Because the Society’s earliest existing minute book began in November 1907 previous history can only be found through members’ recollections recorded in this first minute book, or more importantly through reports in the local newspapers or gardening magazines published prior to that date.
In preparation for the Society’s Centenary the Secretary Irvine Hewitt began to search through newspapers to find more about its origins. The results of this search are recorded in the minutes of a meeting in 1932. Although Mr Hewitt successfully found a record of a tulip show in 1829 which predated the ‘official’ establishment date of 1836 he failed to notice that two shows in the minute book had been given the same number. This resulted in the Centenary show being held in 1936 rather than in 1935. This error was not spotted until similar research was carried out in preparation for the 150th anniversary when this was corrected and the celebration took place in 1985.
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