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| 2017.0026 [CONTRACEPTIVES, CARS AND GARDENS] |
| Date Range of Records: |
1970-2007 |
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This small series of records (5 units) contains booklets, order forms, hand-drawn plans, instruction manuals, correspondence and other ephemera relating to Germaine Greer’s creation and maintenance of a wood, an orchard and other gardens at The Mills (Stump Cross) Essex and to her car ownership and her behaviour as a motorist. Most of the records document Greer’s gardening and driving in England but there are also some papers generated by driving in Italy and by her work as a gardener at Pianelli, her home in Cortona, Tuscany (1973-1994), notably her distillation of wild plants and aromatics.
The car and gardening records have been catalogued in received order. Greer arranged the car records in folders labelled with a vehicle registration number. For instance, a folder labelled MLP 852D documents the care and maintenance of a Blue Morris Minor Tourer 1000 convertible made in 1966 and owned by Germaine Greer from 1984 until 1989. The car records were stored in either drawer 195 or drawer 184 in Greer’s office and the archivist has also recorded these locations in the title of each item. They were not filed in chronological order.
Greer arranged the gardening records by location (orchard, woods), plant type (bulbs, roses, rhododendrons), equipment type (greenhouse, mowers, cages), service (landscaping, tree surgery) or garden-related memberships (Royal Horticultural Society).
In 1970, Greer wanted to buy a Morris 1000 Convertible (KAL 579D) and the records relating to this proposed purchase are the earliest ones in the series. Aside from the Morris Minors, the papers document Greer’s ownership of a Triumph Herald (ULH 926F), a Daimler Sovereign (KGU 7444K), Ford Escort Estate (AR145402) that she drove in Italy, a white Mercedes Benz 200T Ranchera (E314 KFL), a Triumph Herald convertible (EPH213J), a Mercedes Benz 230 (ERU 383Y), black Ford Fiesta Pop hatchback (F836MJB), a Mercedes 230TE Estate (B494 NDL) and a Mercedes-Benz 200TE (J29 OEG). Greer was a member of the North London branch of Club Triumph.
Some of these cars were driven by Greer’s staff. A March 1986 letter from Greer, to Johnson Fry (insurance brokers) notes: 'I have just acquired a 1983 Mercedes Benz 230 Estate ERU 383Y, in addition to my Morris Minor MLP 852D (driven and kept by my housekeeper) and my Triumph Herald convertible EPH 213J.'
There is evidence, in a folder labelled ‘Drawer 195 - Cars [F836 MJB]’ of Greer’s desire to unite her love of cars with her passion for early modern poetry by women. A fax from Carol Horne, Greer's assistant, to Ken Rogers of Sign Design, explores the possibility of getting ‘custom artwork’ for the black Ford Fiesta hatchback. Greer wanted the emblem for her publishing house, Stump Cross Books, to be put on the driver's door and front passenger's door. The attached design (a phoenix rising from the ashes) was to be 're-drawn in the 17th century fashion'.
Several folders contain correspondence and court documents relating to disputed parking tickets, to being towed away and to traffic accidents.
Greer attempted to grow gardens at her various homes in London and theses struggles are documented in the ‘Revolting Garden’ columns she wrote for Private Eye under the pseudonym Rose Blight. Records relating to this work, including a rare, signed copy of the collected columns, is contained in the Major Works series (see 2014.0045.00027) Eye/Andre Deutsch. The relevant subject heading is The Revolting Garden (Private Eye).
In 1986, in between two trips to Ethiopia to report on the famine, Greer bought her property at The Mills (Stump Cross) in Essex. Here, she established a scientific orchard filled with heirloom varieties of apples and other “non-commercial fruit varieties”. Tree expert Alan Mitchell designed a one-acre woodland for The Mills and this series contains his plan and note as well as Greer’s lists of trees to plant there.
Many folders contain Greer’s drawings and designs. She kept dozens of plant and seedling catalogues as well as copies of her order forms. These are often heavily hand annotated. Item 2017.0026.00026,‘The Garden – Orchard’ holds Greer’s masterplan for the Mills, including a vegetable garden, beehive, orchard, wood, copse of wild cherries and woodland planting plans. Greer has written dozens of columns about her own garden and gardening more generally and these can be found in the Print Journalism series 2014.0046. The relevant subject headings are The Mills (Stump Cross), Gardening and Small forests (wood).
A folder labelled ‘Garden – Mowers’ holds ephemera about Greer’s various lawnmowers, including a Hayter Hobby 41 lawnmower, Briggs and Stratton Classic mower and a Tecnamotor. This last one includes booklets and metal spare parts in a plastic bag.
Greer has been a member of Friends of Cambridge University Botanic Garden and the Royal Horticultural Society and the series contains annual reports and other ephemera about these groups.
There is a substantial collection of correspondence between Germaine Greer and Malcolm Stuart of Albion Botanicals, Cambridge regarding the supply and use of medicinal and wild plants and aromatics growing at Pianelli, Greer's home in Cortona, Italy. The file includes Greer’s hand-drawn plan for a distilling machine and labels for a business called Semplici Lanfranchi 52040 Montanare di Cortona (featuring a picture of a woman harvesting herbs).
The series also contains one gynecologic aspiration syringe & cannulae kit, distributed by International Pregnancy Advisory Services (IPAS), North Carolina, USA and a B.D Plastipak syringe with attachment. These items were housed in drawer 193 of Germaine Greer's office along with four blue boxes containing Prenfit cavity-rim cervical caps, Made in England, 'for investigational use only' and 7 loose rubber caps of various sizes and a packet of a hormone replacement therapy drug Primodian Depot. |
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| 5 Units (0.85 m) |
| Collection Category: |
Culture and the Arts, individuals |
| Access Conditions: |
Access: Restricted |
| Finding Aids: |
Yes listed ONLINE |
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