Hello, I’m Professor Gillian Parker, researcher in Plant Nursery History at Sheffield University
I have been studying garden and landscape history since 2019, after a long career in social and health care research. I completed a PGDip in Garden and Landscape History in 2020 at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and since 2021 I’ve been a part-time PhD student in the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Sheffield, supervised by Dr Jan Woudstra. My thesis is looking at the social, economic and horticultural history of one of the most important 19th century plant nurseries, Backhouses of York.
I am a Trustee of the Yorkshire Gardens Trust, a member of its Research and Recording group and a volunteer at the George Dillistone garden – Goddards – in York. I have given public talks and academic presentations, both on the Backhouse nursery’s place in 19th century horticulture and on George Dillistone, an unjustly neglected garden designer and landscape architect, and am also starting to publish material from my research.
