Book Notes: The Story of the Herefordshire Pomona, by Bill Laws

In this brand new volume from Logaston Press, Herefordshire-based historian Bill Laws tells the tale of the creation of one of the most important publications in the pomological lexicon: The Herefordshire Pomona, which was conceived, commissioned and produced in the 1870s and 1880s by members of the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club¹The club was founded in 1851 and is still going strong, as The Woolhope Club. Rather fabulously, their website includes a full archive of their Transactions – describing and sometimes detailing every meeting, field trip and fruit show in the club’s history – which are available as downloadable .pdf documents. , a society of gentlemen²Until the 1950s, the Woolhopian members were all men and their meetings and field trips were all-male affairs, except just once a year on ladies’ day, when their wives, daughters and other female guests were invited to join them. who were united by a keen interest in the natural history, geology, flora and fauna of their home county.

Led and encouraged by such Herefordshire luminaries as local physician, philanthropist and dignitary Henry Graves Bull, the “Woolhopians” regularly met to enjoy field trips and “Fungus Forays” – explorations of the mycology of the local area – and to give talks on local natural and social history. From 1875, they also held annual apple and pear shows, at which gardeners, landowners and pomological enthusiasts from near and far exhibited the fruits of their labours, as well as passing around accolades and congratulations for the best examples in various classes.

The second annual show was attended by Dr. Robert Hogg, who at this point in his career was considered to be one of the finest pomologists in Europe. He was there to help with the identification of the numerous un-named apples exhibited by local growers. During Hogg’s visit he expressed amazement at the wealth of varieties on show and, seemingly at his suggestion, the Woolhopians agreed to form a committee to oversee the production of a new collection of information on the many different varieties of fruit available, first in the county and then later across the nation, and to call it The Herefordshire Pomona. The great work was published between 1876 and 1885, initially in seven annual instalments, and then in two collected volumes³Today, when copies come up at auction they’re valued at several thousand pounds, although electronic copies are available online via Archive.org (vol 1 & vol 2).. Dr. Bull acted as general editor and Dr. Hogg was brought in as associate technical editor⁴With the additional involvement of Rev. C. H. Bulmer – father of the two brothers who founded the Bulmer’s Cider Company – whose contribution is described as “researcher”, and Reginald Symonds, who acted as the project’s treasurer. in order to lend the publication the benefit of his great expertise and reputation.

I’ve been rather excited for the release of The Story of the Herefordshire Pomona since I first heard about it a few months ago, as I’m quite familiar with The Herefordshire Pomona itself, via my own research into the ‘Beefing’ group of apples⁵ This small group of apple varieties includes ‘Herefordshire Beefing’, which was first introduced to the world in the pages of The Herefordshire Pomona.. So when I heard that someone was taking a deep-dive into the story of Pomona‘s publication, it was most definitely music to my ears, and I’m delighted to report that Bill Laws has really done the subject matter proud.

Laws begins his exploration by introducing us to Messrs. Bull and Hogg, and then goes on to examine the roots of the Herefordshire Pomona, placing it in multiple contexts as he does so: of the social history of the era in which it was written, of the orchard traditions of Herefordshire, and of its place within the canon of previous Pomona volumes⁶Pomona was and is a broad term applied to a volume that provides details and usually illustrations of fruit varieties, and is named after Pomona, the Roman goddess of agriculture.. He begins by discussing some of the great pomologists of Herefordshire’s past: John Beale, Lord Viscount John Scudamore, and Thomas Andrew Knight, the latter of whom was the author of the Pomona Herefordiensis (1811), a volume produced by Knight in order to bring Herefordshire’s cider apples and perry pears to wider attention, and a direct inspiration for the Woolhopians’ efforts some seventy years later.

As well as a shared locality, both the Pomona Herefordiensis and The Herefordshire Pomona had something else in common: they wouldn’t have been anywhere near as well-received if not for the superb work of the female artists who added so much to the lasting appeal of both Pomonas. In the earlier case the artists were Elizabeth Matthews and Frances Knight, daughter of Thomas. In the later it was Alice Blanche Ellis and Edith Bull, daughter of Henry, who between them created the vast majority of the four hundred and forty one absolutely delightful watercolour portraits in The Herefordshire Pomona⁷Along with single contributions from Frances Stackhouse Acton – rather delightfully, this was the same Frances Knight, working under her married name some seventy years later – and a well-known botanical illustrator by the name of Worthington George Smith.. Whilst their artistic achievements were acknowledged on the title page of The Herefordshire Pomona, and the women were both profusely thanked and financially rewarded by the members of the Woolhope Club, their contributions have usually been relegated to a little more than just that original mention. Likewise, their wider artistic careers have gone largely unrecorded and uncelebrated, at least until now, thanks to the marvellous pen-portraits presented here by Laws.

In the rest of The Story of The Herefordshire Pomona, Laws provides a similarly detailed biography of Henry Graves Bull, details the production process – at great and near-ruinous expense – of the Herefordshire Pomona, and goes on to explore more of that wider context, discussing the state of orchards past and present, and the way in which apple growing had contributed so much to the culture and economy of Herefordshire over the centuries. He then rounds things off with a chapter on the eventual fates of the various characters involved in the story so far, and brings everything up to date by explaining how the Herefordshire Pomona still possesses the power to impress and inspire people to continue the work of promoting the rich heritage of local fruit varieties and educating modern-day growers. He even finds room for a quick A-Y⁸Not many apple names began with ‘Z’ back in the late nineteenth century… of his favourite varieties from the pages of The Herefordshire Pomona.

Throughout the book, Laws delivers this wealth of information in an avuncular, anecdotal, and hugely readable style. When I finished The Story of the Herefordshire Pomona I felt as though I’d just spent an entirely convivial evening in Bill’s company, perhaps in The Barrels in Hereford, enjoying a pint or three of a local cider whilst being regaled with the fascinating tales and trivia that he’d uncovered during his research. There’s so much intriguing detail in Laws’ storytelling, so many snippets and factoids that I hadn’t come across before. Surely this must be how the original Woolhopians must have felt as they came away from one of their Fungus Foray dinners, their bellies full of fine food, and heads equally stuffed with memories of good friends delivering fascinating talks on all their favourite subjects.

The Story of the Herefordshire Pomona would make for a thoroughly entertaining read for anyone with an interest in the histories of pomology, botanical illustration, cider making, agriculture, or Victorian-era Herefordshire, or someone who just enjoys a great tale, very well told. Wholeheartedly recommended.

The Story of the Herefordshire Pomona by Bill Laws is published by Logaston Press, (r.r.p. £20.00).

You can order a copy direct from the publisher, via Amazon.co.uk (Affiliate Link)⁹If you buy a copy of the book via this affiliate link, I’ll earn a small referral fee, which I promise to put towards buying more orchard-related books. and it should also be available from a number of independent high street and/or online booksellers.

My thanks to Logaston Press for sending me an advanced pdf copy of the book to review.

Footnotes

• 1
  The club was founded in 1851 and is still going strong, as The Woolhope Club. Rather fabulously, their website includes a full archive of their Transactions – describing and sometimes detailing every meeting, field trip and fruit show in the club’s history – which are available as downloadable .pdf documents. ↩︎
• 2
  Until the 1950s, the Woolhopian members were all men and their meetings and field trips were all-male affairs, except just once a year on ladies’ day, when their wives, daughters and other female guests were invited to join them. ↩︎
• 3
  Today, when copies come up at auction they’re valued at several thousand pounds, although electronic copies are available online via Archive.org (vol 1 & vol 2). ↩︎
• 4
  With the additional involvement of Rev. C. H. Bulmer – father of the two brothers who founded the Bulmer’s Cider Company – whose contribution is described as “researcher”, and Reginald Symonds, who acted as the project’s treasurer. ↩︎
• 5
  This small group of apple varieties includes ‘Herefordshire Beefing’, which was first introduced to the world in the pages of The Herefordshire Pomona. ↩︎
• 6
  Pomona was and is a broad term applied to a volume that provides details and usually illustrations of fruit varieties, and is named after Pomona, the Roman goddess of agriculture. ↩︎
• 7
  Along with single contributions from Frances Stackhouse Acton – rather delightfully, this was the same Frances Knight, working under her married name some seventy years later – and a well-known botanical illustrator by the name of Worthington George Smith. ↩︎
• 8
  Not many apple names began with ‘Z’ back in the late nineteenth century… ↩︎
• 9
  If you buy a copy of the book via this affiliate link, I’ll earn a small referral fee, which I promise to put towards buying more orchard-related books. ↩︎