Thomas Rivers (1798–1877) was an English nurseryman, known for developing new varieties of roses and fruits.

Life

The son of Thomas and Jane Rivers of

Sawbridgeworth Sawbridgeworth (traditionally or , now also ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is east of Hertford and north of Epping, Essex, Epping. It is the northernmo ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, he was born there on 27 December 1798. His ancestor John Rivers from

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, established the Rivers family nurseries at Sawbridgeworth in 1725. On the retirement of his father in 1827, Rivers concentrated on the cultivation of

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

s. As a practical nurseryman, by the introduction of the "Early Rivers" plum, Rivers both extended the fruit season and enabled British fruit-growers to compete with European rivals. He also developed small fruit trees, and in 1854 took part in founding the British Pomological Society. Rivers died at Bonks Hill, Sawbridgeworth, on 17 October 1877, and was buried at Sawbridgeworth.

Works

Rivers published: * ''Catalogue of Roses'', 1833. * ''The Rose Amateur's Guide'' 1837, 11th edition 1877. * ''Miniature Fruit Garden; or the Culture of Pyramidal Fruit Trees'', 1840, 20th edition 1891. * ''The Orchard House; or the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in Pots under Glass'', 1850; 5th edition, 1858
6th edition, 185916th edition edited by his son T. F. Rivers, 1879
He also contributed to gardening journals, beginning with a paper on apple cultivation in ''Loudon's Gardener's Magazine'' in 1827.

Family

By his marriage in 1827 to Mary Ann, Rivers had two sons and four daughters. His son Thomas Francis Rivers took over the family business and edited his father's works. It was Thomas Francis Rivers who introduced the

Conference pear A Conference pear is a variety of pear. It is an autumn cultivar (cultivated variety) of the European pear (''Pyrus communis''). The variety was developed in Britain by Thomas Francis Rivers from his Rivers Nursery in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshi ...

. His granddaughter, Thomas Francis's daughter May Rivers, was a notable botanical illustrator. His great-granddaughter was the artist Elizabeth Rivers (1903–1964), who won a scholarship to the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Thomas 1798 births 1877 deaths Nurserymen English writers People from Sawbridgeworth Veitch Memorial Medal recipients English geneticists