Thomas Henry Everett was born January 12, 1903, in Woolton, England, a suburb of Liverpool. He showed an early interest in plants and cultivation, and from age 13, he worked as apprentice gardener at a series of estates and nurseries. In 1923 he was hired by Cheadle Royal, a rural landscaped hospital in Greater Manchester. In 1925 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, admitted him as a student-gardener, and he graduated with honors in 1927.
Everett worked under head gardener Allan Falconer, who insisted on good record-keeping habits from his junior gardeners.
Everett’s beautifully detailed notebooks leave no doubt as to his attentiveness to coursework at Kew.
His supervisor at Cheadle Royal recommended him to Kew as a “diligent worker…well-educated, and of a studious nature,” predicting he would “make his mark in the profession.”
Everett’s class at the prestigious Kew training program.
Student Gardener’s Certificate, 1927
Excelling in his Kew studies, Everett “proved himself an excellent cultivator, intelligent, industrious, and punctual.”
