# Fanny Wilkinson

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{{short description|British landscape gardener and college principal (1855–1951)}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = Fanny Rollo Wilkinson
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| image              = Portrait album of who's who at the International Congress of Women - Miss Fanny Wilkinson.jpg
| caption = Fanny Wilkinson in 1899
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| birth_date         =  {{Birth date|1855|6|6|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [Chorlton upon Medlock](/source/Chorlton_upon_Medlock), [Manchester](/source/Manchester), UK
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| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1951|1|22|1855|6|6|df=y}}
| death_place        = [Leiston](/source/Leiston), Suffolk
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| alma_mater         = Crystal Palace School of Landscape Gardening and Practical Horticulture
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| known_for          = Professional landscape gardener
| notable_works      = [Vauxhall Park](/source/Vauxhall_Park), London; Designer for 75 public gardens for Metropolitan Public Gardens Association 1884–1904; Principal, [Swanley Horticultural College](/source/Swanley_Horticultural_College) 1904–1916 and 1921–1922
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'''Fanny Wilkinson''' (1855–1951) was a British [landscape design](/source/landscape_design)er. She was the first professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of more than 75 [public gardens across London](/source/Parks_in_London) in the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Fanny Rollo Wilkinson'|url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/people/fanny-rollo-wilkinson|access-date=2020-05-11}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Fanny Wilkinson was born in 1855 in [Manchester](/source/Manchester), the daughter of Matthew Eason Wilkinson, a prominent doctor who became president of the [British Medical Association](/source/British_Medical_Association), and his wife, Louisa.

== Education ==
She was educated ‘privately and abroad’, but by the end of 1883 she had completed an 18-month course at the [Crystal Palace School](/source/Crystal_Palace_School) of Landscape Gardening and Practical Horticulture in London,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-05|title=Fanny Wilkinson: designer of Meath Gardens|url=https://romanroadlondon.com/fanny-wilkinson-suffragette-landscape-gardener-meath-gardens/|access-date=2021-09-13|website=Roman Road LDN|language=en-GB}}</ref> at a time when such classes were intended only for men. She later said that 'I was always fond of gardening as a child, and I took it up because I felt it suited me, and I wanted to do something ...’. She may have been inspired by the grounds of [Middlethorpe Hall](/source/Middlethorpe_Hall), the family residence in Yorkshire.<ref name="oxforddnb">{{Cite ODNB|title=Wilkinson, Fanny Rollo (1855–1951), landscape gardener|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-97936|year = 2008|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/97936|access-date=2020-05-11}}</ref>

== Career ==
In 1884 she was elected as honorary gardener to the [Metropolitan Public Gardens Association](/source/Metropolitan_Public_Gardens_Association) but two years later this was changed to a professional position for which she was paid a fee. In an interview in 1890 she commented that ‘I certainly do not let myself be underpaid as many women do. … I know my profession and charge accordingly, as all women should do.’<ref name="oxforddnb"/> Among the many public gardens across London that she planned and that were laid out under her supervision were Goldsmith's Square, Hackney; [Myatt's Fields Park](/source/Myatt's_Fields_Park), Camberwell;<ref>{{Cite web|title='An extended history of Myatt's Fields Park'|url=https://www.myattsfieldspark.info/extended-history.html|access-date=2020-05-11}}</ref> [Paddington Street Gardens](/source/Paddington_Street_Gardens), Marylebone; [Meath Gardens](/source/Meath_Gardens), Bethnal Green; and the churchyard of [St John, Smith Square](/source/St_John's%2C_Smith_Square), Westminster.

In 1887 Fanny Wilkinson was also working as a landscape designer to the [Kyrle Society](/source/Kyrle_Society), which aimed to ‘bring beauty to the lives of the poor’.<ref>{{Citation|last=Whelan|first=Robert|title='The poor, as well as the rich, need something more than meat and drink':: the vision and work of the Kyrle Society|date=2016|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv4w3whm.12|work=Octavia Hill, social activism and the remaking of British society|pages=91–118|editor-last=Baigent|editor-first=Elizabeth|publisher=University of London Press|jstor=j.ctv4w3whm.12|isbn=978-1-909646-00-1|access-date=2020-05-13|editor2-last=Cowell|editor2-first=Ben}}</ref> Through the society she was commissioned to design [Vauxhall Park](/source/Vauxhall_Park), opened in 1890.<ref>{{Cite web|title='A Blue Plaque for Fanny Wilkinson, Vauxhall Park's Designer'|url=http://www.vauxhallpark.org.uk/2019/03/19/a-blue-plaque-for-fanny-wilkinson-vauxhall-parks-designer/|access-date=2020-05-11}}</ref> This was created on land saved from development and purchased by [Henry Fawcett](/source/Henry_Fawcett) and [Millicent Garrett Fawcett](/source/Millicent_Garrett_Fawcett); Millicent and her sisters became good friends of Fanny.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford, Elizabeth. |author-link=Elizabeth Crawford (historian) |title=Enterprising women: the Garretts and their circle |date=2002 |publisher=Francis Boutle |isbn=1-903427-12-6 |location=London |oclc=51730406}}</ref> Fanny's sister Louisa married Millicent's brother.

In 1902 she became the first female Principal of [Swanley Horticultural College](/source/Swanley_Horticultural_College) and in that post she encouraged other women to enter the profession. She co-founded the Women's Agricultural and Horticultural International Union (1899), through which women were recruited to sustain agriculture and food production during the First World War. The organisation continues as the [Working For Gardeners Association](/source/Working_For_Gardeners_Association).

== Commemoration ==
alt=Round blue plaque with white text reading "English Heritage, Fanny Wilkinson 1855-1951 Landscape gardener and designer of many open spaces in London lived and worked here 1885-1896"|thumb|Fanny Wilkinson blue plaque in Bloomsbury
In 2022 [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage) announced that Fanny Wilkinson would be commemorated with a [blue plaque](/source/blue_plaque) at her former home in [Bloomsbury](/source/Bloomsbury), London, later that year. She was nominated for the plaque by the [Metropolitan Public Gardens Association](/source/Metropolitan_Public_Gardens_Association), the organisation which kickstarted her professional career.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blue Plaques to tell stories of working class experience |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/blue-plaques-to-tell-stories-of-working-class-experience/ |access-date=2022-02-18 |website=[English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage)}}</ref>

In 2025 a commemorative bronze statue of Fanny Wilkinson was installed on a renovated Edwardian drinking fountain in Coronation Gardens, [Wandsworth](/source/Wandsworth), London, one of the gardens she designed.<ref name="BbcC3d119dv2neo">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3d119dv2neo|title=Wandsworth park unveils statue of female landscape gardener - BBC News|website=bbc.co.uk|access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref>

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Fanny}}
Category:1855 births
Category:1951 deaths
Category:British landscape and garden designers
Category:Designers from Manchester
Category:People from Chorlton-on-Medlock
Category:Women landscape architects

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fanny Wilkinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Wilkinson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Wilkinson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.