William Wallace Pettigrew (about 1900)

Biographical notes

William Wallace Pettigrew, was probably named William after his grandfather (father's father) and Wallace after his other grandfather (mother's father). He was the third child of Andrew and Agnes McLelland Pettigrew and their eldest son. He was born in the Garden Cottage at Dumfries House but moved to Cardiff with the rest of the family in 1873. At the age of 16, he was an apprentice gardener to his father at Cardiff Castle. After training at Kew Gardens, he was appointed as Gardener at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire and the 1891 Census shows him living with three other 'Domestic Gardener's' in the 'Gardener's Bothy'.

Later that year, he was appointed as Head Gardener to Cardiff Corporation and 1894 saw him married to Ruth McConochie. In the 1901 Census he is recorded as living with his wife Ruth at Roath Park (Head Gardener's House). 1915 saw his appointment as Head Gardener to Manchester Corporation - a post he held until his retirement in 1932. He moved with his wife to Eastbourne, and it was here he wrote a definitive text on park management; Municipal Parks: Layout, Management and Administration, published in 1937 and dedicated to the memory of his brother, Andrew Alexander, who had died the previous year.

He and Ruth both died in Eastbourne within three weeks of each other in the first quarter of 1947.