Mrs Leo Grindon's Flower Lovers' Guild was a society run by the widow (name?) of Leo (Leopold Hartley) Grindon (1818-1904), a distinguished botanist (See Manchester Botanists) who lived in nineteenth century Manchester and meticulously documented the flora of the city and the surrounding countryside. James Hapgood was an active member and collected many photographs of Flower Guild activities as follows:
The image above is annotated "Mrs Leo Grindon's Back Yard, J Hapgood". It shows a wonderful set-piece of people in the garden of her house. This is probably the terraced house in Cecil Street, on the south side of Manchester, where she and Leo moved in 1883 and where Leo Grindon continued to enjoy flowers after ill-health limited his activities (see Manchester Botanists). The people in the picture are presumably members of the Guild together with their families. The older lady nearest the camera is very likely Mrs Leo Grindon. James appears in the lower centre, the rightmost male standing immediately behind those seated at the front. The wide mix of ages and gender in this image makes it very attractive - and suggests that Guild was able to bring together a wide range of people.
The image above is annotated "Section of Mrs Leo Grindons Backyard, J. Hapgood". It shows a lady, almost certainly Mrs Leo Grindon, seated in an arbour in the same garden as in the first image above (where the arbour is shown lower right behind the young woman seated on the wall).
The image above is annotated "Garden party at Mrs Leo Grindon, J Hapgood". It shows various dignatries (two men with chains of office plus a lady who may be the wife of one of the men) seated with numerous people (members of the Guild?) standing behind. Mrs Grindon is again visible standing immediately to the left of seated dignatries. James Hapgood is not visible; could he have been behind the camera?
It would be interesting to see if the two male dignatries could be identified from old records.
The image above is annotated "a Ramble to Stamford Park with Mrs Leo Grindon Flower Lovers Guild, J. Hapgood". James is visible in the back row, second from left. A 1980 map shows that Stamford Park is south west of Manchester near Altrincham.
The image above is annotated "Sir Joseph Lees Residence. Flower Lovers Guild at the Towers, Didsbury. J. Hapgood". James is very clearly visible on the left of the picture about four or five rows behind the front row. His dark clothes stand out against a group of young girls and women dressed in light (white?) clothes. Didsbury is on south side of Manchester but has been extensively developed during the twentieth century, so the location of the Towers is not clear.
The image above is annotated "Salford P.S.A. Flower Lover's Guild. First Flower Service. July 1906. James Hapgood."
Last updated 27 October 2006