Lawrence Johnston

Lawrence Johnston was an influential garden designer and plantsman who created the world famous gardens at Hidcote in the Cotswolds.

Lawrence studied in Little Shelford from 1893 to 1894 before and after he was a student in Cambridge. He returned to Little Shelford between 1902 and 1907 when he created a rockery at Woodville Lodge at 4, Newton Road in the village.

Lawrence created Hidcote after his mother Gertrude Winthrop bought the 300-acre estate.

He was born in Paris in 1871 to American parents and spent his early life in France before moving to New York. Then in 1893 he travelled to Little Shelford studying at Kirby Lodge in the High Street with John and Arthur Dunn before going to Trinity College in Cambridge. He then spent a further year living in Little Shelford acording to the book Hidcote, the Garden and Lawrence Johnston by Graham S. Pearson before he headed off to Northumberland to prepare for a career in agriculture. In 1900 he became a British citizen and sailed off to South Africa to serve in the Boer war. His rose to the rank of Major in his army career. 

He returned to live in Little Shelford in 1922 before later moving to Hidcote.

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Hidcote, the Garden and Lawrence Johnston by Graham S. Pearson

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/gardens/article/473685/Great-British-garden-makers-Lawrence-Johnston-1871-1958.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Johnston

http://www.britsattheirbest.com/living/l_garden_hidcote.htm