Chrystabel Prudence Goldsmith Procter (11 March 1894 – 21 June 1982) was an English gardener, educationalist and horticulturalist. Her career focused particularly on involving institutions and people in growing their own crops and on the education of women.

Early life

Chrystabel Procter was born in London on 11 March 1894, at 11

Kensington Square Kensington Square is a garden square in Kensington, London, W8. It was built from 1692 on land acquired for the purpose in 1685 and is the oldest such square in Kensington. The houses facing, Nos. 1–45, are listed Grade II for their architec ...

, the daughter of Joseph Procter, a stockbroker, and Elizabeth Procter (née Brockbank), an artist. Her grandfather, William Brockbank, was a wealthy Manchester businessman, a patron of the arts and an accomplished amateur naturalist. Family interests in the arts and sciences influenced both Chrystabel and her younger sister,

Joan Beauchamp Procter Joan Beauchamp Procter (5 August 1897 – 20 September 1931) was a notable British zoologist, internationally recognised as an outstanding herpetologist. She worked initially at the British Museum (Natural History) and later for the Zoological ...

(b. 1897). The family homes had large gardens, which facilitated the sisters’ childhood pursuits in natural history, and they were nicknamed "Flora" (Chrystabel) and "Fauna" (Joan). She was educated at

St Paul's Girls' School St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, aged 11 to 18, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England. History St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part o ...

, London, where she studied chemistry and botany, and then at Glynde College for Lady Gardeners, Sussex. Deaf from her mid-teens as a result of an hereditary condition on her mother's side of the family, she had been steered towards a career as a horticulturalist rather than continuing formal studies as an academic botanist.

Career

Chrystabel Procter was Gardener at St Paul's Girls' School from 1916–25, and was also Gardening Mistress for much of that period. She went on to become Head Gardener of

Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Bingley railwa ...

Teacher Training College in Yorkshire before taking up her best-known role as Garden Steward at

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status ...

(as well as being an Examiner in Gardening at

Homerton College Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

) in 1933. At Girton she was responsible for the management of the college gardens, grounds, and grounds staff. This remit included the supply of fruit and vegetables to the kitchens throughout the rationing period of the Second World War. From the end of the war until her retirement in 1950 Chrystabel Procter became Estate Steward to Bryanston School in Blandford, Dorset. In retirement she travelled to East Africa and lived for several years at the Teachers’ Training College in

Kaimosi Kaimosi is a town in western Kenya, heavily influenced by Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements (" ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, where her friend Helen Neatby had been appointed Head.

Later life

In the early 1960s ill health forced Chrystabel and Helen to return to England, where they settled in Somerset. Procter wrote a biography of Neatby, ''Helen Neatby: A Quaker in Africa'' (1973). Procter became a Quaker in the 1960s, but rejoined the Roman Catholic church in her last years. Procter died in 1982, at a nursing home in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

, aged 88 years. Her papers are archived at the Girton College Library at the University of Cambridge.Personal Papers of Chrystabel Procter
Girton College Library, University of Cambridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Procter, Chrystabel English gardeners 1894 births 1982 deaths Women horticulturists and gardeners People educated at St Paul's Girls' School People associated with Girton College, Cambridge 20th-century British botanists People from Weston-super-Mare English deaf people