Edward Ashdown Bunyard (14 December 1878 – 19 October 1939) was a British

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 ...

food writer Food writing is a literary genre that focuses on the cultural and historical significance of food. It encompasses various forms, including recipes, journalism, memoirs, and travelogues, and can be found in both fiction and non-fiction works. Food ...

and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

enthusiast known for his books ''The Anatomy Of Dessert'', ''A Handbook of Hardy Fruits'', and ''The Epicure's Companion''.

Life

Edward Ashdown Bunyard was born to nurseryman George Bunyard and Katherine Sophia Ashdown on 14 December 1878. He was one of eight children. The family firm, Bunyards Nursery, had nearly been bankrupted the year after Edward's birth but his father was able to recover the business. Edward Bunyard was educated at home and spent time in France studying the work of leading nurseries. He started work for Bunyards Nursery in 1896 and took over the business when his father died during the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

epidemic in 1919. Bunyard was made a Fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

in 1914 for his work on

pomology Pomology (from Latin , "fruit", + , "study") is a branch of botany that studies fruits and their cultivation. Someone who researches and practices the science of pomology is called a pomologist. The term fruticulture (from Latin , "fruit", + , "c ...

and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

. He was a council member of 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 ...

and was a key figure in the foundation of the East Malling Research Station and the

National Fruit Collection The United Kingdom's National Fruit Collection is one of the largest collections of fruit trees and plants in the world. Over 2,040 varieties of apple, 502 of pear, 350 of plum, 322 of cherry and smaller collections of bush fruits, nuts and grap ...

now at Brogdale. Bunyard was especially known for his publications ''The Anatomy Of Dessert'', ''A Handbook of Hardy Fruits'' (1929), and ''The Epicure's Companion'' (1937), written with his sister Lorna. Bunyard retired from the family business, handing over to his brother Norman, in 1939. He became journal editor and librarian of the RHS Lindley Library. He had begun radio broadcasting on gardening with C.H. Middleton in 1939. Bunyard died by suicide on 19 October 1939. Bunyard's favourite apple was 'Orléans Reinette' which he enjoyed with

port wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Legacy

His books and descriptions of apples are still used today by heritage apple growers and people appreciative of old apple varieties.

References

1878 births 1939 deaths English food writers Fellows of the Linnean Society of London English geneticists English horticulturists {{UK-writer-stub