January  29,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
105 
Obituary. 
Mr.  George  Rawlings. 
This  aged  Dahlia  specialist,  cultivator,  exhibitor,  and  raiser, 
died  on  the  17th  inst.,  at  his  residence,  Pen-y-Van,  Whitebrook, 
Monmouth,  in  his  eighty-third  year,  and  Mas  buried  by  the  side 
of  his  M’ife  in  Llandogo  churchyard,  mIioui  he  had  outlived  seven 
years.  One  of  his  sons,  William,  Mas  M'ith  him  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  I  am  not  sure  how  long  Mr.  Rawlings  had  been  in¬ 
terested  in  the  Dahlia,  or  in  M'hat  manner  his  early  days  Mere 
obtained  at  a  meeting  of  the  National  Floricultural  Society  a 
Label  of  Commendation  for  Show  Dahlia  Dr.  Frampton,  a  pale- 
ground  floM  cr,  the  florets  edged  M’ith  purple ;  and  so  nicely  did 
this  improve  under  cultivation,  that  at  the  folloM’ing  meeting  of 
the  Society  it  M’as  awarded  a  First  Class  Certificate  of  Merit.  As 
his  name  does  not  appear  in  floricultural  records  until  1851,  Dr. 
Frampton  was  in  all  probability  among  the  first  of  the  seedlings 
he  raised,  and  it  obtained  other  certificates  in  the  same  year. 
5\  ith  Dr.  Frampton  Mr.  Raudings  exhibited  Sir  F.  Tliesiger, 
which  also  obtained  a  Certificate  of  Merit  from  the  N.F.S.  It 
Mas  a  lilac  self;  Louisa  Glenny,  deep  yelloM’;  Defiance,  blush 
M’hite  ;  and  Ro.se  of  England,  rosy  pink.  Dr.  Frampton  and  Sir 
spent ;  but  I  should  imagine  he  commenced  his  Dahlia  career  as 
an  amateur,  and  then  became  a  dealer  in  Dahlias,  as  Mas  common 
in  those  days. 
I  find  him  as  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  National 
Floricultural  Society,  M’hich  Mas  founded  in  1851,  and  of  the 
original  207  members  he  Mas  in  all  probability  the  only  I’emain- 
ing  one  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Mr.  RaMlings  came  before  the 
public  as  a  raiser  of  Dahlias  on  August  21,  1851,  Mhen  he 
F.  Thesiger  M’cre  very  popular  as  exhibition  blooms,  the  former 
especially;  but  it  Mas  at  a  time  Mhen  a  large  number  of  seed¬ 
lings  M’ere  being  raised,  and  ncM’  aspirants  to  favour  w’ere 
numerous.  At  the  outset  of  his  career  as  a  raiser,  Mr.  Raw¬ 
lings  set  before  himself  a  high  ideal  of  a  flower;  he  kept  it 
steadily  in  view-  until  the  end,  and  it  can  be  seen  in  several  of 
the  popular  varieties  of  the  present  day  which  bear  his  name  as 
a  rai‘<er.  Lilac  King,  one  of  Mr.  RaAvling.s’  .seedlings,  also 
Scale — 10  feet  to  1  nch 
Btt  VC.}"/ 
frTTTl 
ma 
The  First  Prize  Bothy  Plan. 
