The Loudons
David Marsh
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Professional/academic/Hobby/Rotary/sometimes charity
- Fee:
- Paid: 100 online , more for travelling depending on distance etc
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 30th January 2023
- Tagged:
- Gardens | History | Victorians | Horticulture
John Claudius Loudon [1783-1843] and his wife Jane Webb Loudon [1807-1858] are amnongst the most prolific and important horticultural writers in history. They believed that kn owledge was power and aimed to spread information about gardens and, indeed, all forms of natural history, as widely as possible. They were the driving force behind the rise of the amateur middle class gardener, and also the real professionalism of the 19thc head gardener.
John Claudius didn’t just write but was an inventor too, most importantly in greenhouse technology – which is not as boring as it sounds! He was also a social reformer, writing about agriculture, housing, public parks, and cemeteries amongst many other things. And he was the first real horticultural journalist. Jane worked with him on his encyclopedias, books and magazines but also wrote a series of book specifically aimed at giving women an understanding of botany and plants.
Their story is fascinating and will make you realise how much we owe to their non-stop work ethic and enthusiasm.
Views: 336 | Enquiries: 0About David Marsh
I've been lecturing "live" and on-line about every aspect of the history of gardens, landscapes, as well as plant hunting /plants/botany for more than 25 years to gardens clubs, U3A groups, and to museums like the V&A & across higher education. I discovered the subject because after a career as a head teacher I took very early retirement and went back into education full time on my own account. I did a four year diploma course in Garden History which led on to an MA in Historical Research and then a PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London on The Gardens and Gardeners of Later Stuart London.
I was a trustee of The Gardens Trust, the national campaigning body for the protection and support of our historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes and chaired their education committee from 2016 until 2023. I also write a weekly blog for them which you can find at thegardenstrust.blog
I've run courses on the history of gardens [and many other things] at Birkbeck and City Lit. I'm currently an honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and run a Masters Course in Garden History as well as offering supervision to PhD students.
If all that sounds posh - rest assured I'm not!
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by David Marsh
- The Little Men in Red Hats
- Castles for Cows & Palaces for Poultry
- What Made Your Garden Grow?
- The Joys [and Problems!] of Making a Garden in France
- The History of the London Square
- Plants on Paper: A Potted History of Botanical Art
- The Opposite of Chelsea: The Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire
- The National Botanic Gardens of Burma
- Humphry Repton: Britain’s First Landscape Gardener
- Tools of the Trade
- Puzzle Pictures
- The Elephant in the Garden
- The History of the Cottage Garden
- The Tradescants
- The palaces of Tudor London and their gardens...and their beasts!
- The Great Geranium Robbery
- An Introduction to Tudor and Stuart Gardens
- The Picturesque
- Moorfields: The Story of London's First Public Park
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