Edward Bunyard
Edward Ashdown Bunyard (14 December 1878 – 19 October 1939) was a British horticulturalist, food writer and apple enthusiast known for his books The Anatomy Of Dessert, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits, and The Epicure's Companion.[1][2][3]
Life
[edit]Edward Ashdown Bunyard was born to nurseryman George Bunyard and Katherine Sophia Ashdown on 14 December 1878.[4] He was one of eight children. The family firm, Bunyards Nursery, had nearly been bankrupted the year after Edward's birth but his father was able to recover the business.[4] Edward Bunyard was educated at home and spent time in France studying the work of leading nurseries. He started work for Bunyards Nursery in 1896 and took over the business when his father died during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1919.[5]
Bunyard was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1914 for his work on pomology and genetics.[4] He was a council member of the Royal Horticultural Society and was a key figure in the foundation of the East Malling Research Station and the National Fruit Collection now at Brogdale.[4]
Bunyard was especially known for his publications The Anatomy Of Dessert, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1929), and The Epicure's Companion (1937), written with his sister Lorna.[4]
Bunyard retired from the family business, handing over to his brother Norman, in 1939. He became journal editor and librarian of the RHS Lindley Library.[4] He had begun radio broadcasting on gardening with C.H. Middleton in 1939.[4]
Bunyard died by suicide on 19 October 1939.[4][5]
Bunyard's favourite apple was 'Orléans Reinette' which he enjoyed with port wine at Christmas.[citation needed]
Legacy
[edit]His books and descriptions of apples are still used today by heritage apple growers and people appreciative of old apple varieties.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ Bunyard, Edward Ashdown (May 2006). The Anatomy of Dessert: With a Few Notes on Wine. Random House Publishing. ISBN 9780812971576.
- ^ "The Downright Epicure; Essays on Edward Bunyard (1878-1939): now published - Joan Morgan's Fruit Forum".
- ^ "Adam Gollner: Edward Bunyard's 1929 masterwork The Anatomy of Dessert is a fetishistic handbook of fruit exaltation".
- ^ a b c d e f g h Morgan, Joan (2004). "Bunyard, Edward Ashdown (1878–1939), nurseryman and pomologist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-62186. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
- ^ a b Morgan, Joan (2010). "Edward Bunyard 1878-1939: Nurseryman of Allington, Kent" (PDF). Kent Gardens Trust News. No. 35. p. 1.
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