Roy Genders, prolific garden writer
Roy Genders, 1913 to 1985, wrote more than dozen books about flowers, floral history and how to grow plants. In “Collecting Antique Plants” (1971) he credits R P Genders with doing the historical research.
I wonder whether that was one of his children or another relative.
Does anyone have any information about him?
Judith Taylor
This post was submitted by jtaylor196.
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I am an avid collector of gardening books and have almost all of Roy Genders’ titles. I read in one of his books that he completed his 100th book just before his death in 1985. I have all but two of these titles in one format or another. I have read one or two critical comments about his authorship and it would appear that several of his books were compiled from information cribbed from other books! Despite this however he has written several authoritative volumes and appeared to have made a good living out of this. He seems to have operated as a market gardener / smallholder in several parts of the country. I have become interested in his life and would like to find out more information about him.
Regards,
Andrew Robinson ( Barton on Humber )
I am so pleased that someone else is interested in Roy Genders, 1917 to 1985. I think he has had a bad press, though not without some reason. Many of the almost 100 books were repeats in new covers, supporting the accusation that he only wrote potboilers but when you look at a lot of the books you see he almost always started out by giving the history of the plant or plants and quoted Shakespeare, Keats or other great poets as a matter of course. That aspect of his work has endeared him to me.
I know bits and pieces about his life, garnered from various sources. The cricket community holds him close to its collective bosom. In 1946 and 1947 he played for Worcestershire in at least one great match. He also played for two other counties but petered out after that. The best obituary is in Wisden.
Roy Genders read forestry at Cambridge and developed his love of horticulture at about the same time.
In the 1960s Genders and his family lived at Northborough Manor, near Peterborough in Hampshire. They restored the grounds of this ancient property and possibly used some of the land as a nursery or market garden. The same web site informed one that Genders designed the rose garden for a botanical garden in Tehran, though he was not as active with roses as with other flowers. I tried to find references to that rose garden but so far have not found any. Maybe someone knows about it.
In the introduction to “Collecting Antique Plants” (1971) he credits one of his family, R P Genders, with doing the historical research. I wonder whether that was his son Robert.
There was no question Roy Genders knew what he was writing about. The instructions for where to find and how to grow the old florists’ flowers are clear and succinct. This was the heyday of John H. Harvey, another scholar and writer who has not been as well loved as he might. Harvey’s insistence on authenticity in garden history led him to be a founding member of this organization. His influence was quite extensive, even if not openly admitted.
About 15 years after Genders wrote this book Ruth Duthie brought out her charming monograph on the old florists and their flowers. It was meticulously researched and set another high standard in the field but both Harvey and Genders had been there before her.
At last I have an opportunity to use that marvellous modern phrase “a paradigm shift”. No matter whether you liked Harvey or not, he changed the game.
One or two other points:Genders’ family were timber merchants in Sheffield. He worked in the business for some time before branching out on his own as a fruit farmer in Somersetshire. In 1949, he was a TV star briefly, long before the current huge outpouring of TV gardening programmes. He demonstrated how to grow mushrooms and was known as the “Mushroom Man”.
If Mr Robinson would like me to send him scans of the few materials I have on Genders, please let me know. It would also be extremely helpful is any of his family or friends reads this note and can fill in the gaps for me.
PS I see a typo in the penultimate line of my earlier note: it should read “IF any of his family…”
PPS Another typo! Genders was born in 1913, not 1917.
Sounds very intriguing. I shall seek out Roy Gender’s books – I hadn’t heard of him!
“Collecting Antique Plants’”, “Cottage Gardens” and “Primroses” are a good place to start. I hope you enjoy them.
A further correction! Northborough Manor is near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, not Hampshire. He carried out major works to repair the mediaeval buildings in the period 1972-74. In addition to the prodigious writing output. How?!
Thank you, Peter. I am glad to have the correct information. I too am in awe of his energy and drive. I wish I knew how he did it. If I could find anyone who was related to him or knew him perhaps that question might be explored.
Roy Genders did indeed live at Northborough Manor near Peterborough, Cambs in the 1970s. At the time I was a landscape gardener with several jobs in and around Northborough. One day, about 1977-8 as I recall, I was working on a front garden when I was assailed by the post lady for the area who was in a state of ecstacy because she had just delivered post to Northborough Manor and he had asked her if she wanted a signed copy of his latest gardening book. I believe she had no interest or knowledge of gardening but was just so thrilled that Roy had given her this book. Maybe it inspired her to get digging?
What a nice story. Thank you for sharing it with me. It rounds out the picture of Genders, showing him to be generous and kind hearted.
You might be interested in some information about Roy Genders from the 1940s. He bought Fanshawe Gate Hall in Derbyshire in 1944 (the house had been in the ownership of the Fanshawe family since the 13th century), and set about farming the land. He wrote about his experiences in ‘I Bought a Farm’ (pub. 1948 by The Worcester Press), with Fanshawe Gate Hall disguised as ‘Holly Gate Farm’. Some of his photographs are reproduced in Cynthia Ramsden’s book ‘A Garden in my Life’ (2nd edition pub. 2009 by Grafika) which chronicles the garden’s development in the years since Genders’ ownership. In his review of Cynthia Ramsden’s books in ‘Hortus’ 94 (Summer 2010) Tim Longville recounts the local farmers’ disparaging verdict on Roy Genders’ farming skills: “You could get his pigs, fold ‘em in haef, an’ shove ‘em through t’letterbox”. Roy Genders sold Fanshawe Gate Hall in 1951.
Dear Nicola,
Thank you for this useful information about Genders. The verdict of the local farmers on his pigs is very funny and telling though I have a feeling he was pretty professional most of the time. He was a star cricketer among other things. Could they have been jealous of an educated, “county”, man muscling in on their turf? I shall look for the two books you mention.
I am still hunting for anyone in his family or a close friend who might fill in the gaps. Any thoughts?
Thank you
Judith
Judith
Cynthia and John Ramsden would be happy to tell you what they know of Roy Genders’ early years at Fanshawe Gate, although it is only hearsay from neighbours who knew him. Their phone number (which is publicly available on the Fanshawe Gate website and through the NGS) is 0114 2890391.
One of the characters in ‘Garden Tales’, Alan North, says that Roy Genders married Pauline Thompson, a girl whose parents lived opposite Alan’s family’s cottage on Cowley Lane in Holmesfield, the village where Fanshawe Gate is situated. Cynthia believes that this marriage may have ended in divorce. By complete coincidence, an Irish friend of mine recently told me that her aunt married the brother of Roy Genders’ wife. I wonder if this could have been a later wife? I will try to find out more about this for you.
I think your detection of resentment in the attitude of the local farmers who dismissed Genders’ farming efforts is a shrewd guess. The farmer who made that particular remark was a tenant on neighbouring land, and Genders’ background and education must have been worlds away from his own.
Nicola
So much of what emerges is by these wonderful coincidences.
I have been checking the records of his books. The British Library, the UK library of record, lists 169 copies of his work. There is considerable duplication and I am trying to sorting that out. I did read “I Bought a Farm”, published in 1948. How he managed to do everything he lists in that book to survive and still write several other books simultaneously is a mystery.
In 1946 he brought out a book about mushroom growing, in 1947 a book about chrysanthemums, and in 1948 one about cut flowers. He must have visited Ireland for in 1949 there is a book “A Holiday in Dublin”. There were also books about greyhound racing and cricket, as well as one about pigs.
Up to and including 1956, more or less 10 years after he got out of the service, he published 35 books.
More analysis will follow.
As promised I did a bit more analysis. In the British Library list of 35 books published between 1946 and 1956, 8 were duplicates.They include a 2nd and occasionally 3rd edition. The book about growing mushrooms went into a 4th edition.
In light of the rather unkind remarks about his pigs by neighbouring farmers it is interesting to see he wrote a book about raising pigs. In general he seems to have been very serious about what he was doing at any one time. In “I Bought A Farm” he gets down to pounds, shillings and pence very quickly. There was nothing of the airy-fairy naive townie in his writings. He hung on financially through the brutal winter of 1946/47 because of his market garden and mushroom growing. The whole country was in a deep freeze.
Even if he cribbed stuff from other work, he had to take it all in, organize it in his mind and re-write it. All that takes time and effort. No one says he stole material or actively plagiarized other people’s work. His publishers were generally reputable and they could not allow that. The fact that he was published over and over again indicates there was a demand for gardening and agricultural information which they thought he could fill.
None of this gets me any closer to knowing more about his life but at least I am putting what we do know into some sort of order.
Dear Mrs. Taylor,
I used to know Roy Genders’s son, Bill, in the early 1970s, when he was teaching at a secondary school in Hammersmith. Good luck
John Harringay
Dear Mr Harringay,
I am most grateful for this information. Are/were you a teacher too? Do you recall if he talked about his father very much? Could you tell me which school it was and what he taught? It is extremely useful to know at least in which town he lived, although after almost 40 years he may well have moved somewhere else. Roy Genders died in Worthing on the South coast. I am trying to see if there were any notices of his death in the local newspapers.
I don’t suppose you have any idea where Mr Genders could be found now. Since his name was Bill, I assume he was the eldest son. Roy Genders’ actual first name was William.
I also assume you are interested in gardening since you found this web site.
Thank you
Judith
Dear Mrs. Taylor,
Bill Genders lived in west London, I think, and used to teach at the Geffrye Museum (c.1971). Roy Genders wrote the standard book on the history of greyhound racing, hence my interest. Best wishes for your search.
Yours sincerely
John Harringay
My middle names are “nagging ” and “persistence” but even armed with those vices I am still not too much ahead in finding anyone who was connected directly with Roy Genders.
I recalled he had died in Worthing so I approached the reference department at the Worthing Public Library. The librarian, Susan McMahon, was most helpful. In particular she told me the names of Genders’ 4 children: William A, Maureen, Robert R., and Clive S. All of them were born in different places. Mr Harringay knew William.
I then tried to find the children, now in their 60s, in the various on line directories but have drawn a complete blank. At this point I am at a loss unless someone has any suggestions.
I have commented before that I am in possession of all but two of Roy Genders’ books, which I have catalogued. I have tried to post this catalogue as an attachment but I understand there is no facility on the website to do this. If any of the correspondents are interested I would be willing to send the catalogue as an attachment direct.
My e-mail address is: an.robinson@tiscali.co.uk
Dear Judith,
Hello there,I am Roy Genders youngest son and a lot younger than in my 60s !
I am puzzled at your fascination on my fathers life and came across this website by accident.However if you wish to contact me then please do not hesitate to do so.
All best wishes
Clive.
Dear Clive,
I am sorry if I made you seem to be too old! As someone who writes about plants and gardening people and needs a lot of time to get the research together your father’s output staggered me. It seemed hardly possible that anyone could be so productive and not only that, the content of some of his books is very valuable.
Have you spoken to your brother Bill? In the interval between my last entry and the present he and I have been corresponding. I would very much like to get your views on your father’ life and work and any other information you could share with me. You can get my e-mail address from the webmaster or from BIll.
Regards
Judith
I knew Roy Genders very well as I lived next door to him. If you read his ‘I bought a Farm.’ you will find me mentioned as ‘the local doctors son’. I helped him set up a mushroom farm in the big barn and in so doing
fell through the floorboards which were rotten. He had a Rolls Royce and if he saw me coming home from school would give me a lift. I remember his wife Pauline even more; she was a cracker and a regular visitor to my early adolescent fantasy dreams. I did once write a John Betjemen-esque poem about the lady.
‘Pauline’s tresses fan my sleeping brow,
Her husky voice demands, ‘Now, Neil,Now!’
Sadly the drivel is now out of print because it never got any further than the back page of my maths book. I believe that she took off with a butchers boy thus breaking my heart.
All the locals thought Roy was a joke. He had one tractor lad called Harry
and, Fanshaw Gate being hilly, Harry spent a lot of time turning this tractor over on himself. In those days tractors didn’t have safety bars fitted so how he managed NOT to kill himself I’ll never know.
The ‘market garden’ was well, de mortuis nil nisi bonum. But he was a really nice guy. And my brother and I used to play cricket with him in the field next to the lane. Sometimes he would let us win.
Neil.
Neil, I did read “I Bought a Farm” and wondered how things worked out. I am happy to hear that everyone made it.
Did you ever imagine he would go on to write more than 100 books?
Judith
I have just come home from talking to Roy Genders wife, Kathleen. She is in the same nursing home as my mother and today she had just showed me her late husband’s book about roses. She was telling me what a prolific writer he was, so I googled him out of interest to see what else he had written and came across this correspondence. Coincidence indeed. She’s a lovely lady.
Sue,
I was very interested to hear that Mrs Genders is in the same home as your mother. Do you think she is fit enough to do a little correspondence with me about her late husband? I would not want to tire her out or bother her too much.
If it would work out how could I get her address?
Judith
Hi Judith,
I think you would need to contact Kathleen’s family for permission to correspond with her. I notice her son Clive replied to an earlier post, so perhaps you could contact him again.
I don’t know her family and I would not like to assume I could give you contact details. It would seem a bit presumptuous of me! I hope you understand.
Regards,
Sue.
My Mum Kathleen is in a nursing home and not able give an interview, but she has my fathers photo in her roon and talks to him each day. I was so lucky to have Roy as a dad he was the kindest person and he is still talked about in a small town in Ireland, from when he visited in the 40s and 60s, he was well thought of and a really nice chap
My mum is in a nursing home,now. She has a photo of my dad in her room and talks to him each day. She is not well enough to be contacted about Roy, I know you will understand. My brothers and I were very lucky to have such a lovely father, who would always break off his writing to help or play with us, it was a wonder he ever finished a book!
I am an avid collector of gardening books and have almost all of Roy Genders
Judith,
Roy genders was a member of the National Auricula and Primula Society in the 1950’s. If you you would like his addresses in that period I can supply them.
With regards
Bob Taylor
Just to say hello to Maureen After many years!!!!!!
Hello Judith,
This is rather late in the day but I just came across your blog after looking up Roy Genders, having seen his name in a book about medicinal plants. The name rang a bell because at a local farm shop and garden centre near to me, a woman called Hannah Genders has an award-winning veg garden and runs gardening courses, see link below:
http://www.hillers.co.uk/Hannah-Genders-Garden.asp
Could this be Roy Genders’ granddaughter?
Best wishes,
Emma
Dear Emma,
Interesting. Roy Genders had 3 sons and one daughter. Maybe one of his sons had a daughter named Hannah, or possibly one of heir offspring married a woman with that name. Do you live in Warwickshire where Hannah has her garden? Genders had a farm at Fanshawe Gate in Derbyshire a very long time ago, in the late 1940s.
I have corresponded with Mr Genders’ children and might be able to find out for you. They might even see this post.
regards
Judith
Emma,
I checked. Hannah Genders is not related to the family of Roy Genders. It is her married name but her husband is not part of that family.
Judith.