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Newspaper accounts show that this Society was formed in 1891 (1). It held its first show in November of that year in the Public Rooms, and was open to entries from Budleigh Salterton, East Budleigh, Bicton, Otterton and Colaton Raleigh. The following year at the AGM in February at the Rolle Hotel the committee appointed was Mr H B Russell (Chairman and Treasurer), Mr W. Kempson (Hon Sec), Colonel W. Carlile, Mr R. Friend, Mr C. Turner, Mr W. Pidsley, Captain Astley Cooper, Mr N. Parsons, Mr J. Yates, Revd. G Davey, Mr W. Horton Ellis and Mr J. Bourne. The second show was held in November 1892 with a revised schedule and an increase in the number of prizes.

The exhibits were organised into six categories, Plants (groups of Chrysanthemums), Cut Flowers, Table Plants, Fruit, Amateurs, and finally Cottagers. The Amateur classes were for people who didn’t employ professional gardeners and this was a copy of that employed by the long standing Budleigh Salterton Cottage Garden Society, which was still in existence and some committee members served both Societies (2). This same format applied up until 1914. Another regular feature of the Shows was the attendance of Mr Vinnicombe’s String Band from Exmouth who played intermittently throughout the day and in 1895 Miss Vinnicombe sang several songs with the Band. The advertisement for the 1910 Show says that the doors opened to the public at 2.30pm and closed at 9.00pm. The entry price was two shillings from 2.30 to 4pm, one shilling from 4 to 6pm, and only sixpence from 6 to 9pm (3).

The newspapers usually gave accounts of the weather on the day (often good for November but particularly bad in 1895 and showery in 1900). We also learn that 1894 wasn’t a good year for chrysanthemum growing. The fruit classes became particularly popular with exhibitors.

The composition of the organising committee changed over the years but several people served for long periods. For instance, in 1904 the committee consisted of, Mr Russell as Chairman and Treasurer, Revds. Brownlow and Rawlinson, Colonel Carlile, Captain Astley Cooper, Mr Friend, and Mr Parsons, (all of whom apart from Revd. Brownlow were present in 1891), plus Mr E. Simpson, Mr H. Thurgood, Mr C. Turner and Dr R. Walker (the latter two gentlemen had been on the Committee since 1892). Mr Russell had been the bank manager of the Dorset & Wilts (later Lloyds) Bank in the town and he remained as Treasurer and Chairman for the duration of the Society.

The Honorary Secretary Mr Kempson resigned in 1904 as he was leaving the town and Mr Friend agreed to take over from him. At the AGM in March 1904 Mr Kempson was presented with a suitably inscribed gold mounted   “Swan” fountain pen and Mr Russell “expressed the great regret the Committee felt in losing Mr Kempson, and their hope that the pen would be a reminder to him of the very harmonious and pleasant manner in which the Committee and himself had worked together for so many years, with the result that the Society was a marked success” (4).

By 1905 Mr Keep from East Budleigh (5) had joined the Committee and he gave the Society a silver cup to be presented to the winner of Class 1 of the Chrysanthemum Section. The winner for the first two years was Mr S. Hillman. If an exhibitor won the cup three years in a row they would be allowed to keep it but no one must have achieved that feat as the cup was donated to Fairlynch Museum a few years ago by the Budleigh Salterton Flower Show Society, which had inherited it. The rules seem to have subsequently been changed so that the exhibitor with the highest number of points became the winner of the cup.

Mr Friend held the post of Honorary Secretary and Mr Russell that of Chairman until the 1914 Show after which the activities of the Society appear to have been suspended for the duration of the War as it does not feature in any newspaper account. This final Show at the end of October was the 24th and as usual was held in the Public Rooms (6). There were 51 exhibitors, nine more than the previous year, and 336 dishes of fruit displayed, nine table decorations and 13 decorated baskets. Mr C. Simmons won the silver cup with a total of 31 points.

I have been unable to find any evidence that the Society reformed after the War. Mr Russell died in 1917 but Mr Friend lived in the town till his death in 1928. It is likely the Society disbanded in 1917 as Mr Russell’s obituary says he was Chairman for 27 years.

Researched and Written by Roger Lendon September, © 2017

(1)  Exeter & Plymouth Gazette 25th June 1891
(2) Budleigh Salterton Flower Shows through the Nineteenth Century OVApedia
(3) Exeter & Plymouth Gazette 1 November 1910
(4) Western Times 18 March 1904
(5) See  East Budleigh and Bicton Cottage Garden Society OVApedia
(6) Exeter & Plymouth Gazette 30 October 1914

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