Victoria Medal of Honour

The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society.

The award was established in 1897 "in perpetual remembrance of Her Majesty's glorious reign, and to enable the Council to confer honour on British horticulturists." The Society's rules state that only sixty-three horticulturists can hold the VMH at any given time, in commemoration of the sixty-three years of Queen Victoria's reign. Therefore, the honour is not awarded every year, but may be made to multiple recipients in other years.

Awards

1897 – The first 60 medallists The first 60 medals were awarded on 26 October 1897: John Gilbert Baker (1834–1920) Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853–1922) Peter Barr (1826–1909) Archibald F Barron (1835–1903) Edward John Beale (1835–1902) William Boxall (1844–1910) William Bull (1828–1902) George Bunyard (1841–1919) Frederick William Burbidge (1847–1905) William Crump (1843–1932) Richard Dean (1830–1905) George A Dickson (c1835 – 1909) Henry Honeywood D'ombrain (1818–1905) Charles Thomas Druery (1843–1917) Malcolm Dunn (1837–1899) Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1822–1916) Henry John Elwes (1846–1922) Michael Foster (1836–1907) John Fraser (1821–1900) Paul George (1841–1921) George Gordon (1841–1914) John Heal (c1841 – 1925) George Henslow (1835–1925) Hermann Carl Gottlieb Herbst (c1830 – 1904) Samuel Reynolds Hole (1819–1904) Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) Francis Daltry Horner (c1838 – 1912) James Hudson (1846–1932) Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) Peter Edmund Kay (1853–1909) John Laing (1823–1900) Charles Maries (1851–1902) James McIndoe (1836–1910) Henry Ernest Milner (1845–1906) Edwin Molyneux (1851–1921) George Monro (c1847 – 1920) Frederick William Moore (1857–1949) Daniel Morris (1844–1933) George Nicholson (1847–1908) James O'Brien (1842–1930) William Paul (1822–1905) T Francis Rivers (1831–1899) Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868–1937) Frederick Sander (1847–1920) Henry Schröder (1824–1910) John Seden (1840–1921) Nathaniel Newman Sherwood (1846–1916) James Smith (1837–1903) Martin Ridley Smith ( – 1908) Walter Speed (c1835 – 1921) Head Gardener at Penrhyn Castle, Wales Arthur Warwick Sutton (1854–1925) Owen Thomas (1843–1923) William Thompson (1823–1903) David Thomson (1823–1909) Harry Turner (c1848 – 1906) Ellen Willmott (1858–1934) George Fergusson Wilson (1822–1902) Charles Wolley-Dod (1826–1904) John Wright (1836–1916) George Wythes (1851–1916)

1900–1909 1900 George Herbert Engleheart (1851–1936) breeder of daffodils Trevor Lawrence (1831–1913), President of the Royal Horticultural Society 1885 to 1913 1901 George King (1840–1909) Eleanor Ormerod James Sweet, Messrs J. Sweet & Sons Ltd, nurserymen, Whetstone 1902 Mordecai Cubitt Cooke (1825–1914), MycologistDesmond, Ray and Ellwood, Christine (1994) Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists: Including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters and Garden Designers Taylor & Francis Ltd. and The Natural History Museum, London, UK, p. 166 1903 Thomas Smith, Daisy Hill Nursery Sir Thomas Hanbury Thomas Humphreys (afterwards Curator of Birmingham Botanical Gardens) 1904 Edward Mawley (1842–1916) 1905 Henry Eckford (1823–1905) 1906 Richard Irwin Lynch (1850–1924), Curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden Harry Veitch (1840–1924) 1909 William Botting-Hemsley (1843–1924). Keeper of the Herbarium and library, Kew Gardens.

1910–1919 1911 Charles Robert Fielder (1857-1946 Bramshaw) 1912 Ernest Henry Wilson (1876–1930) 1916 Edward Augustus Bowles (1865–1954) 1917 William Jackson Bean (1863–1947) Frederick Chittenden (1873–1950), first Director of the RHS Wisley Garden. Sir Herbert Eustace Maxwell (1845–1937) Peter Veitch (1850–1929)

1920–1929 1921 George Forrest (1873–1932) 1922 Arthur Boscawen (1862–1935) 1924 Arthur GroveMassachusetts Horticultural Society – Forgotten Books 1925 Samuel B. Dicks (1845–1926), seedsman William Rickatson Dykes (1827–1925) William Wright Smith (1875–1956) George Yeld (1845–1938) 1926 Herbert George Alexander (orchid grower) Frederick Vincent Theobald (1868–1930) 1927 Frederick Robert Stephen Balfour (1873–1945) 1928 W. Nelmes 1929 Sir William Lawrence (1870–1934), Lionel de Rothschild (1882–1942)

1930–1939 1931 Laura McLaren, Baroness Aberconway (1854–1933) 1933 George Percival Baker (1856–1951) Frederick William Millard (1864–1964) 1934 Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway (1879–1953) George Monro (1876–1951) 1935 Amos Perry (1871–1953), of Perry's Plant Farm 1936 Stephenson Robert Clarke (1862–1948), of Borde Hill James Comber (1866–1953), of Nymans, Handcross Frederick Augustus Secrett (1886–1964) 1938 William Fleming Bewley (1891–1976) Frederick George Preston (1882–1964). 1939 Charles Percival Raffill M.B.E.(1876–1951), Curator, Kew Gardens. Raffill was also honoured in 1934 as an Associate of Honour of the Royal Horticultural Society (AHRHS).

1940–1949 1940 Sir Frederick Claude Stern (1884–1967) – Highdown chalk garden 1941 Edwin Lawrence Hillier – Hillier Nurseries 1942 Lady Iris Lawrence 1943 Arthur Disbrowe Cotton 1944 Arthur Dorrien-Smith (1876–1955) John Hutchinson (1884–1972) 1945 Fred Streeter (1879–1975) – horticulturalist and broadcaster 1946 Vera Higgins (1892–1962) 1948 Wilfrid Fox (1875–1962) – Winkworth Arboretum 1949 Ernest Ballard (1870–1952) Harry Higgott Thomas (1876–1956) – Editor of Popular Gardening

1950–1959 1951 Peter Crichton Kay (1889–1954) 1952 Albert Maurice Amsler (1877–1952) Collingwood Ingram (1880-1981)Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society (1953) volume 78 page xii Thomas Wallace (1891–1965)Wallace, Thomas (1891–1965), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 1953 Archibald Park Balfour Sir David Bowes-Lyon (1902–1961) C Edward Hudson 1954 Raymond Henry Stoughton (1903–1979) 1955 Robert L. Scarlett : for his contributions to horticultural experimental work in Scotland & United Kingdom. Lilian Snelling (1879–1972) 1957 William MacDonald Campbell Harold Roy Fletcher(1907–1978), Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh John Scott Lennox Gilmour (1906–1995) Harold Hillier (1905–1985) – Hillier Nurseries 1958 Frank P. Knight (1903–1985), Director of Wisley Garden

1960–1969 1960 Maurice Mason (1912–1993) 1961 Sir Edward Bolitho of Trengwainton, Penzance Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (1900–2002) "Publications: The Garden May 2002: News" Royal Horticultural Society William Gregor MacKenzie, curator of Chelsea Physic GardenObituary: Bill MacKenzie The Independent, 20 October 1995 Thomas Hope Findlay (1910-1994) Keeper of Gardens Windsor Great Park 1943-1975 Charles McLaren, 3rd Baron Aberconway (1913–2003) 1963 S. Millar Gault Sir James Horlick (1886–1972) of The Island of Gigha 1964 Gwendolyn Anley Hans Hvass – Danish writer on natural history 1965 John Paul Wellington Furse (1904–1978) Beatrix Havergal (1901–1980) William T. Stearn (1911–2001) 1967 Arthur Hellyer (1902–1993) – RHS. Horticultural writer and journalist. Sir Giles Rolls Loder, 3rd Baronet (1914–1999) of Leonardslee, Lower Beeding, Horsham[RHS Journal, February 20th 1968] 1968 Graham Stuart Thomas (1909–2003)

1970–1979 1970 Roy Hay (1910–1989)Colour Dictionary of Garden Plants Book, About the authors Alan F. Mitchell (1922–1995) 1971 Alan Bloom (1906–2005)"Tributes to a renowned plantsman" 31 March 2005 BBC News Frances Perry (1907–1993) Patrick Synge (1910–1982) 1973 Julia Clements 1974 Roy Copeman Elliott (Alpine gardener) Martin O. Slocock 1975 Herbert Rawnsley Barr (1903–1987) Valerie Finnis (1924–2006) Obituary Royal Horticultural Society 2006 1976 Christopher D. Brickell John Pilkington Hudson (1910–2007)ODNB entry; son's website: Retrieved 24 July 2011. Lady Marie Loder of Leonardslee, Lower Beeding, Horsham[RHS Journal, February 1977] 1977 Percy Thrower (1913–1988), Television gardener Mrs Desmond Underwood 1978 W Martin Robinson, vegetable expert. 1979 Christopher Lloyd (1921–2006)

1980–1989 1980 Leonard Broadbent (1916–2002) – Professor in Biology at the University of Bath Sheila Macqueen – Flower arranger 1981 John Bond (1932–2001) – Keeper of Windsor Great Park and the Savill Gardens Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, 3rd Baronet (1894–1972) and Lady Heathcoat-Amory (1901–1997) 1982 Adrian Frank Posnette 1983 John Stewart Mattock 1984 Kath Dryden (−2009) – alpine plant expertThe Garden, August 2009, page 511 (Royal Horticultural Society) 1985 Adrian Bloom – Bressingham Steam and Gardens Douglas Mackay Henderson (1927–2007), Keeper, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh Fred Whitsey (1919–2009)- Gardening correspondent of The Daily Telegraph 1986 Lady Anne Berry (1919–2019) Robin A.E. Herbert (1934–2024) Former President of RHS John B. Simmons (1937–) 1987 William Lawrence Banks Beth Chatto (1923–2018) 1988 Roy Lancaster (1937–)"BBC Gardening: TV and Radio: Presenter biographies: J to L: Roy Lancaster" BBC Gardening 1989 Carolyn Hardy (1930–2016)- Chairman, National Gardens Scheme A.D. Schilling

1990–1999 1990 Sylvia Crowe(1901–1997) D.J. Fuller 1991 P. Cox Brian Mathew Frederick Alkmund Roach (1909–2004) Miriam Rothschild (1908–2005) D.J. Sales 1993 Alan Hardy (1926–1999) – Sandling Estate Mary Shirville Newnes (1926–2020) – flower arranger Charles Notcutt (1935–2015) 1994 Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe (1900–1996) – landscape designer James Smart – of Marwood Hill Garden 1995 Raymond J Evison (1944–)HTA_New_November_2016.pdf David McClintock (1913–2001) Helen Robinson (1919–2004) – Hyde Hall 1996 John G. Hillier – Hillier Nurseries (1935-2025)Obituary in the RHS Magazine, November 1995, page 15 Penelope Hobhouse (1929–) C.R.M. Notcutt 1997 J.W. Blanchard Mary Grierson (1912–2012) – Botanical artist John Palmer, Earl of Selborne 1998 Joyce Stewart (1936–2011) – Director of Horticulture, RHS Rosemary Verey (1918–2001) 1999 Hal Moggridge A. Moon Sir Ghillean Tolmie Prance (1937–) G.H. Rae

2000–2009 2001 P. Erskine 2002 David Austin (1926–2018) for his rose breeding" The world's favourite flower – grown in Shropshire" BBC Shropshire April 2002 2003 Peter Beales (1936–2013) for his rose breeding and media promotion of gardening Andrew Dunn for his pioneering of virus-free rootstock Peter Seabrook (1935–2022) for his rose breeding 2004 Ray Bilton for his work with orchid hybrids David S. Ingram (1941–) for his pioneering research into plant diseases Alan Titchmarsh for his broadcasting and authorial gardening educational outreach"Alan Titchmarsh To Judge Trinity House's Lighthouse Photography Competition" Trinity House 2005 Martin Lane Fox for his work in landscape garden design Tony Lord for his work as a garden photographer and horticultural consultant Edmund Leopold de Rothschild for his work with rhododendron hybrids Tom Wood for his administrative work promoting horticulture 2006 Jim Buttress, for his work as a garden show judge Sibylle Kreutzberger, for her work at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent Dr. Henry Oakeley, for his scientific work on orchids, the genera Lycaste, Ida and Anguloa Pamela Schwerdt, for her work at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent 2007The Garden, July 2007, RHS news – Royal presentations for Society awards Colin Ellis – "for his long and distinguished service since 1983 with RHS Council and numerous committees." Christopher Grey-Wilson – for "his many achievements as botanist, photographer, botanical explorer and author of many books and articles." Sir Richard Carew Pole (1938–2024) – former RHS President Brian Self – "for his lifetime of service to amateur and professional fruit growers." 2008 John Ravenscroft – "for his plantsmanship, entrepreneurial talent and encyclopaedic knowledge of plants." 2009 Charles Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale