The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution

A long-serving gardener on a large country estate could expect to be provided with a house on the estate in old age and a small pension in return for some light work at busy times, and would be cared for when he became sick or too old to work. If he married, his widow would be looked after in a similar manner.

Sadly many gardeners were not this fortunate, and when they became incapable of working any longer were forced to apply for outdoor relief from the local Poor Law board of guardians in order to survive, or to seek financial assistance from a parish charity, if one existed. The only alternatives were to go and live with their children or suffer the indignity of spending their final days in the nearest workhouse.

The Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution (known as the Benevolent Institution for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Gardeners and Their Widows until 1851) was formed in 1839 by a group of “Nurserymen, Florists and Amateur Gardeners” for the purpose of raising money to provide retirement pensions to ageing gardeners employed on country estates, at private houses, in commercial nurseries, and in public gardens in towns and cities. The institution proved to be a success, and by 1889 had 154 pensioners on its books.

Following the introduction of the state pension in 1909, the organisation gradually shifted its focus from offering pensions to providing retirement accommodation for members of the gardening profession. The institution, renamed Perennial in 2003, still performs a valuable role today.