Miles Hadfield

Miles Heywood Hadfield (15 October 1903 – 31 March 1982) was an English writer on gardening and one of the founders, and the first president, of the Garden History Society. He was awarded the Royal Forestry Society's gold medal and the Royal Horticultural Society's Veitch Memorial Medal.

Hadfield studied engineering before taking a job at Best and Lloyd, who made light fittings, where he worked from 1924 to 1930 locally and in London. He then became a full time writer and illustrator on botanical and forestry topics, producing books such as The Gardener's Companion (1936), Everyman's Wild Flowers and Trees (1938), British Trees: A guide for everyman (1957), and the work he is best known for, A History of British Gardening (1960), which has become the standard work on the subject.

During the Second World War he worked for the Ministry of Food ensuring food supplies in the English Midlands. In later life he became involved with the National Trust, working on the reconstruction of historic gardens such as Westbury Court in Gloucestershire which had fallen into disrepair. The gardens were subsequently grade II* listed with Historic England.

Early life and family Miles Hadfield was born in Handsworth, Staffordshire (now Birmingham), on 15 October 1903, the oldest son of Heywood George Hadfield (1872–1946), a solicitor, and Hilda Bragg (1876–1959) who was the daughter of the jewellery manufacturer Charles Bayley Bragg (1850–1933).

Career Hadfield's first job was at Best and Lloyd, a Birmingham firm who made light fittings where he worked from 1924 to 1930 locally and in London. At the same time he became an evening student at the Birmingham School of Art and, after leaving Best and Lloyd, a full time author and artist on botanical, gardening, and forestry subjects. His first book was The Gardener's Companion (1936) which he illustrated himself. This was followed by Everyman's Wild Flowers and Trees in 1938. He was awarded the Royal Forestry Society's gold medal and in 1962 the Royal Horticultural Society's Veitch Memorial Medal. His papers are held in the special collections of the University of Reading and include extensive material relating to Hadfield's friend, the photographer Edward Cahen.

Selected publications The Gardener’s Companion. Dent, London, 1936. (Editor and illustrator) Everyman’s Wild Flowers and Trees. Dent, London, 1938. Pioneers in Gardening. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1955. British Trees: A guide for everyman. Dent, London, 1957. (Illustrated by the author) A History of British Gardening. Hutchinson, London, 1960. Gardens of Delight. Cassell, London, 1964. (With John Hadfield) Landscape With Trees. Country Life, London, 1967. A Book of Country Houses. Country Life Books, Feltham, 1969.