The Gardeners Mini-Project

The FACHRS mini projects are based around occupations a different one each year. The mini projects bring together the idea of family history research - the individual researched, then the social and local history aspect as the Gardener is located into the society in which they lived.

Gardeners were chosen because as members sent in their Governess mini project narratives several commented on Gardeners that had been discovered while researching that Governess. It has proved a popular choice with members, as many had a Gardener in their family tree and/or themselves are keen gardeners.

As FACHRS members are located all over England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland each member was allocated and researched someone from their own area. (Members living outside the UK choose a place to research, so no one is left out all members can take part).

Members have written articles for the FACHRS Newsletter about the Gardeners they have researched, these feature in all 3 of the 2020 editions.

The completed Gardeners Narratives or Information Sheets for Tranche 1 have been uploaded and are available for members to view in the Members’ Pages on the FACHRS website (Gardeners Mini Project section). Tranche 2 (final) is due to be uploaded in March 2021.

As the research has been completed and the narratives sent in, the information about all these individual Gardeners has been added to the Gardeners database. This will produce a picture of Gardeners living and working all over the country. This is what FACHRS is all about looking at the national picture from a local perspective. The data will be analysed, and a final project report produced for the Newsletter, this will contain the outcomes to the questions asked on the Information Sheet. This report will appear in either the July or October 2021 Newsletter.

Here is an example of a completed narrative sent in as part of the Gardeners Mini Project. It is called An Abundance of Marmadukes!

Brita Wood
Gardeners Mini Project Co-ordinator
February 2021