On 19 May we welcomed Dr. Francesca Murray to give a talk on ‘The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution and its horticultural heroes and heroines’.
Dr. Murray is an author, speaker and researcher on garden history and the horticultural trades, with a special interest in nineteenth century gardeners and nursery owners.
Her talk focused on the range of benevolent, mutual aid and charitable societies – as well as the individual characters that founded and used them – that were set up in support of gardeners, florists and associated trades in the years before the welfare state was even considered.
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 