Alfred D. Robinson (1866–1942) and his wife Marion James Robinson (1873–1919) were wealthy residents of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

known for their impact on

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

and the cultivation of flowers, particularly

begonias ''Begonia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Begoniaceae. The genus contains more than 2,000 different plant species. The Begonias are native to moist subtropical and tropical climates. Some species are commonly grown ind ...

. Their extensive home garden was used to propagate and develop more than 100 new varieties of

ornamental flowers Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

and was later opened to the public as Rosecroft Begonia Gardens.

Rosecroft Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosecr ...

was the name of their estate in the

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

neighborhood of San Diego. The residence, built for them in 1912, is now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

.San Diego Floral Association
California Garden.
Vols. 98-99. 2007. p. 6.

Early life

Marion J. Duncan was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in October 1873. Marion was the only grandchild and her father Hilarion was the only child of the wealthy Scottish merchant James Duncan (1796 or 1798 - 1874). James Duncan had made his fortune in copper during three decades as a merchant in Valparaiso,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, before retiring to Britain in 1864. He was born and is buried on the Scottish Highland

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent isl ...

, where he is known as "The Copperman". The name of her estate, Rosecroft, was Marion's nod to her Highland Scottish heritage. Alfred D. Robinson was born in

Watton, Norfolk Watton is a market town in the district of Breckland in the English county of Norfolk, about west-southwest of Norwich and northeast of Thetford. The annual Wayland Agricultural Show in its west is one of the oldest one-day such shows in Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and emigrated to the US in 1887 at the age of 21. After a brief stint as a cattle rancher he became a medical instruments merchant with the firm Hoppe and Robinson in Santa Ana in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

. In 1897 he married Marion J. Duncan; the couple had two children, Larona (born 1901) and Charlotte (born 1908). For the first six years of their marriage the couple lived in her widowed father Hilarion's large home at 1823 Turk St in San Francisco. With the death of her father on November 17, 1901, Marion inherited the bulk of her grandfather's fortune, giving the couple independent means.

San Diego

In San Francisco they heard a lecture by

Theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

Katherine Tingley Katherine Augusta Westcott Tingley (July 6, 1847 - July 11, 1929) was a social worker and prominent Theosophist. She led the American Section of the Theosophical Society after W. Q. Judge. She founded and led the Theosophical community Lomaland ...

, describing the utopian community "

Lomaland Lomaland was a Theosophical community located in Point Loma in San Diego, California from 1900 to 1942. Theosophical Society leader Katherine Tingley founded it in 1900 as a school, cultural center, and residential facility for her followers. T ...

" which she was developing in the Point Loma area of San Diego. In 1903, they purchased 10 acres of barley fields in Point Loma near Lomaland and enrolled their daughter Larona in the Lomaland school. However, Larona was frail and did not thrive at Lomaland; she died of a heart ailment in 1909. The couple broke off all ties with Tingley and the Theosophists. After making a trip to Britain in 1904, the Robinsons settled permanently in San Diego in 1905. They developed the fields into half a city block of gardens, where they cultivated various ornamental plants, particularly begonias. In 1912, they moved into their new 15,000-square-foot,

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style mansion, Rosecroft, designed by architect Emmor Brooke Weaver. Alfred, a self-taught

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, began experimenting with

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s and

dahlia Dahlia (, ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. A member of the Asteraceae (former name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its garden relatives thus include the sunflower, ...

s, but eventually came to focus on begonias. He became "the pre-eminent begonia expert", developing more than 100 new varieties at the Rosecroft estate. Alfred's were judged "the finest begonias to be grown anywhere in the world" by plant explorer and botanist

David Fairchild David Grandison Fairchild (April 7, 1869 – August 6, 1954) was an American botanist and plant explorer. Fairchild was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants and varieties of established crops into the United State ...

.Carter, Nancy Carol
''When Dr. Fairchild Visited Miss Sessions: San Diego 1919.''
Journal of San Diego History. v. 50, nos. 3&4. p. 80. 2004. Alfred originated the idea of using lath houses to grow tropical plants in temperate climates. In 1912 he proposed, in an article in

Sunset magazine ''Sunset'' is a lifestyle magazine in the United States. ''Sunset'' focuses on homes, cooking, gardening, and travel, with a focus almost exclusively on the Western United States. The magazine is published six times per year by the Sunset Publish ...

, that the Panama-California Exposition then being planned for San Diego should include a "Palace of Lath"; this inspired the Botanical Building in Balboa Park. Both Robinsons were enthusiastic promoters of home gardening in San Diego. In 1907 they were co-founders, along with

Kate Sessions Katherine Olivia "Kate" Sessions (November 8, 1857 – March 24, 1940) was an American botanist, horticulturalist, and landscape architect closely associated with San Diego, California, and known as the "Mother of Balboa Park."

Recognition

*The American Begonia Society gives an annual Alfred D. Robinson Medal of Honor for creating new varieties of begonia. *In 2005 the San Diego Floral Association dedicated a bronze plaque to Alfred D. Robinson; the plaque hangs in the Botanical Building in Balboa Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Alfred D. American horticulturists People from San Diego English emigrants to the United States