# Percy Izzard
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{{Short description|British writer (1877–1968)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
'''Percy William David Izzard''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE}} (September 1877 – 17 June 1968) was the first regular agricultural and horticultural correspondent in the popular press and wrote for the ''[Daily Mail](/source/Daily_Mail)'' for a period of 50 years.[Obituary in ''Gardeners Chronicle & New Horticulturist'', Vol.153, 1968] He authored several books on gardening.
== Biography ==
Percy Izzard studied at [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London) but dropped out and went looking for a job to support his family after his father died. He started as an errand boy for the ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)'', and joined the ''Daily Mail'' in 1909 where he covered the funeral of [Edward VII](/source/Edward_VII) the following year.[{{Cite web |last=Suffield-Jones |first=Nigel |title=Percy Izzard Remembered |url=https://www.berkshiregardenstrust.org/percy-izzard-remembered |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=Berkshire Gardens Trust |language=en}}]
His family was not able to identify at which point in his life Izzard turned to gardening and botanic.[{{cite journal |last1=Piggott |first1=Robert |title=The Daily Mail rose: advertising, gardening and suburban aspirations in the Edwardian period and after |journal=Media History |date=2022 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=482–493 |doi=10.1080/13688804.2021.1937973}}] He was noted for his book ''Homeland: A Year of Country Days'', a collection of 365 of his "Country Diary" columns from the ''Daily Mail'', with black-and-white illustrations by his wife Florence Louise Izzard and [Will G. Mein](/source/Will_G._Mein).[{{Cite journal |date=24 October 1918 |title=Homeland: A Year of Country Days |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/102143a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=102 |issue=2556 |pages=143–143 |doi=10.1038/102143a0 |issn=1476-4687}}][Review in ''The Bookman'', Vol.55, 1918 p.37][Review in ''The Near East'', Vol. 15, 1919, p.51] Glorifying UK's great countrysides in the ''Daily Mail'' during World War I turned out to be an effective morale booster for the troops. During the 1920s, he moved into a house crafted to display his horticultural work.[{{Cite web |date=18 December 2021 |title=Collecting ‘Dig for Victory’ Memorabilia |url=https://www.keymilitary.com/article/collecting-dig-victory-memorabilia |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=www.keymilitary.com |language=en}}]
In April 1953, he was sent in the Himalaya to report on the successful [British Mount Everest expedition](/source/1953_British_Mount_Everest_expedition) for the ''Daily Mail''.[{{Cite web |date=25 May 2007 |title=The Apotheosis of Percy Izzard |url=https://ticotimes.net/2007/05/25/the-apotheosis-of-percy-izzard |access-date=26 November 2024 |website=The Tico Times |language=en-US}}]
He was claimed by his son, the writer [Ralph Izzard](/source/Ralph_Izzard), to have been the inspiration for [William Boot](/source/William_Boot) in the [Evelyn Waugh](/source/Evelyn_Waugh) novel "[Scoop](/source/Scoop_(novel))".[{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ralph-izzard-1563493.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ralph-izzard-1563493.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Obituary: Ralph Izzard |work=The Independent |date=14 December 1992 |publisher=}}] He was an authority on roses and the Percy Izzard rose (hybrid tea rose) was named for him.[''Bulletin of the Garden Club of America'', 1959, p.14]
== Other roles ==
* Member of the [Linnean Society](/source/Linnean_Society_of_London)