As winter begins to lift its heavy blanket from the earth, Snowdrops are often the first sign of Spring – the first indicator of new life beginning in the soil.

The Giant Snowdrop Company – a business based in Hyde, near Stroud, existed from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s. This local company is recognised nationally as having laid the foundations for the current popularity and availability of snowdrops.  By collecting, propagating and offering bulbs for sale by mail order, Brigadier and Mrs Mathias, with Herbert Ransom, made snowdrops available to a wide group of ordinary gardeners, whereas previously they had been accessible only to a small group of dedicated Galanthophiles.

Further information on the Giant Snowdrop Company

In 2013 the Royal Horticultural Society published an article by plant historians Jane Kilpatrick and Jennifer Harmer in its magazine The Plantsman (now called The Plant Review), which they have kindly given us permission to reproduce here: The Plantsman 2013 Vol12 Part 4 Dec: Article on the Giant Snowdrop Company

Below you can also watch Talking Snowdrops and in a further video listen to Herbert Ransom in Conversation.

Talking Snowdrops is a recording of a recent Zoom conversation celebrating the Snowdrop collection in the walled garden at the Museum in the Park and the history of the Giant Snowdrop Company run from Hyde Lodge, near Chalford, Gloucestershire. Includes contributions from Jennifer Harmer, co-author (with Jane Kilpatrick) of The Galanthophiles: 160 Years of Snowdrop Devotees.

Herbert Ransom in Conversation Clips from the archive of snowdrop expert Herbert Ransom talking in the early 1980s.

 A Short Biography of Herbert Ransom by Jane Kilpatrick

Herbert Ransom was born in Gosport near Portsmouth in 1909 where his father served in the Navy; but the family moved to Norfolk when he was five and he grew up near Kings Lynn. In 1936, he married Gwen Jakes and their eldest daughter Sally-Ann was born in 1944 and their son Alan in 1946. Their youngest daughter Jane was born in 1948.

Ransom originally worked as a chauffeur for the Johnston family in Wormegay in north Norfolk but he was a talented individual who succeeded at whatever he turned his hand to. During the 1939-1945 War, his engineering skills were recognised when he was recruited as a foreman of the team building the Mosquito at the de Havilland factory in Hatfield. After the War, he met the Johnstons’ daughter Winifrede, and her husband Leonard, who had just retired from the Indian Army.

The Mathiases had bought Hyde Lodge, a solid comfortable house at Hyde above Chalford near Stroud in Gloucestershire. The garden had been laid out by the plantsman Walter Butt but labour shortages during the War meant that the shrubberies and woodland had been left to run wild. The Mathiases wanted to restore the garden and they invited Herbert Ransom and his family to move to Gloucestershire with them and help with the restoration.

The winter of 1947 was one of the worst of the century and when the snow melted in spring, tall snowdrops began to appear under the trees. With the help of Walter Butt, who had retired to Bristol, Mrs Mathias and Herbert Ransom were able to identify the snowdrops that still flourished in the garden. The flowers were so impressive that Mrs Mathias and Ransom exhibited a selection at a Royal Horticultural Society Show in London in March 1951. Everyone who saw the snowdrops was so enthusiastic that the Mathiases decided to found the Giant Snowdrop Company to sell bulbs directly to the gardening public. It was the first specialist snowdrop nursery and the most important of its snowdrops, and the one which became synonymous with the Company, was Galanthus ‘S. Arnott’, still considered by many galanthophiles (snowdrop lovers) to be one of the very finest snowdrops of them all.

Herbert Ransom was a talented gardener and he became an expert cultivator of snowdrops. His knowledge, dedication and sheer hard work enabled the Giant Snowdrop Company to flourish for sixteen years, during which Galanthus – snowdrops – were put on the horticultural map. When failing health forced the Mathiases to sell Hyde Lodge, Ransom and his family accompanied them to their new home in the village of Painswick. Ransom was also accompanied by his snowdrop collection and he made sure to pass on his bulbs and his knowledge to the next generation of galanthophiles. Daphne and John Chappell were amongst the enthusiasts who visited Ransom in the early 1980s and they recorded him talking about his beloved snowdrops.

Herbert Ransom died in April 1985. He is buried in Painswick Cemetery.

Jane Kilpatrick co-author (with Jennifer Harmer) of The Galanthophiles: 160 Years of Snowdrop Devotees. Orphans Publishing, 2018.