January 3, 1839. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
& 
of gardeners who have no vote for the same causes as myself. 
Will gardeners unite for the common advancement of their 
common interests socially, politically, and financially ? Will they 
band themselves together for the purpose of weeding out the com¬ 
paratively worthless, and sometimes spurious, from their ranks, and 
make and conform to a code of rules establishing who are and who 
are not entitled to be called gardeners -as distinguished from garden 
labourers or grooms and gardeners ? And am I too much in 
advance of the times if I suggest that we have a representative 
(Jona fide) of horticulture in Parliament ; one who will watch the 
interests of market gardeners, of nurserymen, and of gardeners, 
even though they be “ menial servants ” for the present ? There is 
plenty of “ material ” in the horticultural world from which to 
select a suitable M.P. The elementary certificated teachers have 
combined to advance or protect their interests and to run a parlia¬ 
mentary candidate of their own. They are already a power. 
What is to prevent gardeners from taking similar steps ? They 
are not more isolated than teachers ; they are scarcely less 
educated or intelligent, their interests are quite as important, and 
nothing but their own carelessness or apathy need prevent them 
from doing better for themselves as a class. Surely no gardener 
number of years, in three successive Parliaments, he discharged the 
onerous duties of Speaker admirably, but retired in 1857 at the age of 
sixty-three. For twenty-nine years he was Chairman of the Hampshire- 
Quarter Sessions, and other honours of many kinds flowed in upon him 
thickly. He was an Ecclesiastical Commissioner, a Bencher of his Inn, 
Governor of the Isle of Wight and of Carisbrooke Castle, honorary 
Colonel of the Hampshire Yeomanry Cavalry, a Trustee of the British 
Museum, and High Steward of Winchester. His astonishing longevity 
and never-failing health are, perhaps, to be explained by his love of 
open-air exercise, his rigid temperance, and his imperturbability of 
temper. It was reported that he ordered a new pair of guns on attain¬ 
ing his ninetieth birthday, and within the last few months he has played 
at billiards for four or five hours at a stretch without sitting down. But 
it is especially with his interest in gardening that our readers are con¬ 
cerned, and we therefore reproduce some remarks which appeared in 
this Journal several years ago concerning the gardens at Heckfield, and 
with it an illustration representing one of the most picturesque portions 
of the place. 
“At Heckfield there reside two celebrities —one a giant in the parlia¬ 
mentary world, a veteran in the service of his county, which he has 
served well through successive generations. This is the noble owner— 
Viscount Eversley—once known as Charles Shaw-Lefevre, Esq., who 
occupied the responsible position of Speaker of the House of Commons 
Fig. 1.—HECKFIELD PLACE—THE FLOWER GARDEN AND PLEASURE GROUNDS. 
of impartial judgment and competent knowledge will deny that 
there is need for such improvement. Personally, I believe that the 
time has arrived for action ; and the desirability to vote for 
members of County Councils is an incentive to action. What is 
the opinion of others ?—A. Bigiitf.r. 
DEATH OF LORD EVERSLEY. 
We have to record with much regret the death of a distinguished 
and widely esteemed p; tron of horticulture, Viscount Eversley, of Heck¬ 
field Place, Winchfield, Hampshire, which took place on Friday last, 
December 28th. The Right Hon. Charles Shaw-Lefevre, first Viscount 
Eversley, was born on February 22nd, 1791, and was the oldest Peer of 
Parliament, the oldest Bencher of any Inn of Court in the United 
Kingdom, and, as regards years, the oldest Trustee of the British 
Museum, at the time of his death. Lord Eversley was the eldest son of 
Mr. Charles Shaw-Lefevre, M.P. for Reading from 1802 to 1820, who 
assumed the name of Lefevre in addition to Shaw on marrying the only 
daughter of Mr. John Lefevre, of Heckfield Place, Hants, His French 
ancestors came to this country on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 
Lord Eversley was educated at Winchester and at Trinity College, Cam¬ 
bridge, where he graduated as B.A. in 1815, and as M.A. in 1819. He 
was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in the latter year, but never 
practised. He became a memher of Parliament in 1830, and for a 
sufficiently long to entitle him to the possession of three Speaker’s'- 
chairs, which now comprise part of the furniture of the mansion, and’ 
destined without doubt to become historical, for the value of such, 
trophies cannot but increase with age and be prized by future genera¬ 
tions of the family in possession of them. The other celebrity is his lord- 
ship’s gardener, Mr. Wildsmith, one of the most able, active, persevering, 
and successful workers of the day. But Lord Eversley is a gardener 
too, his technical knowledge being great, his taste admittedly good, and' 
the interest which he takes in his garden and grounds, their improve¬ 
ment and adornment, active and real. When we thus find mascer and 
man alike capable and earnest, both devoted to the same object, and 
working together in unity, the former honoured and the latter trusted, 
we expect also to find something worth seeing, and hence recording ; and 
much that is note worthy was certainly seen at Heckfield in September. 
“ Heckfield is situated in one of the most picturesque and salubrious 
districts of Hampshire, and is about five miles from Winchfield station 
on the South-Western Railway. The mansion stands on a knoll or spur 
in a well-wooded and beautifully undulated park. The pleasure grounds 
are agreeably diversified with grand deciduous trees, handsome Conifers, 
luxuriant evergreens, excellent walks, charming lakes, and splendid 
lawns. The terrace flower garden, while not being one of the largest, is 
without question one of the most beautiful and best kept of its kind in 
the kingdom ; the kitchen garden one of the most productive ; and the 
glass department famed for superior fruit. The site is somewhat 
elevated, the soil light yet fertile, and the rainfall low, conditions whicfcs 
