Harry Veitch - Veitch Nurseries

Veitch Nurseries

At the age of eighteen, he returned to England to help his father in the management of the Kings Road, Chelsea nurseries, which had been acquired five years previously from Messrs. Knight and Perry. His industry and business sense rapidly became apparent, and the firm of James Veitch & Sons soon enjoyed the reputation of being the foremost nursery business in the world.

In 1863, the original Exeter branch of the family business and that in Chelsea were separated, with Harry's uncle, Robert, taking over the Exeter firm which became Robert Veitch & Sons. The London branch took the name James Veitch & Sons under Harry's father, James. James died in September 1869, by when the business was under the management of his eldest son, John, who only survived his father by a few months, dying in August 1870 of tuberculosis at the age of 31. Harry, assisted by his younger brother Arthur, then took control of the business of James Veitch & Sons.

Veitch's responsibility, energy, enthusiasm, and keenness in business surprised even those who knew him best. He expanded the business, establishing nurseries at Coombe Wood (trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants), Feltham (garden plants, florists' flowers, and seed production) and Langley (tree and bush fruits and, later, orchids). With Harry in control, the firm entered into the most prosperous period of its history.

During Veitch's period at the head of the Chelsea business, James Veitch & Sons sent numerous plant collectors across the world to search for new species. Among their collectors during this period were Henry Chesterton (1870 – 1878), Gustav Wallis (1872 – 1874), Guillermo Kalbreyer (1876 – 1881), Frederick William Burbidge (1877 – 1878), Charles Maries (1877 – 1879), Charles Curtis (1878 – 1884) and David Burke (1881 – 1897). In addition to developing many fine hybrids of Begonia, Streptocarpus, Hippeastrum, Nepenthes, and other genera, the firm had the distinction of raising the first hybrid orchid, Calanthe × dominii, hybridized and grown by their foreman, John Dominy.

In 1898 the firm of James Veitch & Sons was formed into a limited company, of which Harry's nephew, James Herbert Veitch became managing director. One of the first steps taken by the new company, in accordance with the firm’s earlier practice, was to send out Ernest Henry Wilson to China and Tibet to collect plants.

However, the business proved too much for James, who suffered a nervous breakdown. He became withdrawn and eccentric, offended customers, and business began to decline. After his death in 1907 at only 39 years of age, his brother John, a former England international footballer, succeeded to the Chelsea business. He also did not have the ability to run the business successfully, and Harry Veitch returned to take over control and put the business back on track. Following John's death in October 1914 at the age of 45, and the expiry of the lease on the land at Coombe Wood, Sir Harry (who had been knighted in 1912) closed the business, there being no successor in the family. Rather than risk losing the recognized reputation which the firm had acquired, Harry disposed of the nursery and sold the land for redevelopment. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew acquired some of Veitch's rare trees and shrubs.