Veitch Memorial Medal

The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Veitch Memorial Medal

Goal

The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture".[1]

History

The prize was first planned in 1870, in memorial of James Veitch of Chelsea. At first, the prize was issued by the Veitch Memorial Trust and awarded at local horticultural shows, but from 1885 the Medals were awarded at the Orchid Conference. Since 1922, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), having taven over the Trust, has awarded the Medal.[2] By 2010 over 500 medals had been presented.

Winners since 2000 [3]

• 2019 : Ursula Drioli, Fabio Garbari, John Tan Jiew Hoe and Rachel Lever [4]
• 2018 : Prof Rosemary Collier, Gerald Edwards, Michael Hudson and Dr Douglas Needham. [5]
• 2017 : Dominic Cole, Rod Leeds, Philippe Lecoufle, William McNamara and Andrew McIndoe [6]
• 2016 : Sarah Carey, Diana Grenfell, Ernst van Jaarsveld (of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden), Marco Polo Stufano and Dr Ken Thompson.[7]
• 2015 : Gillian Barlow, Robert Berry, Neil Bragg, Fergus Garrett, Charles Nelson, Penny Snell and John Pilbeam [8]
• 2014 : Mark Chase, Martin Gardner, Antonio de Almeida Monteiro, Philip Baulk and Gianfranco Giustina (Italy)[9]
• 2013
  • Peter Del Tredici, Peter Furniss, Sue Minter, Alec Pridgeon and Margaret Owen[10]
  • Dr Keith Hammett, New Zealand whose horticultural interests include Sweet Peas, Dahlias and Clivias
• 2012 : Susyn Andrews (U.K.), John Elliott (Singapore), Chris Lane (U.K.), Hugh McAllister (U.K.), Beverley McConnell
• 2011 : Graham Ross (Australia), Christopher Bailes (U.K.), Rosemary Alexander (U.K.), Keshab Pradhan (Sikkim, India)
• 2010 : Dr. Stefan T. Buczacki, Bob Brown, Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Haruhiko Nagata, Jennifer Owen
• 2009
  • David Wheeler (founder and editor of Hortus: A Gardening Journal)[11]
  • Dr Joan Morgan (writer and historian)[11]
  • Jozef van Assche (Secretary ISHS)[11]
• 2008
  • Dr James B. Beard for his lifelong contribution to the development and application of scientific principles to turfgrass culture. Dr Beard founded the International Sports Turf Institute and has served the international horticultural community for the past 50 years through research, teaching and leadership.
  • John Nelson for his outstanding practical work over many years in the restoration of the Lost Gardens of Heligan, one of Cornwall's best-known tourist attractions.
• 2007 : Rex Dibley, Daniel John Hinkley (born 1953), Lord Charles Howick (For the 2007 list of winners, please see 2007 Manual)
• 2006 : Phillip Cribb, Otto Eisenhut, Aljos Farjon, A. Langton, Norman Looney
• 2005 :
  • Anne-Marie Evans (A leading figure in botanical illustration, her worldwide influence has led a resurgence of interest in and greater understanding of the depiction of plants)
  • W.H. Frederick, M. Solomon, Sir Richard Storey (1937-), Timothy Whiteley
• 2003 : Martin John Bukovac, Richard Bisgrove, J. Dowle, J. Moorby, Peter Raven (USA), Shirley Sherwood, Vicompte Philippe de Spoelberch (Belgian)
• 2002 : Piet Oudolf (born 1944) (Dutch), Stella Ross-Craig (1906–2006),[12] B. Machin, John Massey, G. Ogden, Martin Rickard, Lady Emma Tennant, R. Williams
• 2001 : Francis Higginson Cabot (1925–2011) (US/Canadian), Brian Duncan, Silviero Sansavini (Italy), P. Thoday

List of winners to 2000

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• 1883 : John Roberts (1830-1892) (Head Gardener, Charleville Castle, Co. Offaly, Ireland).
• 1886 : Andy Dey [13]
• 1887 : A. Ives (Gardener to E.C.Jukes) [14]
• 1892 : John Heal (c. 1841 – 1925)
• 1894 : Victor Lemoine (France) (1823–1911)[15], George Nicholson (1847–1908) [16]
• 1896 : Charles Sprague Sargent (1841–1927) (US)
• 1897 : Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954) (US)
• 1899 : Thomas Francis Rivers (1831–1899)[17]
• 1901 : Richard Irwin Lynch (1850–1924) Curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden,[18] Thomas Meehan (1826-1901)[19] (1826–1901) (US)
• 1904 : Lucien Louis Daniel (France)
• 1906 : Ernest Henry Wilson (1876–1930)
• 1907 : John Gilbert Baker (1834–1920) ; Worthington George Smith(1835–1917)[20]
• 1921 : Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865-1953) (Ireland)
• 1922 : William Jackson Bean (1863–1947)
• 1923 : Richard Irwin Lynch (1850–1924), Curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden (second award)[21]
• 1924 : William Rickatson Dykes (1877-1925)[22] ; Mr, J. Hoog[23] Lilian Snelling 1879–1972)(silver medal)[20]
• 1925 : David Prain (1857–1944)
• 1926 : George Herbert Engleheart (1851-1936) [24] ; Matilda Smith (1854–1926) (silver medal)[20]
• 1927 : George Forrest (1873–1932)
• 1928 : Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) [25]
• 1929 : Alfred Barton Rendle (1865–1938)
• 1930 : William Wright Smith (1875–1956)
• 1931 : Otto Stapf (1857–1933)
• 1932 : Leonard Cockayne (1855–1934); Sir Fredrick William Moore (1857–1950)[26]
• 1933 : Arthur Grove [27]
• 1934 : Francis Kingdon-Ward (1885–1958)
• 1935 : Sir Edward James Salisbury (1886–1978) (of Radlett)[28]
• 1936 : Robert L Harrow ; Arthur William Hill (1875–1941)
• 1937 : John Hutchinson (1884–1972), George Russell (1857-1951)[29]
• 1938 : Morley Benjamin Crane (1890–1983)[30]
• 1939 : Isabella Preston (1881–1965)
• 1941 : Eleanor Maltby
• 1945 : William Henry Judd (1888-1946) (of Arnold Arboretum) [31]
• 1947 : Frederick Chittenden[32]
• 1949 : Amos Perry
• 1950 : Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt (1901–1987)[33]
• 1951 : John Macqueen Cowan
• 1953 : William Bertram Turrill (1890–1961) (of Kew),[34]; Nellie Roberts (silver medal)[35]
• 1954 : Dorothy Renton (of Branklyn),[36] Mary Knox-Finlay (of Keillour Castle) [36]
• 1955 : Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962),[37] Ralph Peer (1892-1960)[38]
• 1956 : Albert Burkwood (1890-1978)
• 1957 : Charles Henry Curtis (1870-1958)[39]
• 1961 : T. Johnson [3]
• 1962 : Frank Reinelt [40]
• 1963 : Percy Cane (1881-1976); Frederick Augustus Secrett (1886–1964) [41]
• 1964 : Frances Perry (1907–1993), William Thomas Stearn (1911–2001) Christiaan de Wet Meiring (1900-1976 Caledon Botanical Gardens, South Africa)
• 1965 : William Douglas Cook (New Zealand) (1884–1967), A. Nisbet (Silver medal)[3]
• 1966 : Graham Stuart Thomas (1909–2003), Eben Gowrie Waterhouse (1881–1977), John Scott Lennox Gilmour (of Cambridge University Botanic Garden),[42] Leonard Broadbent (1916-2002) [43]
• 1967 : Alex J Burnett, Elizabeth Hess (Principal of Studley College)[25]
• 1968 : John Stuart Yeates (New Zealand) (1900–1986)
• 1969 : Sir Thomas Neame (1885–1973), Donald Wyman(1904-1993)[44]
• 1970 : Mary Pope (Flower arranger) [25]
• 1971 : B.L.Burtt (1913-2008),[45] Frances Perry,[36]; Helen Richardson (Daffodil breeder)[25]; W. Bishop,[3]; T. Durrant,[3]; A. Westall (silver medal) [3]
• 1972 : Xenia Field (1894–1998),[46]; Roy Lancaster (born 1938)[3]; Mrs T. Rochford[25] ; E. Smith (silver medal) [3]
• 1973 : Countess of Haddington [36]
• 1974 : John Bergmans (Netherlands) (1892–1980); R. Fiske [3]
• 1975 : J. Fraser[3] Thomas Robert Noel Lothian (1915-2004) [47]
• 1976 : Alice Margaret Coats (1905–1978); Margaret Stones (silver medal) [3]
• 1977 : Iris Bannochie (1914–1988); A. Gray [3]
• 1978 : Gavin Brown (1910-1987) [48] ; Frederick Alkmund Roach (1909-2004),[49] ; B. Fry [3]
• 1979 : Fred Whitsey (1919–2009); Gordon Rowley,[3] J.W. Goodwin (of Pukeiti Gardens); S. Coe [3]
• 1980 : A. Healey,[3] F. Keenan,[3] S. Orr (silver medal),[3] F. Potter,[3]; Robert John Garner [50]
• 1981 : David Robinson (1928–2004); F. Cleary [3]; David McClintock [3]
• 1982 : P. Teunissen [3]
• 1983 : P.B.J. Joubert (South Africa)[3]
• 1984 : nl:James Richard Pennington van Hoey Smith (1921 - 2010); Mary Grierson (1912–2012)[51] ; R. Beaumont[3] ; J. van Hoey Smith [3]
• 1985 : Mavis Batey (1921–2013)[52]; K. Andrew,[3] N. Luitse,[3] ; C. Mitchelmore,[3] ; Margaret Stones [3]
• 1986 : Ambrose Congreve (1907–2011),[3]; R. Sagarik [3]
• 1987 : Rachel Lambert Mellon (1910-1914); K. Beckett,[3] ;Victor Fowler[3]; R. Mellon [3]
• 1988 : E. Napier,[3] ;L. Pemberton[3] ;T. Wright [3]
• 1989 : John Alfred Codrington (1898–1991)[53] Helen Robinson (1919-2004),[54] J. Glazebrook,[3] E. Scholtz,[3] A. Stephenson [3]
• 1990 : Chen Hang (born c. 1931), M. Arai [3]
• 1991 : John L. Creech (1920–2009),[55] Lawrence James Metcalf (1928 - 2017)[3]
• 1992 : Patrice Fustier (French),[3] D. G. Hessayon (born 1928),[3] Olive Hilliard,[3] Joy Larkcom,[3] J. Ravenscroft [3]
• 1993 : Brent Elliot,[3] Sir Peter Smithers, Brenda Hyatt,[25] H. Suzuki [3]
• 1994 : David C.H. Austin,[3] R. Birchall,[3] A. Kenrick,[3] Dick van Gelderen,[3] T. Venison,[3] Wang Dajun [3]
• 1995 : Gilly Drummond,[3] Mikinori Ogisu,[3] A. Paterson,[3] Jane Pepper (1945-),[3] B. Self [3]
• 1996 : Gloria D. Barretto (1916-),[3] B. Howard,[3] H. Noblett,[3] C. Riley,[3] S. Spongberg,[3] D. Steed,[3] Michael Upward (-2015),[3] R. Waite [3]
• 1997 : Ray Bilton (1937-2012)[3];B. Briggs,[3] ;Brian Rittershausen[3]; Kiat Tan [3]
• 1998 : Bruce Macdonald (Missouri Botanical Garden); R. Aylett[3] ;J. Bleasdale[3] ; P. Catt[3]; K. Cockshull[3]; R. Elliot[3] ; E. Hetherington,[3] M. Rix [3]
• 1999 : Sonja Bernadotte (1944–2008); Helen Dillon (1938-)[3]; Christopher Grey-Wilson[3]; P. Hemsley[3]; Hugh Johnson[3] ; James H. McColl[3] ; J. Quinlan,[3] ; Brian and Maurice Woodfield [3]
• 2000 : William Flemer,[3] ; F. Last[3] ;Anna Pavord[3] ;Daphne Vince-Prue [3]; Jean O'Neill[56]
• Date unknown : Alfred Daniel Hall (1864–1942)
• Date unknown : Thomas Wallace (1891–1965)
• Date unknown : Werner Rauh (1913–2000)
• Date unknown : Harold Hillier (1905–1985)
• Date unknown : Alan Bloom (1906-2005)
• Date unknown : George Hermon Slade AM (1910-2002) (Australian orchid collector)

See also

• List of agriculture awards

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-01-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. 2007 Manual
3. "RHS Green Manual". RHS. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
4. "RHS People Awards". RHS. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
5. "Horticulture Week". Retrieved 8 October 2019.
6. "RHS People Awards". RHS. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
7. "RHS People Awards". RHS. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
8. "Outstanding horticulture". RHS. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
9. 2014 RHS Awards for Exceptional Contributions to Horticulture Announced
10. "2013 RHS Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Horticulture". Royal Horticultural Society. April 11, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
11. The Garden, August 2009, page 512 (Royal Horticultural Society)
12. "Stella Ross-Craig -'Unrivalled' botanical illustrator". The Independent. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2011., A. Jellyman
13. Banffshire Journal http://www.banffshire-journal.co.uk/Features/Memory-Lane/Improvements-in-the-pipeline-7327819.htm
14. The Veitch Memorial Prize Medal in my possession. Dated November 9, 1887
15. Judith M. Taylor An Abundance of Flowers: More Great Flower Breeders of the Past, p. 76, at Google Books
16. "Nicholson, George (DNB12)". Retrieved 19 February 2017.
17. "Thomas Francis Rivers - Summary". Parks and Gardens UK. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
18. "Richard Irwin Lynch". gerbera.org. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
19. American Horticulture Honoured The Garden: An Illustrated Weekly Journal of Gardening in all its Branches, Volume 59 (June 22, 1901), page 446 by William Robinson
20. "20th century Botanical Artists". BOTANICAL ART & ARTISTS. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
21. "Richard Irwin Lynch". gerbera.org. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
22. Ray Desmond Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists, p. 224, at Google Books
23. "Hybridizer C. G. Van Tubergen, Jr". Retrieved 12 April 2020.
24. "George Herbert Engleheart" (PDF). Wiltshire OPC Project. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
25. Horwood, Catherine. Gardening Women: Their Stories From 1600 to the Present.
26. Ainsworth, Geoffrey. Brief Biographies of British Mycologists (PDF). p. 117.
27. Massachusetts Horticultural Society - Forgotten Books
28. "Sir Edward Salisbury, botanist, 1886-1978". Harpenden History. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
29. Whitsey, Fred (24 June 2000). "Simply Loopy". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
30. Mather, Kenneth; Lawrence, W. J. C. (November 1985). "Morley Benjamin Crane. 17 March 1890-17 September 1983". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 31: 88–110. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1985.0004. JSTOR 769921.
31. "The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University" (PDF). Harvard University. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
32. Ainsworth, Geoffrey. Brief Biographies of British Mycologists (PDF). p. 41.
33. Writers Directory. p. 120.
34. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/library/archives/catalogue/dserve.exe?dsqServer=placid&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Persons&dsqSearch=Code==%27PX5425%27&dsqCmd=Show.tcl
35. Oder, Thomas Allen (March 2009). "Nellie Roberts". The Orchid Review. Royal Horticultural Society. 117: 32–38.
36. "RHS Veitch Medal". Gardening Women.
37. T. J. Hochstrasser, ‘West, Victoria Mary Sackville- (1892–1962)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 24 May 2014
38. "A Passion for Camellias" (PDF). The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
39. "Brentford Councillors - Charles Henry Curtis". Brentford High Street Project. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
40. Taylor, Judith M. (December 2014). Visions of Loveliness: Great Flower Breeders of the Past. ISBN 9780804040624.
41. Desmond, Roy. Dictionary Of British And Irish Botantists And Horticulturalists. p. 2676.
42. "John Scott Lennox Gilmour". Wordpress. Retrieved 17 December 2016. (1906-1986)
43. http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/obituaries/15097639/obituaries-professor-leonard-broadbent-obe-cbe-vmh
44. "Dr. Wyman Receives Veitch Medal". Virginia Tech. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
45. "B. L. Burtt: Plant taxonomist". The Independent. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
46. Buczacki, Stefan (2004). "Oxford DNB article: Field, Xenia Noelle". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
47. "State Library of South Australia - Thomas Robert Noel Lothian, O.B.E." (PDF). State Library of South Australia. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
48. "Our History - Timeline". John Innes. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
49. "Frederick Roach OBE, horticulturist". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
50. "R. J. Garner". Octopus Books. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
51. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/art-obituaries/9134740/Mary-Grierson.html
52. parksandgardens.org, Mrs Mavis Lilian Batey - Summary.
53. McClintock, D (1992). "Obituary : John Alfred Codrington (1898-1991)" (PDF). Watsonia. 19: 53–54.
54. "Helen Robinson (obituary)". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
55. "RHS Honors John Creech". American Rhododendron Society. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
56. Mulholland, Marc. "(Katharine) Jean O'Neill [née Whitaker] Lady O'Neill of the Maine (1915–2008) In O'Neill, Terence Marne, Baron O'Neill of the Maine (1914–1990), prime minister of Northern Ireland". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39857. Retrieved 2020-04-17. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Awards Nominations