Sir Frederick Claude Stern (18 April 1884, Knightsbridge, London – 10 July 1967) was a botanist and horticulturalist, known for developing the gardens at

Highdown Gardens Highdown Gardens are gardens on the western edge of the town of Worthing, close to the village of Ferring and the National Trust archaeological site Highdown Hill, in West Sussex, England. Overlooking the sea from the South Downs, they contain a ...

, for creating several cultivars of garden plants and for his publications on peonies, snowdrops and gardening. He also tried to promote the interests of the Jewish community.

Life

Frederick Stern was born into the wealthy Stern merchant banking family, the son of James Julius Stern and Lucie Stern-Biedermann, and the brother of Henry Julius Joseph Stern, Elsa Stern, Violet Stern and Sir

Albert Gerald Stern Sir Albert Gerald Stern (24 September 1878 – 2 January 1966) was a banker who became the Secretary of the Landship Committee during World War I, where his organisational ability assisted the Committee in creating the first British tank. Durin ...

. He studied at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He bought

, an estate near

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

, Sussex, in 1909 and lived there for the remainder of his life. In 1919 he married Sybil, daughter of Sir Arthur Lucas, a portrait painter.

Professional career

Stern joined the Second Company of the London Yeomanry and served during the First World War. He was Group Commander of the West Sussex Home Guard. He was active in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and Palestine and received the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1917. He eventually attained the rank of colonel. He was present at Paris Peace Conference, 1919, where he supported the British prime minister

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

as private secretary.

Botanical and horticultural achievements

Stern collected plants between 1900 and 1910, working with

Reginald Farrer Reginald John Farrer (17 February 1880 – 17 October 1920), was a traveller and plant collector. He published a number of books, although is best known for ''My Rock Garden''. He travelled to Asia in search of a variety of plants, many of wh ...

, Frank Ludlow, Joseph Rock, and George Sherriff. In 1914 he financially participated in a

plant collecting Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collecting i ...

expedition by Farrer and William Purdom to Yunnan and Kansu. He cultivated some of the novelties collected in Yunnan and Gansu in his garden at Highdown. Other plant hunters sent new plants to Stern, and he acquired an extensive collection of plants from Veitch & Son in 1912. Over the years, Stern introduced many new plants to the garden and created new hybrids of '' Berberis'', ''

Eremurus ''Eremurus'' is a genus of deciduous perennial flowers in the family Asphodelaceae. They are also known as the foxtail lilies or desert candles. They are native to eastern Europe in (Russia and Ukraine), and temperate Asia from Turkey to China. ...

'', hellebore,

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

, ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'',

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 ...

and snowdrop, among which ''Magnolia'' 'Highdownensis' (probable cultivar of ''

M. wilsonii ( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of respec ...

''),

rambler Rambler or Ramble may refer to: Places * Rambler, Wyoming * Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong * The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centra ...

roses 'Coral' (a triploid ''R. sinowilsonii'' hybrid), 'Weddingday' (1950, ''R. sinowilsonii'' hybrid), and ''Rosa'' ×''highdownensis'' (1928, '' R. moyesii'' hybrid). He is also the author that first described the snowdrop ''

Galanthus rizehensis ''Galanthus'' (from Ancient Greek , (, "milk") + (, "flower")), or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family (biology), family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leav ...

''. Herbarium specimens of some of the plants from Highdown Gardens are kept at the Natural History Museum, London. He was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour by 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 ...

in 1941. In the same year, he was awarded by The British Iris Society, the Foster Memorial Plaque (named after Sir Michael Foster). He was chairman of the

John Innes Horticultural Institute The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

from 1947 to 1961, vice-president of the

in 1962 and vice-president and treasurer of the Linnean Society from 1941 to 1958. Stern was knighted in 1956 for his services to horticulture. Several plants species have been named in his honour, such as ''Buddleja sterniana'' (now '' B. crispa''), '' Cotoneaster sternianus'', ''Helleborus'' ×''sternii'' ( = '' H. argutifolius'' × '' H. lividus'') and ''

Paeonia sterniana ''Paeonia sterniana'' is a perennial, herbaceous peony of approximately 45 cm high in cultivation, with white or sometimes pinkish flowers. It grows in the wild in southeastern Tibet. This peony is very rare in cultivation. It produces blue ...

''.

Publications

* * ''The Tibetan form of Paeonia lutea'' (1947). Royal Horticultural Society, London * ''Snowdrops and snowflakes: a study of the genera Galanthus and Leucojum'' (1956). Royal Horticultural Society, London, with E.A. Bowles and

Margaret Stones Elsie Margaret Stones (28 August 1920 – 26 December 2018), was an Australian botanical illustrator. Life Stones was born on 28 August 1920 in Colac, Victoria, Australia. Stones worked as principal contributing artist to ''Curtis's Bota ...

* ''A Chalk Garden'' (1960) Faber, London

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Frederick 1884 births 1967 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I British Jews English botanists Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients English knights Stern family (banking) Burials at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery