{"id":19875,"date":"2022-01-30T18:33:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-30T23:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19875"},"modified":"2022-01-30T18:39:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T23:39:15","slug":"fwd-episode-524-the-herefordshire-pomona-1885-by-edith-bull-and-alice-ellis-two-forgotten-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19875","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 524 THE HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA 1885 BY EDITH BULL AND ALICE ELLIS (TWO FORGOTTEN LADIES)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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EPISODE 524   THE HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA 1885 (by Edith Bull and Alice Ellis – two forgotten ladies)<\/font><\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/font><\/div>\n
January 30, 2022<\/font><\/div>\n

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I love the way the ladies included apple blemishes\u2026so true to life.<\/font><\/div>\n

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\"Edithwww.herefordshirehistory.org.uk<\/a>” style=”max-height: 1021px;” apple-inline=”yes” id=”30F2CC7C-B2B5-4A14-8C31-597BDD5E6938″ src=”https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/8-Edith-Bull.jpg”><\/font><\/div>\n
Edith Bull at her easel\u2026.where is a picture of Alice Ellis?\u2026these<\/font><\/div>\n
two ladies painted apples for several years of their lives\u2026but<\/font><\/div>\n
both are forgotten. Did Edith really paint apples with that dress on?<\/font><\/div>\n

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\"Illustrationblog.biodiversitylibrary.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/06\/12-229×300.jpg<\/a> 229w, blog.biodiversitylibrary.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/06\/12-586×768.jpg<\/a> 586w, blog.biodiversitylibrary.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/06\/12-781×1024.jpg<\/a> 781w” sizes=”(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px” apple-inline=”yes” id=”968BFFCF-C054-4FD4-92DD-9228EF2B9129″ src=”https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/12.jpg”><\/font><\/div>\n
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Henry Bull\u2026his daughter, Edith Bull, should be famous but<\/font><\/div>\n
seems to be forgotten along with Alice Ellis.<\/font><\/div>\n

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\"Apple<\/font><\/div>\n

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Picking apples with a shovel…<\/font><\/div>\n

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Picking apple by hand\u2026.<\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cHey, Marjorie, I just got an email from Dan\u2026he found a copy of the Herefordshire Pomona for sale.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cYou should buy it\u2026You\u2019ve been talking about the book for60 years.:\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cGood idea\u2026we should buy it.  But there is one small problem.<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhich is?<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cThe price.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cI bet it\u2019s around $100\u2026rare book.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cGuess again.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201c$17,937.98\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat!  You must be kidding!\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cNo\u2026that\u2019s U.S. Funds and does not include the $20 shipping.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWe can only afford the shipping\u2026twenty bucks.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhy is it so expensive?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cThat is my story today\u2026it\u2019s quite a story\u2026I have been thinking how to start the story\u2026how to<\/font><\/div>\n
engage readers.   That $17,937.98 price should do it.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat was your original plan?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cI felt those two women who spent years drawing and using water colours to illustrate apples<\/font><\/div>\n
would be a good start.   But the story is so complicated that much could be lost.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhat were their names?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cAlice B. Ellis and Edith E. Bull.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cPictures of them?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cOnly a picture of Edith Bull in front of her easel\u2026.all I could find.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n

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\"Golden\"Bonhams\"The\"Bonhams\"The<\/div>\n

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“And <\/span>concluded <\/span>by welcoming <\/span>very cordially the presence <\/span>of <\/span>the <\/span>two <\/span>ladies, <\/span>Miss EUis and Miss <\/span>Bull, <\/span>whose <\/span>great <\/span>artistic <\/span>talents <\/span>have <\/span>enabled the <\/span>committee <\/span>to publish that magnificent <\/span>work <\/span>\u2014<\/span>The <\/span>Herefordshire <\/span>Pomona<\/span>\u2014<\/span>a <\/span>work <\/span>that will carry <\/span>down <\/span>the <\/span>renown <\/span>of the <\/span>Woolhope Club <\/span>for <\/span>many <\/span>generations to come.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
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 <\/span>April 3, 1883   WOOLHOPE NATURALIST FIELD CLUB”<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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\u201cDid the ladies come up with the idea of chromolithographs of all the apples in Herefordshire?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cNo\u2026the idea grew from conversations between three men and a wealthy supporter.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cBetween 1876 and finally published in 1885\u2026.these guys were members of the Woolhope Naturalist <\/font><\/div>\n
Club in Hereford\u2026\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWoolhope\u2026what?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n

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“Woolhope Naturalist Club\u2026around 200 well healed men determined to unravel the mysteries of<\/font><\/div>\n
the world around them.  They collected fossils, dug up Roman forts, admired ancient oak trees, <\/font><\/div>\n
collected and illustrated mushrooms\u2026then published their discoveries.  Their reports are all on <\/font><\/div>\n
the internet if you can find them\u2026hundreds and hundreds of pages with  few illustrations.  These<\/font><\/div>\n
were not dabblers\u2026these were Victorian men, most men, prompted, I guess, by the work<\/font><\/div>\n
of Charles Darwin.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cFungus and mushrooms\u2026sounds sort of odd.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cThe Woolhope Club was not just devoted to apples.  As a matter of fact the mention of<\/font><\/div>\n
the Hereford Pomona is not easy to find in the club minutes.”<\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Doctor Robert Hogg, 1886.
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Reverend Charles Bulmer.   (His two sons founded Bulmer\u2019s Cider Company which<\/font><\/div>\n
eventually dominated cider production in Herefordshire now sold under Strongbow name I believe)<\/font><\/div>\n



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Doctor Henry Graves Bull (1818-1885)  (His daughter Edith Bull and Alice Ellis <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
used watercolours to paint al<\/span><\/font>l the apple and pear varieties in years between 1876 and 1883)<\/span><\/div>\n

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STEPS THAT LED TO CREATION OF THE HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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1) June 1876: Reverend Charles Bulmer invited Doctor Henry Graves to see the apple exhibition in Hereford<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Doctor Hogg was worlds leading expert on apples in 1876\u2026published the 759 page \u201cFruit Manual\u201d for head gardeners.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Reverend Bulmer was vice at Credenhill , Herefordshire, and a member of the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club and had<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
just won second prize for his perry (Pear Wine) perhaps judged by Dr. Hogg at the Bath and West Show of 1876.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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2) The Woolhope Naturalists Field Club members were interested in diverse subjects from Roman ruins to Ancient Oak trees to fossils,<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
mushrooms and apples,  etc. etc.  The minutes of the Woolhope Club can be found on the internet\u2026hundreds and hundreds<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
of pages, mostly print, several engravings.  In 1876 Club members were worried about neglect of Hereford orchards making<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
the apples an pears unmarketable. The question:\u201dWhy are so few of our apples in grocery stores?\u201d (my question imposed)<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWe owe it to those who come after us to maintain an strengthen our title to the garden of England!\u201d (Club comment in 1876)<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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3) Oct. 14, 1875: Woolhope Naturalist Club has its first apple and pear exhibition to try snd identify local varieties.  On display <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
were 128 apples and 62 pears.  This was big step that was to become immense in subsequent years.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Exhibitions in Hereford<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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1875  \u2014 128 apples<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
1876  __ 637 apples and pears<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
1883 __  2.500 apples on display inside in Hereford<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
               1,000 apples on display outside in Hereford<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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1883 __  10,500 apple varieties in national exhibition Oct. 4 to 25 Chiswick<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
1885__   600 copies of Herefordshire  Pomona <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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4) 1878:  Dr. Hogg offers to promote and record apples and pears worthy of attention and cultivation.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
The ides of a \u201cHerefordshire Pomona\u201d is born with Dr. Henry Bull as general editor and Dr. Hogg as<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
technical editor.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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5) 1878-1883: Two ladies recruited to do the illustrations,  Edith Bull and Alice Ellis, to replicate worthy<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
apple and pear varieties for chromolithographic reproduction. Alice Blanche Ellis was a gold medal winner<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
from a Bloomsbury School of Art (no picture that I could find) while Ediths Elizabeth Bull was Doctor<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Bull\u2019s daughter (picture included)<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\"Edithwww.herefordshirehistory.org.uk<\/a>” style=”max-height: 1049px;” apple-inline=”yes” id=”E728D8EE-96E6-44EF-926E-8CEEFE24D3D4″ src=”https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/8-Edith-Bull-1.jpg”><\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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6) 1885:  Herefordshire Pomona completed with 600 copies of the two volumes book finished\u2026\u201dthe most <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
perfect and thorough and artistically beautiful work ever published on the subject.\u201d (Woolhope Transactions 1884)<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Chosen: 262 apples and 169 pears in \u201clavish chromolithograph plates from watercolours”<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\"The<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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7)  1883  National Apple Congress in Chiswick Gardens was major, indeed phenomenal success with 236 exhibitors<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
and 10m500 dishes of apples.  When closely examined there were 1,545 varieties classified by purpose, season, size, <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
shape, surface texture and colour.  \u201cNever before had so many varieties even brought together in one place,<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
and probably never will again.\u201d (Jane Morgan)  The best eating apples were names..King of the Pippins, Cox;s<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Orane Pippin and Ribston Pippin.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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The National Apple Congress was so popular that railway companies offered cheap tickets so working class<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
people could attend and the exhibit was extended a week. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\"Sketches<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
Drawings from the Apple Congress ar Chiswick, Oct 20, 1883
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\u201cVisitors are requested not to touch the fruit\u201d\u2026obviously being ignored in sketch<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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8) Soon afterward Reverend Bulmer\u2019s two sons constructed a cider factory in<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hereford that  became the world\u2019s largest cider maker  and Herefordshire still<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

has more apple orchard than any other county in the United Kingdom.
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(See \u201cWhen Doctor Hogg Went to Hereford)<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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PIUTTING EDWARD FREEMAN BACK IN THE STORY<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cALAN, the apple paintings\/engravings are stunning but what motivated you to do all <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
this research?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cGranddad did.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cYou said that you knew little about his life.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cHe was born in 1871, that makes him  5 years old in 1876 when sudden interest in apples began.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cToo young to know an apple from a soccer ball.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
“True but that would make him 12 years old in 1883 when the Hereford Pomona was released.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cOn the verge of adulthood back then\u2026at 12 he became a gardener\u2019s boy and then in 1884 a gardener apprentice<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
and y 1894 soon to become the head gardener of Eywood Court in 1898.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cHe grew up with this apple hysteria in full bloom.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cHow old were those apple trees at Eywood?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201c\u201dNever saw them.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cThere were two walled gardens\u2026first one was a kitchen and flower garden\u2026then<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
behind the dividing wall was the orchard where some scraggy looking apple trees stood … bet dollars<\/font><\/div>\n
to doughnuts those trees dated back to Edward Freeman\u2019s time.  Apple trees can live<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
for 60 years or more.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cDo you know for sure that Edward Freeman was interested in apples?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cI do.  this is the year 2022 and there is still one last apple tree in granddads Canadian orchard.  It looks<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
bad, uncared for, but it is still alive.  That tree and others were in full life when Was in the garden seventy years ago.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat kind of apples?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWormy apples\u2026scabby too.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cBut what kind of apples?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cMight be neglected MacIntosh\u2026I have no idea though.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cHow do apple trees get their names?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cSame way as street names\u2026some person gives them a name.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not name that tree then?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cNO.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cI have my eye on a wild apple tree near the field gate.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cWild apples are no good.\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cUsually so\u2026but every once in a while a wild tree turns out to be swell\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cAnd the name?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cPick a name\u2026I am open to suggestions.<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat does the tree look like?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cnot likely to win a beauty contest but last year the apples were nice\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cOpen to all \u2026 Name the tree!”<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Jan. 30,, 2022<\/div>\n

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\"Lebiodiversitylibrary.org\/page\/55785600<\/a> Photo Stock – Alamy” apple-inline=”yes” id=”20CE5F97-983A-431F-AB99-7C5442E5F816″ src=”https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/images-7.jpeg”>\"49<\/div>\n

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POST SCRPT:   THE NOTE SENT TO ME BY DAN BOWYER RE: PRICE OF MINT CONDITION HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA<\/div>\n


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EPISODE 524   THE HEREFORDSHIRE POMONA 1885 (by Edith Bull and Alice Ellis – two forgotten ladies) alan skeoch January 30, 2022 I love the way the ladies included apple blemishes\u2026so true to life. Henry Bull\u2026his daughter, Edith Bull, should be famous but seems to be forgotten along with Alice Ellis. Picking apples with a shovel… 6) 1885: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}