Veitch Memorial Medal

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

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, but from 1885, the Medals were awarded at the Orchid Conference. Since 1922, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been in charge of the Medal.^[2]

Winners

Recipients in 2013 include:

• Dr Keith Hammett, New Zealand whose horticultural interests include Sweet Peas, Dahlias and Clivias

Recipients in 2009 were:

• David Wheeler (founder and editor of Hortus: A Gardening Journal)
• Dr Joan Morgan (writer and historian)
• Jozef Van Assche (Secretary ISHS)

Recipients in 2008 were:

• Dr James 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.
• Michael 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.

For the 2007 list of winners, please see 2007 Manual

List of winners

• 1883 : John Roberts (1830-1892) Head Gardener, Charleville Castle, Co. Offaly, Ireland.
• 1887 : Mr. A. Ives Gardener to E.C.Jukes ^[3]
• 1892 : John Heal (c. 1841 – 1925)
• 1894 : Victor Lemoine fr:Victor Lemoine (France) (1823–1911)
• 1896 : Charles Sprague Sargent (1841–1927) (US)
• 1897 : Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954) (US)
• 1899 : Thomas Francis Rivers (1831–1899)
• 1901 : Richard Irwin Lynch (1850–1924), Thomas Meehan^[4] (1826–1901) (US)
• 1906 : Ernest Henry Wilson (1876–1930)
• 1907 : John Gilbert Baker (1834–1920)
• 1921 : Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865-1953)
• 1922 : William Jackson Bean (1863–1947)
• 1923 : Richard Irwin Lynch (1850–1924)
• 1924 : William Rickatson Dykes (1877-1925)^[5]
• 1925 : David Prain (1857–1944)
• 1927 : George Forrest (1873–1932)
• 1929 : Alfred Barton Rendle (1865–1938)
• 1930 : William Wright Smith (1875–1956)
• 1931 : Otto Stapf (1857–1933)
• 1932 : Leonard Cockayne (1855–1934)
• 1934 : Francis Kingdon-Ward (1885–1958)
• 1935 : Edward James Salisbury (1886–1978)
• 1936 : Robert L Harrow - 1936 : Arthur William Hill (1875–1941)
• 1937 : John Hutchinson (1884–1972), George Russell (1857-1951)^[6]
• 1938 : Morley Benjamin Crane (1890–1983)
• 1939 : Isabella Preston (1881–1965)
• 1953 : William Bertram Turrill (1890–1961)
• 1955 : Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962)^[7]
• 1956 : Albert Burkwood (1890-1978)
• 1963 : Percy Cane (1881 - 1976)
• 1964 : Frances Perry (1907–1993), William Thomas Stearn (1911–2001)
• 1965 : William Douglas Cook (New Zealand) (1884–1967)
• 1966 : Graham Stuart Thomas (1909–2003), Eben Gowrie Waterhouse (1881–1977)
• 1968 : John Stuart Yeates (New Zealand) (1900–1986)
• 1969 : Sir Thomas Neame (1885–1973)
• 1972 : Xenia Field (1894–1998),^[8] Roy Lancaster (born 1938)
• 1974 : John Bergmans ([Netherlands]) (1892–1980)
• 1976 : Alice Margaret Coats (1905–1978)
• 1977 : Iris Bannochie (1914–1988)
• 1978 : Gavin Brown (?-?) Frederick Alkmund Roach (1909-2004) ^[9]
• 1979 : Fred Whitsey (1919–2009)
• 1981 : David Robinson (1928–2004)
• 1983 : P.B.J. Joubert (South Africa)
• 1984 : nl:James Richard Pennington van Hoey Smith (1921 - 2010)
• 1985 : Mavis Batey (1921–2013) ^[10]
• 1986 : Ambrose Congreve (1907–2011)
• 1987 : Rachel Lambert Mellon (1910-1914)
• 1989 : John Alfred Codrington (1898–1991)^[11]
• 1990 : Chen Hang (born c. 1931)
• 1991 : John L. Creech (1920–2009)
• 1993 : Joy Larkcom (?-?), Brent Elliott (?-?)
• 1996 : Jane G Pepper (born 1945)
• 1999 : Sonja Bernadotte (1944–2008), Helen Dillon (1938-?)
• 2000 : Maurice and Brian Woodfield^[6]
• 2001 : Francis Higginson Cabot (1925–2011)
• 2002 : Piet Oudolf (born 1944), Stella Ross-Craig (1906–2006)^[12]
• 2003 : Martin John Bukovac (?-?)
• 2005 : Anne-Marie Evans (A leading figure in botanical illustration, her world-wide influence has led a resurgence of interest in and greater understanding of the depiction of plants)
• 2007 : Rex Dibley, Daniel John Hinkley (born 1953)
• 2008 : James Beard (?-?), Michael Nelson (?-?), Arabella Lennox-Boyd (?-?)
• 2009 : David Wheeler (born 1945),^[13] Joan Morgan,^[13] Jozef Vasn Assche^[13]
• 2010 : Dr. Stefan T. Buczacki
• 2011 : Graham Ross (Australia), Christopher Bailes (U.K.), Rosemary Alexander (U.K.), Keshab Pradhan (Sikkim, India)
• 2012 : Susyn Andrews (U.K.), John Elliott (Singapore), Chris Lane (U.K.), Hugh McAllister (U.K.), Beverley McConnell
• 2013 : Peter Del Tredici, Peter Furniss, Keith Hammett, Sue Minter, Alec Pridgeon and Margaret Owen^[14]
• 2014 : Mark Chase, Martin Gardner, Antonio de Almeida Monteiro, Philip Baulk and Gianfranco Giustina (Italy)^[15]
• Date unknown : Alfred Daniel Hall (1864–1942)
• Date unknown : Thomas Wallace (1891–1965)
• Date unknown : Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt (1901–1987)
• Date unknown : Werner Rauh (1913–2000)
• Date unknown : D. G. Hessayon (born 1928)
• Date unknown : Harold Hillier (1905–1985)

References

1. http://www.rhs.org.uk/about/awardsnominations.htm
2. 2007 Manual
3. The Veitch Memorial Prize Medal in my possession. Dated November 9, 1887
4. 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
5. Ray DesmondDictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists, p. 224, at Google Books
6. "'Simply Loopy'". telegraph.co.uk. 24 June 2000. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
7. 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
8. Buczacki, Stefan (2004). "Oxford DNB article: Field, Xenia Noelle". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
9. "Frederick Roach OBE, horticulturist.". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
10. parksandgardens.org, Mrs Mavis Lilian Batey - Summary.
11. McClintock, D (1992). "Obituary : John Alfred Codrington (1898-1991)" (PDF). Watsonia. 19: 53–54.
12. "Stella Ross-Craig -'Unrivalled' botanical illustrator". The Independent. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
13. The Garden, August 2009, page 512 (Royal Horticultural Society)
14. "2013 RHS Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Horticulture". Royal Horticultural Society. April 11, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
15. 2014 RHS Awards for Exceptional Contributions to Horticulture Announced

External links

• Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Awards Nominations