pier and jetty 

 fishing. His firm supplied the dredgers, trawls, and gear used by 

 the H.M.S. ' Challenger ' exploring expedition, the ' Alert,' the 'Dis- 

 covery,' and other expeditions. Mr. Hearder himself invented an 

 improved Otter-trawl among other things." 



His last contribution to these pages was in 1908, on a "Sea- 

 mouse [Aphrodite aculeata) near Plymouth " (cf. ' Zoologist,' 1908, 

 p. 470). 



Zool. Hh ser. vol. XIV., July. U)10. 



