Pettigrew Family History, Ephemera & Photographs

Dedication

This site is dedicated to the memory of Andrew Alexander Pettigrew (1875-1936), who gathered together, labelled and ensured the survival of most of the photographs and ephemera in this archive.

What's This About?

These pages allow access to a unique family archive of letters, documents and photographs spanning the period between 1850 to 1950. A family tree summarises the known history of the Pettigrews and related families.

Several initiatives have prompted this project.

In 2002, my mother, Margery Hannah Pettigrew, alerted me to the existence of the archive, crammed into three battered suitcases which had miraculously survived numerous family moves.

Family Treasure Trove
One of three cases which, when opened, revealed a treasure trove of family photographs, letters and documents.

At about the same time, a BBC Television series titled Hidden Gardens, included an episode devoted to the restoration of the Italian Garden at St Fagans Castle (The Castle is now the Welsh National History Museum). The Italian Garden was created for the then owner of the Castle Lord Plymouth (Robert George Windsor-Clive), by Hugh Allan Pettigrew (Head Gardener).

The Italian Garden in the 1900's
Photograph taken in the 1900's showing Hugh Allan Pettigrew (Head Gardener), walking in the Italian Garden at St Fagans Castle.

The archive proved useful in the latter stages of the restoration as it included photographs dating from the 1900's when the Italian Garden was in its prime.

The Italian Garden Restored
The Italian Garden at St Fagans Castle, pictured in May 2003, just after its restoration had been completed.

Finally, in April 2006, Cardiff City Council mounted an exhibition Pettigrews, the family who created Cardiff's Parks, which again drew extensively on photographs & documents in the Archive.

Leaflet guide to the Pettigrews Exhibition
The leaflet produced by Cardiff Council for their exhibition Pettigrews, the family who created Cardiff's Parks. The exhibition took place in the Old Library, Hayes, Cardiff, fom 1st April to the 22nd April 2006.

The Task

The twin objectives are to ensure that the archive is properly and systematically stored whilst at the same time making it more accessible for other members of the family and other interested parties. These aims are being achieved by the following means:

Items are being catalogued using MODES museum and archive cataloguing software.
Each item is digitally photographed/scanned (at a high resolution)
Once catalogued & photographed, no further handling is required & the items are systematically stored.
The cataloguing software is used to generate web pages making the items available for family or public access.

Tim Pettigrew

First published 29^th October 2007.
Last updated 1^st April 2018.