Edgar Percival - Early Years

Early Years

Edgar W. Percival was born in 1898 at Albury, New South Wales. (Albury and its sister town Wodonga sit either side of the Victoria/New South Wales border.) Percival's maternal great uncle was Pontus Wikner, the Swedish philosopher.His grandfather was Edgar Magnus Wikner. Early childhood saw Percival assisting in the running of the large family farm situated on the river flats of the Hawkesbury. As a child, he was fascinated by the advances made in aviation especially after seeing his first aeroplane in 1911 when the local dental surgeon, William Ewart Hart flew to the council field in Richmond, near the Percival property. Becoming friends with the pilot and helping in small ways in maintaining the aircraft, led to Percival receiving, as a reward, his first flight. By 1912, he had designed, produced and flown his own gliders, beginning a lifelong passion for this designer-pilot. After attending Fort Street High School, Sydney, he enrolled at Sydney Technical College, later applying and receiving an apprenticeship at an engineering firm before being accepted at Sydney University.