Miles Hadfield

Miles Heywood Hadfield (15 October 1903 – 1982) was an English writer on gardening and one of the founders, and the first president, of the Garden History Society. He was awarded the Royal Forestry Society's gold medal and the Royal Horticultural Society's Veitch Memorial Medal.

Hadfield studied engineering before taking a job at Best and Lloyd, who made light fittings, where he worked from 1924 to 1930 locally and in London. He then became a full time writer and illustrator on botanical and forestry topics, producing books such as ''The Gardener's Companion'' (1936), ''Everyman's Wild Flowers and Trees'' (1938), ''British Trees: A guide for everyman'' (1957), and the work he is best known for, ''A History of British Gardening'' (1960), which has become the standard work on the subject.

During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Food ensuring food supplies in the English Midlands. In later life he became involved with the National Trust, working on the reconstruction of historic gardens such as Westbury Court in Gloucestershire which had fallen into disrepair. The gardens were subsequently grade II* listed with Historic England.

Early life and family

Miles Hadfield was born in Handsworth, Staffordshire (now Birmingham), on 15 October 1903,Miles Heywood Hadfield Death • England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007.
Family Search. Retrieved 26 February 2022. the oldest son of Heywood George Hadfield (1872–1946), a solicitor, and Hilda Bragg (1876–1959) who was the daughter of the jewellery manufacturer Charles Bayley Bragg (1850–1933). He was schooled at Bradfield College in Berkshire and afterwards enrolled to study engineering at the University of Birmingham in 1921.

The family were prosperous during Miles's youth and lived in Hamstead Mount, a house built by Charles Bragg, but later suffered a financial reverse which necessitated the letting of half the house.

Miles's brother was John Hadfield who later worked as an editor at J. M. Dent who became his publishers.

Career

Hadfield's first job was at Best and Lloyd, a Birmingham firm who made light fittings where he worked from 1924 to 1930 locally and in London. At the same time he became an evening student at the Birmingham School of Art and, after leaving Best and Lloyd, a full time author and artist on botanical, gardening, and forestry subjects. His first book was ''The Gardener's Companion'' (1936) which he illustrated himself. This was followed by ''Everyman's Wild Flowers and Trees'' in 1938.

During the Second World War he worked for the Midland Division of the Ministry of Food, rising to the position of deputy controller of food for the Midlands, where he helped to ensure food supplies to the city of Coventry during the Blitz. He resigned in 1949 and returned to garden writing, having articles published in periodicals such as '' Country Life'', ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'', and '' House and Garden''. In 1957 he produced ''British Trees: A guide for everyman'', which he also illustrated, and in 1960 ''A History of British Gardening'' which was described by the University of Reading as the standard work on the subject.

In 1966 he was a co-founder of the Garden History Society and its first president. He began to work with the National Trust on the reconstruction of historic gardens such as Westbury Court in Gloucestershire which had fallen into disrepair. The gardens were grade II* listed with Historic England in 1986. He was awarded the Royal Forestry Society's gold medal and the Royal Horticultural Society's Veitch Memorial Medal.Notes on the author in Miles Hadfield (1985) ''A History of British Gardening''. Reprint of 1960 edition by Hutchinson. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 014007256X

Death and legacy

Following the death of his mother, Hamstead Mount was sold, and in 1962 Hadfield moved to Dillon's Orchard, Wellington Heath, near Ledbury in Herefordshire. He married Rachel Hughes in 1975 but the same year suffered a fall and increasingly poor health and eye-sight. He died in 1982.Miles Hadfield, Pioneer Garden Historian – And the Moraston Connection.
Ross-on-Wye & District Civic Society. Retrieved 19 February 2022. His papers are held in the special collections of the University of Reading and include extensive material relating to Hadfield's friend, the photographer Edward Cahen.Miles Hadfield Collection.
University of Reading. Retrieved 19 February 2022.

Selected publications

* ''The Gardener’s Companion''. Dent, London, 1936. (Editor and illustrator)
* ''Everyman’s Wild Flowers and Trees''. Dent, London, 1938.
* ''British Trees: A guide for everyman.'' Dent, London, 1957. (Illustrated by the author)
* ''A History of British Gardening''. Hutchinson, London, 1960.
* ''Gardens of Delight''. Cassell, London, 1964. (With John Hadfield)
* ''A Book of Country Houses''. Country Life Books, Feltham, 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadfield, Miles
1903 births
1982 deaths
People from Handsworth, West Midlands
People educated at Bradfield College
Alumni of the University of Birmingham
English garden writers
English botanical writers
English illustrators
English civil servants
English journalists