Enoch Pearson Barratt, and sometimes ''Barrett'', (1812 – 14 December 1895) was an Australian nursery proprietor who established one of the earliest commercial nurseries in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Biography

Barratt was born in

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

, England. In 1838, at the age of 26 he married Mary Ann Fleming. They had three children: Elizabeth Mary (b.

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. The town is separated from the rest of the u ...

, 4 December 1839), James Enoch (b.

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, 8 October 1845) and Emma Matilda (b. Deptford, 23 December 1848). In 1846 Barratt was employed as a switch turner for

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

at Deptford. In 1851 he and his brother George were charged with stealing various items from his employer, and with receiving stolen goods. On 12 May 1851 he was convicted of stealing and sentenced to ten years

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

. He was imprisoned in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...

in London, where he remained until 30 April 1852 where he departed from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

on the ship . He arrived in the

Colony of Western Australia The human history of Western Australia commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the ...

on 1 August 1852 and brought with him gardening skills, which he put to use in the employ of colonists John Gregory and, after his pardon in 1853, George Shenton Sr.J. Viska, ‘Barratt’s Wellington Nursery’
Australian Garden History
16 (5), 2005, pp. 11–14
His wife and three children followed him out to Western Australia, arriving on 23 March 1854 on board the ship . They had a fourth child, Federick Pearson (b. Perth, 28 December 1856). In 1858 he received a full pardon. In 1860, he established the Wellington Nursery at his Murray Street residence, which bordered the wetlands near Lake Kingsford, north of Perth. These wetland fringes were utilised for market gardens and were ideal for growing horticultural crops and nursery stock. In 1868 he successfully applied for the position of Government Gardener to tend Government Gardens (now known as Stirling Gardens), which he held until he retired in 1880. On 11 February 1877 his wife died; later that year he married Maria Church (a widow) on 25 October at the Trinity Congregational Church on

St Georges Terrace St Georges Terrace (colloquially known as "The Terrace") is the main street in the city of Perth, Western Australia. It runs parallel to the Swan River and forms the major arterial thoroughfare through the central business district. Its ...

. The nursery's first advertised plants included ''

Melia azedarach ''Melia azedarach'', commonly known as the chinaberry tree, pride of India, bead-tree, Cape lilac, syringa berrytree, Persian lilac, Indian lilac, or white cedar, is a species of deciduous tree in the mahogany family (biology), family, Meliace ...

'' (white cedar), and by 1870 its stock included grapevines and fruit trees. By 1874, the nursery stocked the Western Australian native '' Callitris preissii'' and other ornamental trees. Seeds followed in 1878 and then shrubs and roses in 1884.J. Viska, ‘Barratt, Enoch Pearson’, in p. 75. The nursery exported its own seeds and was an agent for William Shepherd's Darling Nursery in Sydney and Suttons Seeds in England. The nursery relocated to Douro Street (which was later renamed as an extension of Wellington Street) in 1876, and retail premises were opened in Hay Street in 1895. Barratt died on 14 December 1895 at the age of eighty-three and is buried at the East Perth Cemetery. His son, James Enoch (1845 - 1906) entered the business in 1880. Upon James' retirement, the business passed to his three sons, Edward James (1871 - 1937), Albert William (1872 - 1952) and (Frederick) Walter (1878 - 1948), who continued the commercial operations until 1904, when the nursery site was sold.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading