Percy John Thrower (1913-1988), son of Harry Thrower and Beatrice Ellen Dunnett, was born in Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire, on 30 Jan 1913. Harry Thrower was head gardener of Horwood House. Percy left school in 1927 to join his father’s staff starting as a pot and crock boy.
In 1931 he was employed as improver gardener at the Royal Gardens at Windsor Castle where he spent five years working under head gardener Charles Henderson Cook. He became a journeyman gardener for the City of Leeds Parks Department in Aug 1935.
In 1937 he moved to Derby Parks Department, eventually becoming deputy parks superintendent. He passed the National Diploma in Horticulture and became a lecturer at Derby Technical College. In 1939 he was put in charge of food production, growing crops in the parks, racecourse and sewage works, and giving demonstration to show members of the public how to get the best out of their Dig for Victory plots.
He married Constance Margaret Ina Cook in Sandringham, Norfolk, on 9 Sep 1939. Her father, Charles Henderson Cook, was head gardener for Queen Mary at Sandringham at this time.
In 1946 he was appointed parks superintendent at Shrewsbury Parks Department. He oversaw the restoration of the landscaped sunken Dingle Garden in Quarry Park. He became involved in the post-war revival of the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show, as horticultural advisor of the Shropshire Horticultural Society.
In 1951 the Shropshire Horticultural Society asked him to design a garden in the Tiergarten in Berlin, Germany. His first television appearance was in a program about the English Garden in Berlin. He went on to present Garden Club from 1955 to 1968, then Gardeners' World from 1969 to 1976. He was the gardener on the BBC children’s program Blue Peter from 1974 to 1987.
After he retired as parks superintendent in 1974, he wrote a weekly gardening column in the 'Daily Mail'. He wrote for 'Amateur Gardening' and was the author of 16 gardening books. He was awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour in 1974 and was awarded an MBE in 1984.
Percy John Thrower died in the Royal Hospital, Wolverhampton on 18 Mar 1988.
Source: Online birth, marriage, death and probate records. British Newspaper Archives, The Shropshire Star. Buckingham Gardens Trust, The Gardens Trust.
