Constance Spry (née Fletcher, previously Marr; 5 December 1886 – 3 January 1960) was a British educator, florist and author in the mid-20th century.

Life

Constance Fletcher was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

in 1886, eldest child and only daughter of George and Henrietta Maria (née Dutton) Fletcher. After studying

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

district nursing District Nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. The role requires registered nurses to take a NMC approved specialist practitioner course. Duties generally include visiting house-bound ...

in Ireland, she lectured on first aid and

home care Homecare (also spelled as home care) is health care or supportive care provided by a professional caregiver in the individual home where the patient or client is living, as opposed to care provided in group accommodations like clinics or nursing ho ...

for the Irish ''Women's National Health Association''. She married James Heppell Marr in 1910 and moved to Coolbawn, near

Castlecomer Castlecomer (Irish: ''Caislean an Chumai'' meaning "the castle at the confluence of the waters") is a town in the north of County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is positioned at the meeting of N78 and R694 roads about north of Kilkenny city. At th ...

. In 1912, their son Anthony Heppel Marr was born.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

had a profound impact on Constance Marr, and the Fletcher family. After the beginning of the war in 1914, Constance Marr was appointed secretary of the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. In 1916, she left both Ireland and her husband, escaping a violent marriage, and moved to

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

with her son Anthony to work as a welfare supervisor. In 1917, she joined the civil service as the head of women's staff (welfare and medical treatment) at the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The same year, two of her brothers - Lieutenant Arnold Lockhart Fletcher and Second Lieutenant Donald Lockhart Fletcher - were killed in action, on 30 and 28 April 1917 respectively. After these losses, her mother didn't speak for two years. In 1921, she was appointed

headmistress A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

of the Homerton and South Hackney Day Continuation School in Homerton, east London, where she instructed teenage factory workers in cookery and dressmaking, and later

flower arranging Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...

. In 1926, she married her second husband Henry Ernest Spry. Spry gave up teaching in 1928, to open her first shop, "Flower Decoration", in 1929. After securing a regular order from Granada Cinemas, she caused a sensation in fashionable society by creating an exquisite arrangement of hedgerow flowers in the windows of

Atkinsons Atkinsons is a family-owned department store located on The Moor in Sheffield, England. The store has been trading for around 150 years and sells an extensive range of merchandise including fashion, furniture, lighting, gifts, cosmetics & frag ...

, an

Old Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the ...

perfumery in central London as part of the decoration undertaken by the theatrical designer Norman Wilkinson. Spry ransacked attics for unusual objects to use as containers and drew inspiration from the Dutch 17th- and 18th-century flower painters, while she popularized unusual plant materials to offset flowers, like

pussy willow Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus ''Salix'' (willows and sallows) when their furry catkins are young in early spring. These species include (among many others): *Goat willow or goat sallow ('' Salix caprea ...

, weeds and grasses and ornamental kale. When she opened a larger shop in

South Audley Street South Audley Street is a major shopping street in Mayfair, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. Bri ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

in 1934, Spry was already employing seventy people. In the same year, she published her first book, ''Flower Decoration'', and established the "Constance Spry Flower School" at her new premises. The biographer

Diana Souhami Diana Souhami (born 25 August 1940) is an English writer of biographies, short stories and plays. She is noted for her unconventional biographies of prominent lesbians. Biography Souhami was brought up in London and studied philosophy at Univer ...

revealed the painter

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period (music), classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the ...

had a romantic relationship with Spry, whose work informed the artist's admired floral paintings. In 2012

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

marked Spry's tenure at 64 South Audley Street with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. In 1936, "Flower Decoration" created the flower arrangements for the royal weddings of the

Duke of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

to Lady Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott and the more private wedding of the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

and

Duchess of Windsor Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), was an American socialite and wife of the former King Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a ...

in June 1937. Public interest from these commissions led to two tours of the US. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began in 1939, Spry resumed her teaching career and lectured to women all over Britain. In 1942, she published ''Come into The Garden, Cook'', based around French cuisine, hoping to help the war effort by encouraging the British to grow and eat their own food. Her company continued to provide floral decorations at weddings. In 1946, she opened a

domestic science Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

school with her friend, the accomplished

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French ''haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The instituti ...

cook

Rosemary Hume Rosemary Ethel Hume (1907 – 1984) was an English cook and writer. She taught at ''Le Cordon Bleu'' cookery school in London, and co-devised coronation chicken in 1953. Life Hume was born in Sevenoaks. She was one of the first British people ...

, at Winkfield Place, at Cranbourne in

Winkfield Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England. Geography According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens Green ...

, Berkshire. Constance lived at Orchard Lea, across the road, and then over the stable block at the Place. In 1953, Spry was commissioned to arrange the flowers at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and along the processional route from

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

for

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

's coronation. The flowers were supplied as gifts by

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

nations. The

students at Winkfield were asked to cater a lunch for foreign delegates for whom Hume and Spry invented a new dish –

coronation chicken Coronation chicken or Poulet Reine Elizabeth is a combination of cold cooked chicken meat, herbs and spices, and a creamy mayonnaise-based sauce. It can be eaten as a salad or used to fill sandwiches. Composition Normally bright yellow, cor ...

. She was appointed an OBE in the 1953 Coronation Honours. At Winkfield Place, Spry devoted years to the cultivation of particular varieties of antique roses, which she was instrumental in bringing back into fashion; David Austin's first rose introduction, in 1961, was named after her and is considered to be the foundation of his "English rose" series. In 1956, she and Hume published the best-selling ''Constance Spry Cookery Book'', thereby extending the Spry style from flowers to food. On 3 January 1960, she slipped on the stairs at Winkfield Place and died an hour later. Her last words were supposedly, "Someone else can arrange this".

Legacy

Spry's books remained in print for many years after her death and her floristry business thrived until the early 2000s. Her personal papers and records are in the RHS Lindley Library. Constance Spry's influence in floristry remains strong in the modern era. Luxury florist Nikki Pierce has cited her as an inspiration as did Patricia Easterbrook Roberts. The floral designer Shane Connolly was guest curator of an exhibition in 2021 at the Garden Museum, London, of Spry's achievements and life. This made use of the extensive materials from the Lindley Library archives.

Bibliography

*Constance Spry, ''Flower Decoration''. Dent, 1934 *Constance Spry, ''Flowers in House and Garden''. Dent, 1937 *Constance Spry, ''Garden Notebook''. Dent, 1940 *Constance Spry: ''Come into the Garden, Cook''. Dent 1942 *Constance Spry, ''Summer and Autumn''. Dent, 1951 *Constance Spry, ''Winter and Spring Flowers''. Dent, 1951 *Constance Spry, ''How to do the Flowers'', Dent, 1952, 1953 *Constance Spry, ''A Constance Spry Anthology''. Dent, 1953 *Constance Spry, ''Party Flowers''. Dent, 1955 *Constance Spry and

, ''The Constance Spry Cookery Book''. Dent, 1956 *Constance Spry, ''Simple Flowers 'A millionaire for a few pence. Dent, 1957 *Constance Spry, ''Favourite Flowers'', Dent. 1959 *Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume, ''Hostess''. Dent, 1961

Notes

References

*Elizabeth Coxhead, ''Constance Spry: A Biography'', W. Luscombe, 1975 *Mary Rensten, ''Knowing Constance Spry'', Samuel French, 2004 *Sue Shephard, ''The Surprising Life of Constance Spry: From Social Reformer to Society Florist'', Pan MacMillan, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Spry, Constance 1886 births 1960 deaths English women writers Heads of schools in England Florists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Derby People from Winkfield People from Barrow-in-Furness British women in World War I Schoolteachers from Derbyshire Civil servants in the Ministry of Aircraft Production