Summary

Catalogue supplement produced by W.J. Unwin F.R.H.S., dated 1940. Printed by W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., Cambridge, England. Features information on various kinds of sweet pea.

Unwins was established by William Unwin in 1903, when he sold his first sweet pea seeds. In 1914 William's son Charles, joined his father in the business, as did another son Frank, who had a particular interest in gladioli. The firm soon became general seed merchants, offering a wide range of flowers and vegetables. The family bred not only sweet peas and gladioli but also dahlias, tomatoes and culinary peas, among others. Originally selling their seeds by mail order only, in the late 1950s they began to supply seeds in full-colour packets to gardening shops and garden centres. W.J. Unwins Ltd became one the largest horticultural seed merchants in Britain, and by the 1960s the company sold seeds under contract in many parts of the world.

This item forms part of the Nowell Collection. This extensive collection includes: gardening tools, horticultural journals, trade literature, prize certificates, notebooks, correspondence, photographs, seeds, books on gardening and poultry.

Mr Clifford Nowell had over 30 years experience in all branches of horticulture before working as a gardening instructor at Burnley Horticultural College in Melbourne from 1944 to 1959. Mr Nowell was also a well regarded specialist grower of sweet peas who successfully exhibited his flowers and ran a sweet pea seed business. He had a seed farm in Blackburn from which he hand selected seeds and then sold by catalogue from his Box Hill address in the 1930s.

Physical Description

Catalogue comprised of 12 double-sided pages with black printed text. Front and back covers are brown card with brown printed text. The front cover has a printed sketch of sweet pea flowers with vertical lines as a backdrop. The catalogue is secured with two staples along the spine.

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