Loyal R. Johnson: papers and photographs relating to a tour of British gardens in 1928

The archive consists of journals, a photograph album and papers of American horticultural student Loyal Johnson, who at the age of 23 visited Great Britain with his friend Sam Brewster. Together they undertook a three-month tour of English, Welsh and Scottish gardens, covering around 1,500 miles on bicycles purchased at Liverpool, with their belongings in a 12-inch case strapped to the back of each bicycle. In total the young men visited around 80 gardens, including Munstead Wood where Gertrude Jekyll was in residence, Gravetye Manor with garden paths adapted for William Robinson's wheelchair, Great Dixter where they were reprimanded by Nathaniel Lloyd who then gave them a guided tour, Aldenham House, Chatsworth, Levens Hall, Blickling, Hestercombe House, Hoar Cross House, Compton Wynyates, Blenheim Palace, the Sutton Nursery Company at Reading and many others. Loyal kept a detailed diary of the trip in three volumes, describing the gardens they visited, places they stayed and people they met, creating a historical and social record of inter-war Britain and its gardens. They endured rain and headwinds, biting insects, poor and non-existent roads, multiple falls from the saddle, straw beds, hunger, sickness and falling out with each other. They took pleasure in the scenery ('the finest I've ever seen – man could never even dream of heaven being so beautiful'), the kindness of the people they met and stayed with, and larking about together: 'such funniness I haven't seen since [Sam] ate the banana with the rubber band in it'.

Loyal Robert Johnson

Loyal Robert Johnson (1904-1999) was born in Monte Vista, Colorado, United States of America, on 19 Oct 1904. His father was Thomas Henry Johnson, a potato and wheat farmer, and his mother Elme Ann Watson, a travelling seamstress. Their four other children were Harold, Willard, Craig and Ella Vene, who died in infancy. Loyal Johnson attended schools in Monte Vista and went on to attend Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College in Fort Collins, Colorado (as at 2016, Colorado State University). After graduation, he pursued a Master's degree in landscape architecture at what would become the University of Massachusetts. The main content of this archive is focussed on his tour of the gardens of England, Scotland and Wales in the summer of 1928. This was to be the foundation of his Master's degree, which he did not complete. He began his employment with the Long Island Parks Department, New York, participating in the landscaping at the new Jones Beach Park. He moved into landscape design and was involved with layouts for the new Long Island Parkways. In the early 1930s he worked in the New York City Parks Department, and did some landscape design work for golf course designer Robert Trent Jones. He married Madeline Margaret Ramsauer on 18 Aug 1934, and they had four children, Marshall, Everett, Robert and Audrey. In 1941 his book 'How to Landscape Your Grounds' was published by A.T. DeLaMare, revised in 1950. In 1951 the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where Loyal Johnson worked for Martin Funnell and Associates, a landscape architecture and city planning firm. The family moved to a small farm in Bel Air, Maryland, and a few years later Johnson was appointed County Planner for Harford County, Maryland.

In 1946 Loyal Johnson contributed the following resumé to the 20th anniversary booklet of his year group from the Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College:

'1926-1928 fellowship and graduate work at Massachusetts State College; 1928 (summer) tour of British Isles

1929-37 Long Island State Park Commission (landscape draftsman)

1937- City of New York as landscape architect

We live in Glenwood Landing, a very quiet little village, 45 minute ride from the center of New York (city) and I commute to work by train. We built our home here nearly 9 years ago and apparently are salted down here for life, at least until I reach retirement age, which is 55 with New York City. Often I have longed for the clear, clean air of the West and may be able to enjoy it again after that time comes.'

Loyal Johnson was a life member of the agricultural fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho, serving on the stock judging team in college. In the early 1950s he won a landscape proposal for a community park in Bel Air, although his inclusion of a swimming pool was rejected because of the segregation of schools and other facilities at that time. He was active in local Episcopal churches, and was president of the Bel Air High School Parent Teachers Association in 1959. He was skilled at woodwork, bowling, and plant identification, and wrote poetry, some of which was published. After retirement he lived on a smallholding near Bel Air, Maryland, and continued to grow vegetables including popcorn and rhubarb which he sold and also traded for packaged goods at a local supermarket. He participated and won medals in the Maryland Senior Olympics for many years. He died on 1 Jan 1999.

Source: Compiled in 2016 by Loyal Johnson's son Marshall Johnson, with input from Everett Johnson and Audrey Beale, nee Johnson.

Samuel Finley Brewster

Samuel Finley Brewster (17 Nov 1904-23 Dec 1996) was born in Temple, Texas, United States of America.

In 1928 Samuel Brewster accompanied Loyal Johnson, a fellow student of landscape architecture, on a three-month bicycle tour of gardens in the United Kingdom.

Brewster married Mary Ellen Long on 3 Jul 1930 in Stephenville, Texas. Their children were Barbara Brewster (17 Apr 1934- 25 Oct 2001) and Samuel Brewster. He was a scoutmaster in the Georgia-Alabama Council and received the Scouts Silver Beaver Award. Mary died in 1992.

During the Second World War he was in the Air Force, involved in chemical warfare. He was discharged as a lieutenant colonel with three service ribbons.

He was superintendent of buildings and grounds and director of campus planning and development at Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Alabama.

In 1957 he was recruited for the position of director of physical plant operations at Brigham Young University (BYU), Salt Lake City, Utah, where he worked until 1974. He was responsible for the completion of 118 buildings, as well as buildings at Ricks College and church schools in Mexico, Samoa, New Zealand and Hawaii. He directed the construction of the BYU Physical Plant Building in 1962, which was named after him on his retirement. He was awarded an honorary doctor of public service by BYU.

An oral history recorded with Samuel Brewster, 29 Nov 1983, is held in the L. Tom Perry Library special collections at BYU Library.

Brewster wrote a book, 'Campus Planning and Construction: Physical Facilities for Universities and Colleges'.

He and his daughter are buried in the city cemetery, Provo, Utah.

Source: Compiled in 2022 by Loyal Johnson's son Marshall Johnson

The archive was arranged into sections relating to Johnson's trip to Great Britain, his horticultural studies and career, photographs not relating to the tour,and collected items.

Summary of contents:

LRJ/1 1928 tour of gardens in Great Britain, 1928

LRJ/2 Horticultural studies and career, c.1920s-1968

LRJ/3 Photographs not relating to the tour, c.1928-1996

LRJ/4 Collected material, 1933-1937

Open

Partially open for consultation at the Lindley Library London. Some items are closed awaiting conservation, as stated in the relevant catalogue record. It is essential to check opening hours and make an appointment. Readers are asked to take care due to the fragile nature of the original material.

Surrogate digital images of the journals, reference LRJ/1/1-3, and the photograph album, reference LRJ/1/4, are available for consultation. Readers are required to wear protective gloves when consulting objects or photographic material

Donated by Marshall Johnson between Dec 2015 and Mar 2020

The Lindley Library descriptive catalogue, available on-line via the Archives Hub, and as a paper copy in the Research Room.

Catalogued by Liz Taylor, RHS Lindley Libraries archivist, in Jun 2017 and updated in Aug 2019. Cataloguing assistance given by Mara Uzzell and Annie Johns, RHS Lindley Library volunteers. Packaging assistance given by Annie Johns.

This archive was donated along with:

'Winter Botany' by William Trelease. 1925. With Johnson's signature at front (transferred to the Library's printed collections, class mark 581.9 (7H) Tre)

'The Harvest of the Years' by Luther Burbank with Wilbur Hall. 1931 (transferred to the Library's printed collections, class mark 920 BUR)

'The Garden Lover's guide to Britain', by Patrick Taylor. 1998 (duplicate, added to book sale)

'Private Gardens of England' by Penelope Hobhouse. 1986 (duplicate, added to book sale)

The papers have been in the family since Loyal Johnson's death.

The papers of Marshall Johnson, designer and son of Loyal Johnson, are held at the Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, United States of America, including a baby book compiled by Loyal and Madeline Johnson, c.1940.