Catherine Horwood is an English journalist, author and social historian who writes extensively on

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, garden design, and in fashion, the history of dress. She is the authorised biographer of the British plantswoman, garden designer, and author,

Beth Chatto Beth Chatto (27 June 1923 – 13 May 2018) was an English plantswoman, garden designer and author known for creating and describing the Beth Chatto Gardens near Elmstead Market in the English county of Essex. She wrote several books about gard ...

(best known for creating the

Beth Chatto Gardens The Beth Chatto Gardens, now known aBeth Chatto's Plants & Gardens are an informal collection of historically significant gardens, with National Heritage Grade II listing. The ecological gardens were created by plantswoman Beth Chatto in 1960 fr ...

near Elmstead,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and described as ‘one of the most influential horticulturalists for the last 50 years’). Her biography, ''Beth Chatto: a life with plants'' won th
European Garden Book of the Year
award in 2020. Horwood has contributed to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' and to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programmes on social history. She is married to

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Professor

Patrick Barwise Patrick Barwise (born June 1946) is emeritus professor of management and marketing at London Business School. He joined the business school in 1976 after an early career at IBM and has published widely on marketing and media. He is an honora ...

Journalism

Horwood has written for ''English Garden'', ''Gardens Illustrated'' and ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'' magazine, becoming ''Good Housekeepings features editor.

Academic career

Horwood completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

( MA) degree in Women's History, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

on Interwar Middle Class dress codes at

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She was also an

Honor Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

ary

Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at University of London and has also been awarded fellowships at the

Yale Center for British Art Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, and the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...

, Art and Botanical Gardens at San Marino, CA.

Author

Horwood is the author of six books on horticulture, garden design and the social history of women in horticulture, and two books on fashion history.

Horticulture

* Potted History. How Houseplants Took Over Our Homes - (''Pimpernel Press, 2020)''
Beth Chatto:
A life with plants - (
Pimpernel Press
2019)''
Rose
- ''(

Reaktion Reaktion Books is an independent book publisher based in Islington, London, England. It was founded in 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London in 1987. Reaktion originally focused on the fields of art, architecture, and design. In recen ...

, 2018)'' * Women and Their Gardens: A History from the Elizabethan Era to Today - ''(

Chicago Review Press Chicago Review Press, or CRP, is a U.S. book publisher and an independent company founded in 1973. Chicago Review Press publishes approximately 60 new titles yearly under eight imprints: Chicago Review Press, Lawrence Hill Books, Academy Chicago, ...

, 2012)'' * Gardening Women: Their Stories From 1600 to the Present - ''(

Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' ( genitive virāginis) meaning vigorous' from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffix ''-ā ...

, 2010)'' * Potted History: The Story of Plants in the Home - ''(

Frances Lincoln Publishers Frances Elisabeth Rosemary Lincoln (20 March 1945 – 26 February 2001) was an English independent publisher of illustrated books. She published under her own name and the company went on to become Frances Lincoln Publishers. In 1995, Lincoln w ...

, 2007)''

Dress

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class so ...

: Fashion and Class Between the Wars - ''(

The History Press The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 2011)'' *

Worst Fashions Catherine Horwood is an English journalist, author and social historian who writes extensively on horticulture, garden design, and in fashion, the history of dress. She is the authorised biographer of the British plantswoman, garden designer, a ...

: What We Shouldn't Have Worn. But Did - ''(Sutton, 2005)''[]

References

External links

* Catherine Horwood * Amazon Books Biography * ''Telegraph'' interview * Gardening Women {{DEFAULTSORT:Horwood, Catherine Living people 21st-century English writers British writers English journalists English biographers Year of birth missing (living people)