RootsChat.Com
Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: tornado on Saturday 16 May 20 16:23 BST (UK)
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Hello everyone.
Some of my ancestors where Market gardeners in Altrincham Cheshire in the 1860s. I am just interested in the social history here . Maybe some Rootschat members will also have this occupation in there family tree?. Would be nice to hear from you . Thanks.
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There is some information about market gardens here:
"Extension of the Bridgewater Canal to Altrincham (1765) stimulated the development of market gardening. For many years Altrincham was notable for its vegetables. Barge transport enabled produce to be sold in Manchester. In 1910 there were 157 market garden businesses in Altrincham and Sale."
http://www.lymmvillage.co.uk/about/history-of-lymm/altrincham-history
And a more detailed history of the area is in this book:
http://www.altrinchamheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/A-Town-in-Crisis-Altrincham-in-the-Mid-C19th-Don-Bayliss-2006-PDF-2015-Full-Size.pdf
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This information is helpful to my family search in Altrincham . It seems my ancestors where from the lower classes back then (the plebs) Life was difficult . Thanks for your interest in my topic i appreciate this .
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There is a book "Altrincham Gardeners' Society - a hundred years of professional gardeners" by Hazel Pryor and John Hitchens (2003) which "looks at the paid gardeners who lived and worked around the town". "Thoroughly indexed.... this is the story of the employers and patrons, societies and above all the individual gardeners in North Cheshire and a way of life which has almost disappeared".
If you supply a name, I could see if they are mentioned.
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What an interesting thread and, although I can add nothing of great significance, here’s my twopenn’rth!
My gt-grandfather, John Bland, moved from Yorkshire to Washway Road, Sale, sometime between 1841 & 1851 and was during years following a market gardener.
According to his daughter: “John had the ambition to become his own master. He cultivated plots of land and had greenhouses erected thereon. He called his venture "Victoria Nursery" and it was situated in Hesketh Road, off Washway Road, Ashton-on-Mersey. He also had a stall at Manchester market; all this was rather a large undertaking.”
Unfortunately, this venture did not always run smoothly and his daughter says that this was largely due to the weather. This resulted in his inability to provide for his first three children for a while and his wife's sister & her husband took those children in. This was not uncommon in Victorian times and is commonly called ‘Kinship care’. I have looked into this and the years at the time (from 1865-1875), contain some of the driest & wettest Springs & Summers on record, which does seem to support his daughter’s report.
So, Tornado, not only do I have an ancestor who was a Market Gardener, he was actually in the area where your ancestors toiled!
And I would be very interested to know from alderjones whether John Bland, or Victoria Nursery feature in the book you mention. I note that it is still available for around £10 including postage and would be tempted to purchase a copy if it has information about conditions faced by Market Gardeners in the Sale, Ashton on Mersey and nearby locations which would help me to understand John’s life in the 2nd half of the 19th century. By the turn of the century, when in his eighties, John describes himself as a Landscape Gardener. Two of his sons became gardeners, the other three worked on the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway.
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Have sent personal message.
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Hello
Does the book you mention also cover Bowdon?
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Fascinating! I wonder which of the local nurserymen produced the famous 'Timperley Early' rhubarb?