Samuel Hole

Samuel Reynolds Hole (5 December 1819[1] – 27 August 1904[2]) was an English Anglican priest,[3] author and horticulturalist[4] in the late 19th century and the early part of the 20th.

[8] After a period of foreign travel through France, Germany and Italy he studied theology at Brasenose College, Oxford.

[11] He admired a devout and serious approach to religion and recognised it in the Wesleyan Methodists who were working amongst the poor at a time when the Church of England was not.

[18] Hole was deeply concerned about the working man drawing the parallel between Jesus' background as a carpenter and the honest toil of the poor.

[20] Apparently he welcomed the appointment which brought him into contact with the men in Chatham Dockyard and the local lime and cement works.

[27] Whilst he was at Caunton Hole received an invitation to judge an Easter Monday rose competition in Nottingham.

[31] Eventually (described at length in A Book about Roses) the show was held in St James's Hall, London in July 1858.

[33] Hole was noted for his expertise with roses[34] and an inaugural recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour.