Norah Geddes
Geddes circa 1915
Born1887
Died1967
NationalityScottish
EducationEdinburgh School of Art
Known forLandscape design
SpouseFrank Mears
Children3
Parents

Norah Geddes (1887–1967) was a Scottish landscape designer.

Early life and education

Geddes was born in 1887.[1] Her parents were Sir Patrick Geddes and Lady Anna Geddes née Morton, and had two brothers Alisdair (born 1891) and Arthur (born 1895).[2] Her childhood is described as "unconventional and peripatetic" and lacking conventional schooling in The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women.[2] She attended her father's botany course at the University of Dundee when she was just 14[1][3] before moving to the Edinburgh College of Art for drawing lessons.[1]

Career

Both her parents worked extensively to improve conditions for the poor, and so Norah's first endeavour was to provide window box planting.[1] She took a leading role in her father's Open Spaces project, which aimed to revive derelict urban plots with gardens and play areas.[4] In 1908, the group carried out a survey to locate sites within the city that could be used to provide outdoor recreation areas for the local residents and their children.[5] In 1909, she opened White Hart Garden below Johnstone Gardens – the first in a series of spaces brought back to life by her designs.[4]

Geddes joined her father's Open Spaces Committee at the Outlook Tower and Camera Obscura[6] but was left frustrated with her scope of work in the role.[1] Initially she contributed significantly to the planning and layout of the Royal Zoological Society Scotland Garden.[7] It was inspired by zoos in Hamburg and New York, which moved away from the caged menageries of the Victorian era and instead promoted large open enclosures and naturalistic settings.[7] It had pet corners and promoted opportunities for education.[8] Her part in this innovation was overshadowed by those of her husband and her father.[1]

Geddes has been described as "One of the early pioneers of creating green spaces in an urban environment for the benefit for the local community. Norah's work 110 years ago is still incredibly important today."[4] Her project in the West Port garden, was celebrated in 2023, and an embroidered and patchwork banner produced by the local Grassmarket community group, GRASS created about the development of the garden, was displayed in the Edinburgh Central Library. The garden had become a social centre for the community a century before, including a boxing club, organised by soldiers from the Castle, knitting classes for girls and scouting for boys as well as a police box and student training in kindergarten methods.[9]

The display included a quote from an English friend in 1923, who said "Here, among the flowers, children can play while parents, oft-times too weary to climb the steep paths to the top, can sit just within the gate and read or sew or talk as they desire."[9]

After the World War II, the management of the West Port Garden transferred to the City Council.[9]

Personal life

Geddes met her husband Frank Mears, an assistant to her father Patrick Geddes,[5] in 1913. The couple lived in Ramsay Garden.[6] Once married, their eldest son, Kenneth, was born the following year; Alastair in 1918, and John two years later.[5] By this point, Geddes's landscape gardening career was effectively over.[1]

Notable works

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Scottish Design Icons: Norah Geddes". Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Siân Reynolds (23 November 2019) [2017]. "Geddes, Anna, n. Morton". In Elizabeth Ewan, Rose Pipes (ed.). The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 157–58. ISBN 9781474436298.
  3. ↑ "Five "undervalued" women architects Part W is creating Wikipedia pages for". Dezeen. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Scotland's early women gardeners who dug deep in a man's world". The Scotsman. 29 March 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Robinson, George (15 July 2018). "The Lady of West Port Garden". Lothian Life. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Norah Mears (Norah Geddes) 1887–1967". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "Scottish Design Icons: Patrick Geddes". Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  8. ↑ Woudstra, Jan (October 2018). "Designing the Garden of Geddes: The master gardener and the profession of landscape architecture". Landscape and Urban Planning. 178: 198–207. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.05.023. ISSN 0169-2046. S2CID 90477109.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "What's on in libraries: November 2023 In the footsteps of Norah Geddes: new life for West Port Community Garden To mark a new exhibition on the historic West Port Garden at Edinburgh Central Library, we invite you along to hear the remarkable story of one of the city's most secret spaces". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
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