Frederick Streeter was born in Sussex, either in 1877 or 1879. He had an early ambition to be a gardener, and left school at the age of 12 for work as a gardener's boy. In 1897 he went to work at the prestigious firm of James Veitch and Son, Chelsea, before taking a position in Ireland. He became foreman at Basing Park in 1901, then head gardener at Lavington Park in Sussex in 1911.
He left the post in 1913, and served as a private in France during World War 1. He was badly wounded and invalided out of the army, returning to Ireland after the war. He returned to England in 1923, and in 1926 took up the post of head gardener at Petworth House, Sussex, where he stayed for the rest of his life. He won over 50 gold medals at Royal Horticultural Society shows.
He began a career as a broadcaster in 1935 with an appearance on the BBC programme In Your Garden, and continued broadcasting through the World War 2 ‘Dig for Victory' campaign, advising on allotment gardening. He gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria medal of honour in 1945. He continued his broadcasting career with television appearances and journalism, writing weekly articles for the Evening Standard. He died at Petworth in 1975, with his pre-recorded last gardening programme broadcast on the same day.
Read more about Frederick Streeter in the Parks & Gardens UK blog: http://parksandgardensuk.wordp...