Arthur Boscawen
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Reverend Canon Arthur Townshend Boscawen (9 July 1862 – 17 July 1939) was a British Rector of
Ludgvan Ludgvan ( ; ) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK, northeast of Penzance. Ludgvan village is split between Churchtown, on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas. For the purposes ...
in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England, and a recreational and commercial
horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
who introduced the ''
anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all regions except Australia, New Zealand, and ...
'' as a commercial crop to Cornwall.


Family

Arthur Townshend Boscawen was born in Hanover Square, London, the ninth of twelve children of the Rev Hon John Townshend Boscawen (1820–1889) and Mary Tremayne (died 25 November 1895), the daughter of
John Hearle Tremayne John Hearle Tremayne (17 March 1780 – 27 August 1851) was a member of a landed family in the English county of Cornwall, and owner of the Heligan estate near Mevagissey. He was a member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament fo ...
MP for
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
and owner of the Heligan estate, near
Mevagissey Mevagissey (; ) is a village, fishing port and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.< ...
. His father was the Rector of
Lamorran Lamorran () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of St Michael Penkevil, in the Cornwall district, in the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England. Lamorran lies southeast of Truro, within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natu ...
, a keen gardener of (it was said) one of the finest gardens in Cornwall. His uncle was
Evelyn Boscawen, 6th Viscount Falmouth Evelyn Boscawen, 6th Viscount Falmouth (18 March 1819 – 6 November 1889), was a Horse breeding, breeder of Horse racing, race horses and the winner of many British Classic Races, classic races. Personal life His parents were the Reverend Th ...
who was developing the garden on his estate at
Tregothnan Tregothnan is a country house and estate near the village of St Michael Penkivel, southeast of Truro, Cornwall, England, which has for many centuries been a possession of the Boscawens. Geography Location Tregothnan is located on a hill overl ...
. Boscawen married at
St Andrew's Church, Plymouth The Minster Church of St Andrew, also known as St Andrew's Church, Plymouth is an Anglican church in Plymouth, Devon in England. It is the original parish church of Sutton, one of the three towns which were later combined to form the city of Pl ...
, on 2 September 1902, Christian Anna E Chapell-Hodge (1866– 13 November 1940), eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Chapell-Hodge of Plymouth. They had two daughters: # Violet Mary Boscawen (12 June 1903 – 7 January 1998) # Karenza Margaret Boscawen (11 November 1904 – 22 April 1977) – a cultivar of the
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'', '' ...
, 'Karenza' was named for her.


Career

He initially considered the army for a career but opted for the church, and following a short period working in the
Diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...
he was based at
Buckland Monachorum Buckland Monachorum is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, situated on the River Tavy, about 10 miles north of Plymouth. In 2006 the neighbourhood had an estimated 1,511 residents and 654 dwellings. The elect ...
, Devon for five years before moving to Ludgvan in 1893. In 1917 Boscawen had the rank of Temporary Chaplain to the Forces, of the 1st Battalion, Cornwall Volunteers Regiment. In 1933, he was appointed
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...
of
Truro Cathedral The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Truro, Cornwall. It was built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson on the site of the parish church of St Mary. His ...
and was also a Justice of the Peace.


Gardening

The garden of the Rectory, in Ludgvan, was first laid out by
William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) a ...
when he was the rector in 1722. He planned to grow exotic species sent to him by his uncle who was a captain in the service of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
in
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
, India. Boscawen had similar plans and was sent trees and shrubs from
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. Material for the garden was provided by some of New Zealand's
botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
s, including
Thomas Cheeseman Thomas Frederick Cheeseman (8 June 184515 October 1923) was a New Zealand botanist. He was also a naturalist who had wide-ranging interests, such that he even described a few species of sea slugs (marine gastropod molluscs). Biography Che ...
, and by his eldest brother, John Hugh Boscawen who was employed by the
New Zealand Forest Service New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
. There was also a network between local gardens and gardeners with the transfer of plants and seeds. These included
Arthur Dorrien-Smith Major Arthur Algernon Dorrien-Smith (28 January 1876 – 30 May 1955) was Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly from 1918 to 1920. Family Major Arthur Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith was born on 28 January 1876, in Oxfordshire, to Thomas Smit ...
's
garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
at
Tresco Tresco may refer to: * Tresco, Elizabeth Bay, a historic residence in New South Wales, Australia * Tresco, Isles of Scilly, an island off Cornwall, England, United Kingdom * Tresco, Victoria, a town in Victoria, Australia * a nickname referring t ...
,
Morrab Gardens Morrab Gardens () are a municipal garden covering to the south of Penzance town centre, Cornwall. It is known for its Mediterranean and sub-tropical plants; and for housing the Morrab Library in the grounds. Morrab House with its walled garde ...
and Penlee Park in Penzance and Eagles Nest,
Zennor Zennor (; (village) or (parish)) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, about no ...
. Little of the original garden survives, the three winters of 1938, 1939 and 1940 were severe and many of the more tender trees and shrubs were killed, although some of the planting remains including the palms (''
Trachycarpus fortunei ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', also known as the Chusan palm,Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., vol. 4. John Murray. . Chinese windmill palm, or simply the Windmill palm, is a species of hardy evergreen pal ...
''), the tallest measuring tall. Boscawen did not leave a list of his plantings but research by Anne Boscawen shows that there were 290 acquisitions of plants. Boscawen also introduced many new plants to the botanical garden at
Tregothnan Tregothnan is a country house and estate near the village of St Michael Penkivel, southeast of Truro, Cornwall, England, which has for many centuries been a possession of the Boscawens. Geography Location Tregothnan is located on a hill overl ...
.


Horticulture

Boscawen spent much of his time on the propagation of shrubs from cuttings and seeds. In 1912 he was awarded a Gold Medal and The Gardeners' Chronicle Cup for New Plants for varieties of New Zealand manukas' ( ''Leptospermum scoparium'' var Nichollsii). A variety of daffodil was named, ″Karenza (Cornish for love) was named after his second daughter and a second variety was named ″Ludgvan″. Both varieties appear to be no longer available. It is thought that Boscawen collected seeds of ''Anemome'' while on holiday in the Mediterranean and in 1925 gave of white, woolly seeds to the nearby Gulval Experimental Station. The first commercial crop was despatched to
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
which filled a gap in the farming year between
cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...
and ''narcissi''. Cauliflower is known as broccoli in Cornwall and he helped local production by introducing seed from
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, to improve the local varieties. He was awarded the
Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...
in 1922 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 ...
.


Death

Boscawen died 17 July 1939 at the Rectory and is buried at the Church of St Paul, Ludgvan. There is a monument to him inside the church.


References


External links


Parks and Gardens UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boscawen, Arthur 1862 births 1939 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English Anglican priests
Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
British horticulturists People from Ludgvan, Cornwall Clergy of the Diocese of Truro Burials in Cornwall Victoria Medal of Honour recipients English gardeners