Peter Barr (1826–1909) was a Scottish nurseryman and merchant, best known for

daffodil ''Narcissus'' is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil,The word "daffodil" is also applied to related genera such as ''Sternbergia'', ''Ism ...

Life

He was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

, Lanarkshire, the son of James Barr, a mill owner, and his wife, Mary Findlay. From a seed shop in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, he moved to a seed merchant's in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, and then went into business in 1852 in a partnership in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, concentrating on bulbs. After a change of partners, Barr in 1860 was in the bulb trade in

King Street, St James's King Street is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster. It runs south-west to north-east from St James's Street to St James's Square. History King Street was probably named after Charles II, and is first mentioned in ra ...

in London. He was known for his catalogues, and for gaining the interest of British gardeners in daffodils, then neglected, inspired by the work of John Parkinson in the 17th century.

Legacy

The Peter Barr Memorial Cup is awarded each year 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 (Nor ...

to somebody who has done good work in relation to daffodils.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Peter 1826 births 1909 deaths Nurserymen Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients People from Govan 19th-century Scottish businesspeople