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William Purdom
William Purdom (10 April 1880 – 7 November 1921) was a British plant explorer. After being apprenticed as a gardener aBrathay Hallin the English Lake district, he traveled to London to work at the Hugh Low, Enfield Nursery, then onto the Veitch establishment at Coombe Wood. In 1902, Purdom took up a position as a gardener at Kew Botanic Garden soon becoming promoted to a sub-foreman (leading-hand) position. Purdom became heavily involved with early Union activities particularly promoting the rights of junior workers which eventually led to his unjustified dismissal. Despite being a bane to the, then, Kew Director, David Prain, the latter recognized the talents of William Purdom and recommended his employee as being very suitable as a plant collector for a joint venture by Veitch and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University to the northern provinces of China in 1909. Purdom collected and photographed plants for the Arboretum, as well as the great British Nursery firm for three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veitch Nurseries
The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses—based at Chelsea and Exeter—as it became unfeasible to run the whole operation from one location. Famous plant hunters in the Victorian period employed by the Veitch family include the brothers Thomas Lobb and William Lobb from Cornwall and David Bowman. The Veitch's ability to grow exotic plants is noted in William Jackson Hooker's description of ''Verticordia nitens'', and they were able to supply a specimen for its illustration. The firm had, by the outbreak of the First World War, introduced 1281 plants into cultivation, which were either previously unknown or newly-bred varieties (see cultivars). These included 498 greenhouse plants, 232 orchids, 153 deciduous trees, shrubs and climbing plants, 122 h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |