James Hudson (29 May 1846 – 28 May 1932) was an English gardener and horticulturist who was the first recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour in Horticulture. The youngest son of Samuel Hudson, head gardener at

Horsted Place Horsted Place is a Tudor Revival country house, now a hotel, in Little Horsted, East Sussex, England. The current building dates to 1850, when it was built by Samuel Daukes/ George Myers for Francis Barchard, a successful merchant from London, ...

, James studied at Doctor Saunder's grammar school,

Uckfield Uckfield () is a town in the Wealden District of East Sussex in South East England. The town is on the River Uck, one of the tributaries of the River Ouse, on the southern edge of the Weald. Etymology 'Uckfield', first recorded in writing as ...

and then trained in land survey and estate work in 1861. He chose to work with his father before becoming a foreman at Deepdene, Dorking. He topped 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 ...

examination in 1869 with full marks, the first such case in the history of the examinations. He became a head gardener at

Champion Hill Champion Hill is a football stadium in East Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark. It is the home ground of Dulwich Hamlet. History Dulwich Hamlet began playing at the ground in 1912. 'The Hill' was formerly one of the largest amateur gro ...

and then at

Gunnersbury House Gunnersbury Park is a park in the London Borough of Hounslow between Acton, Brentford, Chiswick and Ealing, West London, England. Purchased for the nation from the Rothschild family, it was opened to the public by Neville Chamberlain, then Mini ...

owned by H.J.Atkinson. He then worked for

Leopold de Rothschild Leopold de Rothschild (22 November 1845 – 29 May 1917) was a British banker, thoroughbred race horse breeder, and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. Biography Early life Leopold de Rothschild was the third son and youngest of t ...

who purchased the estate. He served as an examiner for the RHS and was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in Horticulture as soon as it was instituted. He retired in 1919.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, James English gardeners Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients 1846 births 1932 deaths