Harry James Dodson (11 September 1919 – 25 July 2005) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
gardener
A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby.
Description
A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppleme ...
who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series ''
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
''The Victorian Kitchen Garden'' is a 13-part British television series produced in 1987 by Keith Sheather for BBC2, based on an idea by Jennifer Davies, who later became associate producer. It recreated a kitchen garden of the Victorian era ...
'', which featured his professional expertise and his reminiscences.
Early life
Horticulture was in Dodson's family. Born in
Byfleet
Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation.
The village is of medieval origin. Its winding ...
, his father was a gardener and his uncle was head gardener to the
Earl of Selborne
Earl of Selborne, in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1882 for the lawyer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne, Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron ...
.
He left school at 14, and over the next six years worked his way up from garden boy to
journeyman
A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...
.
In 1937 he started work at
Stansted Park
Stansted Park (including Stansted House) is an Edwardian country house in the parish of Stoughton, West Sussex, Stoughton, West Sussex, England. It is near the city of Chichester, and also the village of Rowlands Castle to the west over the bor ...
as a 'young improver journeyman' in the kitchen garden.
When the
Second World War
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 ...
started he served briefly in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, but was discharged on medical grounds. He was appointed general garden
foreman
__NOTOC__
A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry.
Foreman may specifically refer to:
*Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew
* Jury foreman, a head j ...
at
Leigh Park
Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren').
Staunton C ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. The large house had been commandeered by the Admiralty and Dodson's task was to grow enough food for several hundred people every day.
After the war he moved to
Nuneham Park
Nuneham House is an eighteenth century villa in the Palladian architecture, Palladian style, set in parkland at Nuneham Courtenay in Oxfordshire, England. It is currently owned by Oxford University and is used as a retreat centre by the Brahma Ku ...
, near
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where he met his future wife, Jane.
In 1947 he was appointed head gardener at the Chilton Estate, near
Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat is a village and civil parish on the River Kennet in Wiltshire, England. The parish is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is on the county boundary with West Berkshire and is about northwest of the ...
, growing flowers and vegetables for the household in an extensive walled garden, with heated greenhouses and 200 yards of
cloches. By 1981, the cost of maintaining the garden had become too high for its owner. He made it over to Dodson, who ran it as a commercial nursery.
He was a successful exhibitor at 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 ...
's shows, and in 1956 he joined the fruit and vegetable committee and served as a judge at its shows for nearly 50 years.
Television fame
In 1984, Jennifer Davies of the BBC was looking for a venue for a projected television programme on traditional methods of vegetable gardening, to be called ''
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
''The Victorian Kitchen Garden'' is a 13-part British television series produced in 1987 by Keith Sheather for BBC2, based on an idea by Jennifer Davies, who later became associate producer. It recreated a kitchen garden of the Victorian era ...
''. She discovered the walled garden at Chilton Foliat, and its head gardener, Harry Dodson. He did not claim to be a Victorian gardener himself, but he had learned his trade from men who had been, and he understood the techniques they had developed.
The series was screened in 1987, when he was 68, and its popularity spawned three other BBC series — ''The Victorian Kitchen'', ''The Victorian Flower Garden'' and ''The Wartime Kitchen and Garden''. The accompanying books were best-sellers.
Dodson became a popular personality and in 1992 wrote his own book about growing vegetables, ''Harry Dodson's Practical Kitchen Garden''.
He died at Chilton Foliat on 25 July 2005, aged 85. His ashes were interred alongside his mother's remains at
St Matthew's Church, Blackmoor, on 19 June 2017.
Publications
* ''The Victorian Kitchen Garden Companion'' (BBC Books, UK, 1988)
* ''Harry Dodson's Practical Kitchen Garden'' (BBC Books, UK, 1992)
External links
*
Obituary - Harry James Dodson (The Independent) Harry Dodson on pest control.Harry Dodson on forcing strawberriesRevisiting The Victorian Kitchen Garden location (Video) Harry Dodson funeral (Video)Harry's ashes finally come home
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Harry
1919 births
2005 deaths
Floriculturists
BBC people
English garden writers
English gardeners
People from Byfleet