Frederick Streeter

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(25 June 1879 – 1 November 1975) was a British horticulturalist and broadcaster. Streeter was born in

Pulborough Pulborough is a large village and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England, with some 5,000 inhabitants. It is located almost centrally within West Sussex and is south west of London. It is at the junction of the north–south ...

, Sussex, England, on 25 June 1879, to farm worker James Streeter and Dinah (''née'' Sayers). The family moved to

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...

in Surrey, where he was educated at

North Holmwood North Holmwood is a residential area on the outskirts of Dorking, in Surrey, England. The village is accessible from the A24, the village's historic heart is the road Spook Hill. The 2011 census for the broader area ''Holmwoods'' shows a populati ...

; and later to

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, after which he attended

Reigate Grammar School Reigate Grammar School is a 2–18 mixed independent day school in Reigate, Surrey, England. It was established in 1675 by Henry Smith. History The school was founded as a free school for poor boys in 1675 by Alderman Henry Smith with Jon Will ...

. He left school at twelve years of age. He often had to move around for his gardening work in order to gain experience and promotion. He worked for Veitchs the famous nurserymen in

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, Chelsea, then moved to

Straffan Straffan (variously ''Teach Srafáin'', ''Strafáin'' or ''An Cluanini'' in Irish) is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2016 census, the vi ...

, a large estate in Ireland, and from there, in 1901, to

Basing Park Basing Park was a country house in Privett, Hampshire, notable for being the family home of the Nicholson family. The 1878 'White's Directory of Hampshire' described it as a "large and commodious structure, in the Grecian style, commanding exten ...

near

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

as foreman, where he met his wife Hilda, née Burden (2 February 1880 – 26 February 1966). He secured his first job as a head gardener in his twenties. Streeter was awarded the

, in the

1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...

Presenting

He presented the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio programme ''Home Grown'', with Roy Hay, that occupied the two o'clock slot on Sunday afternoon that was later occupied by ''

Gardener's Question Time ''Gardeners' Question Time'' is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme in which amateur gardeners can put questions to a panel of experts. History The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland Home Service of the BBC at 22. ...

''. He also worked on television. In 1945, he was awarded the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...

, its highest award. He appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

'' on 15 July 1957. He died on 1 November 1975 at Petworth House Gardens in Petworth, Sussex, his home. His final broadcast, which was prerecorded, was transmitted on the same day.

References

1879 births Place of birth missing 1975 deaths British horticulturists BBC radio presenters People from Petworth People from Pulborough People educated at Reigate Grammar School Veitch Nurseries {{BBC-tv-bio-stub