The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institute a talk by Francesca Murray
Thirty plus members of Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust and their guests enjoyed a most informative talk last Saturday by one of our members, Francesca Murray. The talk was inspired by her current research for a PhD at Queen Mary University, London, on Nineteenth-century gardeners, nurserymen, and the associations that came to their aid. Her research has involved looking at the archives held by Perennial the contemporary name for the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institute, this has provided her with an insight into the lives of the gardeners’ who contributed to the pension fund and the property owners who donated to the charity.
The charity was established in 1839 making it one of the oldest charitable societies still in existence today, its role for 100 years was granting pensions to professional gardeners and today it continues to help people in horticulture in different ways, offering advice and support on health and wellbeing, housing, benefits, and finance. It now has three gardens which have been gifted to the charity and open to the public, York Gate, Fullers Mill and the Laskett. It also runs fund raising events and receives income from donations and legacies. https://perennial.org.uk/
Francescas talk included statistics about the beneficiaries and an insight into the lives of some of the gardeners who applied for pensions, only four new recipients were elected in 1850 and added to the 34 existing pensioners. Men received £16 pa and women £12 pa. At the end of the talk for a bit of fun, an election was held, a ballot box was passed round, and we were asked to vote using plastic money to determine which of three applicants were most deserving and should receive a pension. The talk was packed full of characters such as the self-opinionated George Glenny who set up the society, and Thomas Rivers, a nurseryman who cultivated the Stanwick Nectarine, 26 plants were auctioned to raise funds for the society in 1850. Francesca has written a paper on this subject for the Garden History Journal 50:2 (2022).
For more on Glenny go to: https://thegardenstrust.blog/2018/07/21/george-glenny/
We also learnt about the evolvement of local benefactors, such as the Rothschild family, at Gunnersbury, Exbury and Waddesdon, Francesca has co-writen a book about the gardens at Exbury and is organising a visit there on behalf of the Gardens Trust on 9th May 2024 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/garden-visit-exbury-gardens-tickets-767894110957
Claire de Carle 17/3/24
All photographs C de Carle Perennial Garden, The Laskett
