From the monthly archives: August 2010
One of the long-standing gardening families of Brentford, the Swindens were first recorded in the area in the 1670s and remained for over a century.
The Greenings were established in Brentford End by the early 1700s. Thomas Greening the elder was an innovative plantsman, and his sons followed him into the business. As well as producing plants, they obtained many aristocratic and royal contracts.
Henry Woodman, his father, his brother and his son were gardeners in Strand on the Green in the 18th century. However, the women of the family were also skilled at running a gardening business, especially Henry’s mother Esther and his long-lived wife, Eleanor.
Nicholas Parker was a wealthy gardener who lived on Strand on the Green. After his death in 1726, his bequests to Henry Woodman and his future wife Eleanor Compton, and to other members of the Compton family, ensured the continuation of the garden grounds in skilled hands.