For all interested in the past, present and future of Sutton House, Hackney
The sex life of plants!
It seems amazing today but in the 18th century they knew something about the birds but the bees were still a mystery. How did plants reproduce? How were seeds formed? It took a Hoxton nurseryman, Thomas Fairchild, to demonstrate the role of insects in this process. How he did it will be revealed this month when award-winning author and journalist Michael Leapman will give the annual Sutton House Society Lecture in the Wenlock Barn.
By the early 18th century naturalists were gradually starting to realize the shocking truth that plants had male and female organs. Fairchild in his Hoxton nursery showed that by transferring the pollen of a sweet william to the pistil of a carnation he could produce a hybrid with mixed characteristics which became known as 'Fairchild's Mule'. This was the first hybrid cultivated in Europe. There was outrage that he was interfering with God's grand design comparable with the current controversy over genetically modified plants. Fairchild's memorial stands today in Hackney Road but there are plans to reposition it in Shoreditch Churchyard where it will have a, much deserved, more prominent position.
Michael Leapman has contributed to most national newspapers and many magazines on the subject of London history and horticulture. His first book One Man and his Plot told the story of his allotment in Brixton . His most recent published in April of this year called The World for a Shilling tells the story of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and how it changed a nation.
Sir Roy Strong described his book The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild published last year 'A beguiling perambulation - a charming tour of what grew in early Georgian London'.
All Sutton House Society members will be aware of the changes proposed next year at Sutton House.
The current Society Committee takes the view that reducing the activities which were, in the past, enjoyed by large sections of the community like weddings and receptions, parties and business functions and the way that the café-bar serves the community and visitors to Sutton House, is in conflict with the Community Scheme developed by the Society with the National Trust management in the past.
This AGM will be a good opportunity for members to make their own views known and elect a new committee for the next year. Please try to come. Members will be circulated with the agenda nearer the time.
Even the venerable Sutton House Society must move into modern times ! We spend quite a lot of money each year on postage- we could save some of that if you would be happy to receive information on Sutton House via Email.
If you would be willing to receive newsletters and other information about the Society by email instead of post, please let us know by sending an email to the Membership Secretary. If you don't have email, or would rather not use it for Society correspondence, you need take no action - we shall carry on communicating with you by post. You can also communicate with Sutton House Society Chair, Mike Gray.