Thomas Andrew Knight, an 18th century Herefordshire horticulturalist, who developed many of the fruit and vegetable varieties that we still eat today, wrote the original ‘Pomona Herefordiensis’ and went on to become president of the London Horticultural Society (later the Royal Horticultural Society) was born 250 years ago this year.
To celebrate this important anniversary, Herefordshire Council’s countryside team has organised an evening talk by Dr Murray Mylechreest about Knight’s life and works on Saturday, October 24 2009 at the Cider Museum, Hereford from 7pm - 9.30pm.
Residents are urged to come along and find out more about the ground breaking work of this horticulturalist, scientist, and experimenter who is often described as the ‘Father of Horticulture Science’.
James Bisset, principal countryside officer, said “I first realised it was the 250th anniversary of his birth when I was researching the varieties for next year’s Fruit Tree Initiative.
“Thomas Andrew Knight is credited by Darwin in the first chapter of ‘The Origin of Species’ for his pioneering work on the origin of cultivated plants. It is also believed that Knight’s observations on the results of breeding work with peas may have influenced Mendel to use peas for the basis of his important studies into inheritance, but many people do not realise that he was born and spent much of his life in Herefordshire. I thought it seemed like a good idea to arrange this event to give people the opportunity to learn more about him,” he added.
The talk by Dr Murray Mylechreest will be followed by a talk from Chris Fairs of Bulmers on Herefordshire’s Orchards Present and Future.
Tickets for the evening cost £6.50 (adults only) which includes a tour of the cider museum and the chance to sample some of the distillery products.
To book your place please contact Queenswood Tourist Information Centre, telephone 01568 797842.