Peter Christian Massyn Veitch (February 1850 – 1929) was a member of the family of horticulturists who established the renowned family business Veitch Nurseries

Veitch Nurseries

The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and...

.

Early days

Veitch was the son of Robert Veitch

Robert Veitch

Robert Toswill Veitch was a member of the family of horticulturists who established the renowned family business Veitch Nurseries.Veitch was the younger son of James Veitch and grandson of John Veitch...

 and was born in the Cape of Good Hope

Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, where his father was farming, before his father returned to England to join the family nursery company in 1856.

In 1867, he was employed by the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 branch of the family business under his uncle James Veitch, Jr.

James Veitch, Jr.

James Veitch was the third in a long line of horticulturists who established the renowned family business Veitch Nurseries....

, working at the Coombe Wood

Coombe Wood

Coombe Wood is a small woodland and garden area in the old village of Coombe, Upper Shirley, in the London Borough of Croydon near the junction of Coombe Lane and Conduit Lane...

 nurseries as an assistant nurseryman in the "Trees & Shrubs" department, before transferring to work in the "New Plant" department at Chelsea, London

Chelsea, London

Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

, where he stayed until 1869. He was then sent to a seed-growing establishment in Germany, and then to a seed-house in France for six months, before returning to Chelsea.

Plant hunting

By 1875, James Veitch & Sons was under the control of Peter's cousin, Harry Veitch

Harry Veitch

Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...

, who dispatched him "to visit, on behalf of the firm, the clients in Australasia, and, at the same time, introduce to England any plants likely to be of value for horticultural purposes."

Peter left England in 1875 for Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, by the long sea route. He spent little time there, before leaving for Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

, having an offer to sail in H.M. schooner "Renard". Several months were spent in visiting the various islands of the Fiji group and in collecting plants. In February 1876, a trading vessel having called at Fiji, Veitch secured a passage and proceeded to the South Sea Islands, where he remained until the following September. The whole of the collection of plants made in the Fiji Islands was lost in a gale, but that from the South Sea Islands was despatched to England in 1877.

From September to December 1876 he made excursions to various parts of the Australian Colonies, where he found various fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s including Lomaria discolor, L. bipinnatifida and Microlepia hirta cristata, which were sent to England for cultivation.

During the early part of 1877, a visit was made to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, including visiting Mount Cook

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park

Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand near the town of Twizel. Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain and Aoraki/Mount Cook village lie within the park...

, where seeds of the beautiful Ranunculus lyalli were gathered and sent to Chelsea, from which plants were raised and flowered. From other parts of New Zealand several species of Celmisia

Celmisia

Celmisia is a genus of perennial herbs or subshrubs, in the family Asteraceae. There are around 70 species; most are endemic to New Zealand, between four and 10 are endemic to Australia. The genus was first formally described by botanist Alexandre de Cassini in 1813.Species include:* Celmisia...

 and Veronica

Veronica (plant)

Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species; it was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae...

 were introduced, as well as "the beautiful and somewhat difficult" Notospartium carmichaeliae

Notospartium carmichaeliae

Notospartium carmichaeliae is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family. It is found only in New Zealand.-Source:* de Lange, P.J. 1998. . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....

.

In June 1877, Veitch again visited Australia, but in August, as he was making his way to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, he had the misfortune to be shipwrecked off the north coast of Australia, and once again the collections were lost.

His 1877–78 exploration of Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the tallest mountain in the Malay...

 in Borneo with Frederick William Burbidge

Frederick William Burbidge

Frederick William Thomas Burbidge was a British explorer who collected many rare tropical plants for the famous Veitch Nurseries. Burbidge's first job was as a gardener at Kew Gardens...

 yielded many extraordinary carnivorous Nepenthes

Nepenthes

The Nepenthes , popularly known as tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups, are a genus of carnivorous plants in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus comprises roughly 130 species, numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids...

. Amongst the species they also re-discovered was Paphiopedilum dayanum

Paphiopedilum dayanum

Paphiopedilum dayanum is a species of orchid endemic to Mount Kinabalu on Borneo....

, which had been originally discovered by Sir Hugh Low

Hugh Low

Sir Hugh Low, GCMG was a British colonial administrator and naturalist. After a long residence in various colonial roles in Labuan, he became the first successful British administrator in the Malay Peninsula. His methods became models for future administrators. He made the first documented ascent...

 in 1858. In the spring of 1878, he returned to Chelsea, bringing with him the collection that he had made in Borneo in company with Burbidge.

Robert Veitch & Sons

In 1880, he joined his father in the Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

 branch of the family business, bringing his experiences of French and German nurseries into the company as well as an element of flair from the Chelsea nursery. Peter Veitch was a plantsman with a keen interest in trees and shrubs which he turned into a speciality for the Exeter nurseries. When his father died in 1885 Peter became head of the Exeter nurseries and played a very active part in the life of the city. He was a keen sportsman, a Governor of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital , is a medium-sized teaching hospital situated in Exeter, England. The hospital is part of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust which also runs Heavitree Hospital, Honeylands Children’s Centre , the Exeter Mobility...

, and served on a number of committees.

In 1907, he succeeded in crossing Magnolia campbellii (with striking, large, saucer-shaped pink flowers) and Magnolia denudata (which has erect, cup-shaped, lemon-scented flowers and pristine white petals which are thick and fleshy) to produce Magnolia x veitchii, with purple-pink flowers. In 1971, the plant was given the cultivar name "Peter Veitch" in honour of its raiser and to differentiate it from the white flowered cultivar "Isca".

In 1917 he was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour

Victoria Medal of Honour

The Victoria Medal of Honour is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society...

, the second member of the family to be so honoured following his cousin Harry

Harry Veitch

Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...

 in 1906.

Following Peter's death in 1929, the Exeter nurseries were run by his daughter Anna Mildred

Mildred Veitch

Anna Mildred Veitch B.A. was the last member of the Veitch family of horticulturists to manage the family business of Veitch Nurseries....

 (1889 – 1971), who continued to operate the business until shortly before she died.

Family

He was married to Harriett Drew, and amongst their children was Major John Leonard Veitch M.C.

Military Cross

The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....

, who was killed in northern France

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

 on 21 May 1918, aged 31. He is buried at the Thiennes

Thiennes

-References:*...

British Military Cemetery.

External links