This month, our ‘Into the Archives’ feature focuses on an advert from the Malmesbury Chronicle of March 1907. The advert is for John Jefferies & Son, Seed Merchants and specifically for their giant sweet peas. Their “Corinium Mixture” promised “a very wide range of colours and flowers of immense sizes.”
The firm were also nurserymen and florists. They were founded in 1795 and originally based at the Royal Nurseries and Seed Establishment in Castle Street. In addition, they had a seed warehouse in Tower Street and nurseries in Cirencester, Somerford Keynes and Siddington. Their Cirencester shop stood at the top of Market Street. They also opened a garden centre in Cirencester in the late 1970s. Sadly, the shops, nurseries and garden centre had all closed by 1984, with the garden centre being sold to Country Gardens PLC.
Local newspapers contain adverts of the firm dating back to the 1860s. The Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard contains an advert from 9th September 1865 in which the firm announces its first delivery of imported Dutch flower bulbs. There are regular adverts in local Cirencester publications from then on.
The firm both introduced and cultivated many varieties of plants. After the Siddington russet was discovered locally in 1923, it was grown and sold by Jefferies and Son. They also cultivated a rose which they named the “Lady Meriel Bathurst” as well as varieties of dahlia, clematis and rhododendron. They were renowned for a dwarf variety of sprout called the “Cotswold Pixie” which they advertised as producing at least 50 sprouts and having exceptional flavour.
There is an image of the Cotswold Pixie amongst the Archive of Jefferies and Son held at Gloucestershire Archives, collection reference D6464. Alongside this collection, the Bingham Collection and other collections there is a wealth of material to be uncovered about this iconic Cirencester firm. To explore and find out more about the treasures in the Archive visit https://www.danielbinghamfoundation.org.uk/archives/
