Tag: John H Harvey

John H Harvey

Everyone researching the history of nursery gardening owes a debt to John Hooper Harvey (1911-1997).  A significant historian of British mediaeval architecture, he turned his attention to the history of gardens in the 1970s.  He was anxious to establish conservation principles for historic gardens and to encourage the use of authentic plants.

He conducted detailed correspondence with a large number of local studies librarians and archivists – the wise ones have added the letters to their collections! – and published widely.

His thoroughness and dedication were remarkable, given the limitations of the finding aids at his disposal. Today we have the advantage of richer collections, vastly improved lists and catalogues, and infinitely searchable information on the internet. The result is that it has been possible to identify more nursery gardeners and discover more about them in a fraction of the time he took. But his research provides us with a superb resources from which to start.

Gardeners 1650-1850

presenting the inventive nursery gardeners of Brentford, Chiswick and nearby Middlesex Parishes, 1650-1850

Horticulture was a very significant component of the economy of Middlesex from at least the 17th century and into the 20th. Most local histories remark upon the substantial amount of market gardening which supported London’s growing population at this period but say little of the nursery gardeners.

While both forms of gardening were practised in the area from the 17th century, the nursery gardens evolved to meet changing markets and some became market gardens in their turn in the Victorian period.

Garden historians have tended to concentrate on garden design, mentioning only a few of the major nurseries. The remarkable work of John H Harvey, in Early Gardening Catalogues (1972) and Early Nurserymen (1974), is the exception that proves the rule.

This Nursery Gardeners Archive is designed to give the gardeners back a significant place in the history of the area, especially in the parishes along the Thames. It combines business history, family history and local history in its short essays. In them I make use of a variety of historical sources, including wills, letters, maps and records of property transactions to place the gardeners and their families in local communities. My initial work has concentrated on the Thames-side parishes, especially Chiswick and Brentford which I know best.   Val Bott

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