Thomas Davey

Thomas Davey ( 1758 – 25 April 1833) was a British florist and nurseryman based in Camberwell, Surrey, and later in Chelsea, Middlesex, both now in London, England. The son of a nurseryman of the same name, he was known for his "florists' flowers", the type of flowers traditionally popular with English florists, and specialised in tulips, geraniums, and pinks. He capitalised on a new enthusiasm for tulips and flower-growing at the start of the 19th century in what has been described as a "cult of florists' flowers", giving exhibitions that attracted large crowds and publishing sales catalogues, one of which offered nearly 800 different types of tulip bulbs.

The botanist Robert Sweet named the pelargonium "Daveyanum" (Davey's stork's-bill) after him and the tulip "Daveyana" was given his name by its breeder M. Dupree of Gothenburg. He grew many plants to which he attached his name, such as the tulips "La Joie de Davey" and "Davey's Trafalgar" and was one of the first to seriously take up the propagation and improvement of pinks.

He was a bell-ringer and parish official and was buried at St Luke's Church in Sydney Street, Chelsea. The antiquarian Samuel Shepherd composed a poem in his memory. Wellington Square was built on the site of his house and nursery.

Early life and family Thomas Davey was born around 1758, the son of a well-known nurseryman of the same name. His first wife was Mary.

Early career 1796 plan of the corner of Wyndham Road and Camberwell Road where Davey had his first nursery on the plot marked "Ree" (lower right) (now considered extinct). an area known for its plant nurseries which were in the process of moving from growing the useful to growing the ornamental. He lived in a house that was afterwards the site of Thomas Morley's, and then Thomas Downing's, floor-cloth manufactory and house near the corner with Smith Street, with his nursery adjacent. He was a bell-ringer at the local church

Davey's nursery was separated from that of his competitor James Colvill, and his son of the same name, by "Butterfly Alley", which drew its name from the many butterflies attracted to the gardens on either side. such as carnations, camellias, pelargoniums, pinks and tulips He was part of what Anna Pavord has called a "widespread cult of florists' flowers" beginning in the 19th century,

One example was pinks, of which Davey was one of the first to seriously take up the propagation and improvement. He produced his own cultivars and grew those of amateur gardeners, particularly the "laced" varieties popular with London growers which had only been bred for the first time in the early 1770s.

There was also a class distinction between the nurserymen and their customers, for while Davey's shop was "patronised by the nobility", A "well-known tulip-fancier", along with contemporaries such as James Maddock of Walworth and Luke Pope of Handsworth, Davey capitalised on and helped to foster a renewed interest in that species. In 1833 it was described in Joseph Harrison's The Floricultural Cabinet and Florist's Magazine as the best tulip ever produced in England. He declined an offer of £157 10s for his only bulb of the tulip "La Joie de Davey". It is considered extinct.

Other cultivars bearing his name included "Davey's Bacchus" (carnation), "Davey's Queen Adelaide" (yellow picotees), and the pinks "Davey's Lady Penryn", "Davey's Juliet", "Davey's Bolivar", and "Davey's Roi de Pourpre". The hybrid pelargonium "Daveyanum" (Davey's stork's-bill), which he grew from seed, was named after him by the botanist Robert Sweet who also drew extensively on plants bred at James Colvill's nursery in the King's Road in his work.

Death and legacy

Thomas Davey died at the age of 77 The antiquarian Samuel Shepherd, who worked for thirty years at the Chelsea Hospital near Davey's nursery, mentioned him in his incomplete and unpublished Notes on Old Chelsea, noting that a "muffled" peal of bells from the church was sounded out of respect at his funeral. The site of his nursery and house in Chelsea subsequently became Wellington Square, London.

Shepherd composed a poem "On the Death of Mr. Thomas Davey", in his memory using the ancient "Epitaph on Bion" (anon.) (Bion of Smyrna) as his model:

Ye beauteous offspring of the earth, To which the gentle Spring gives birth; Ye flowers he rear'd, you knew his worth, Then bend your head;

You have escaped the east-wind cold, With bloom perennial grow not old; But hark! a muffled bell hath toll'd- Davey is dead!

Let each young flow'ret fresh with life, With all their early beauties rife, Together join in mournful strife, A wreath to thread; Let roses twine with vermeil cheek, With lily of the valley meek, And tulips gay with many a streak, For Davey's dead!

Your bloom he did with pleasure view, Which Spring did constantly renew, And ev'ry plant in order knew, That deck'd each bed. But from his garden death has torn, No more he 'll greet the rising morn; Be fill'd with tears, ye flowers forlorn; Your friend is dead!

Though sun and showers each following year, Shall with new life your blossoms rear; No more on earth he will appear,- From life he's fled;- But in the dark and dreary tomb, No more his pleasing toil resume, While you each year shall bud and bloom, Though Davey's dead!