A Thing in Disguise : The Visionary Life of Joseph Paxton

by Kate Colquhoun

This is a biography of Joseph Paxton, horticulturist to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, architect of the Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and a great unsung hero of the Victorian Age. In the 19th century, which witnessed a revolution in horticulture and urban planning and architecture, Joseph Paxton, a man with no formal education, strode like a colossus. Head gardener at Chatsworth by the age of 23 and encouraged by the sixth Duke of Devonshire, whose patronage soon flourished into the defining friendship of his life, Paxton set about transforming this Derbyshire estate into the greatest garden in England. Visitors there were astonished by the enormous glasshouses and ambitious waterworks he built, the collection of orchids, the largest in all England, the dwarf bananas and the gargantuan lily, the trees and plants brought back from all over the world. Queen Victoria came to marvel and, increasingly, with the development of the railway in which Paxton was also involved, daytrippers from all over the country. It was the Crystal Palace, home of the Great Exhibition in 1851, that secured Paxton's fame. His design, initially doodled on a piece of blotting paper, was the architectural triumph of its time. Two thousand men worked for eight months to complete it. It was six times the size of St Paul's Cathedral, enclosed a space of 18 acres, and entertained six million visitors. By the time of his death 14 years later, "the busiest man in England", according to Dickens, was friends with Brunel and Stevenson and in constant demand to design public parks and gardens. His last, seemingly most eccentric project was for a Great Boulevard under glass, a crystal arcade that would connect all the main railway termini in London. Drawing on access to Paxton's personal letters, Kate Colquhouns's biography is the story of a man who typifies the Victorian ideal of self-improvement and a portrait of one of that era's great heroes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Gardening, History, British Literature

320 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2003

About the author

Kate Colquhoun is a biographer and historian. Her first book A Thing in Disguise: the visionary life of Joseph Paxton (Fourth Estate, 2003) was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper prize, nominated for the Samuel Johnson award and was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Other books include Taste: the history of Britain through its cooking (Bloomsbury, 2007) and The Thrifty Cookbook: 476 Ways to eat well with leftovers (Bloomsbury, 2009).

Mr Briggs’ Hat (Little, Brown, 2011) was shortlisted for a Crime Writers’ Association silver dagger award, translated widely and filmed for BBC TV. Her next book Did She Kill Him? (Little, Brown 2014), investigates the story of Florence Maybrick, an American ingénue tried for the murder of her older cotton-broker husband James in Liverpool in 1889.

Kate reviews and writes widely for the national papers, particularly the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph. She helped to make The Truth about Food for Channel 4’s Dispatches series, and appears often on radio and TV. She particularly loved teaching Faber Academy’s narrative non-fiction course in 2011. For her next project, Kate will investigate gender equality around the world, asking ‘How Equal is Almost Equal?’ She lives in west London with her two sons.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Crystal Palace isn't the only London district named for something that isn't there anymore, but it's probably the biggest absence, so being thereabouts, I was naturally drawn to a much-lauded book about the man who made the revolutionary phantom in question. Except it turns out he was primarily a gardener, building on his glasshouse experience (plus some structural hints from a giant water lily), and it further turns out that while I do love a nice garden, I also have limited interest in reading about gardening, at least unless it's filtered through Stoppard or similar. If the race to grow the first Amherstia flower in captivity is your bag, I imagine this would be considerably more rewarding. Or if you know Chatsworth well; I grew up in the Midlands, of course I've been there, but I don't have a clear enough sense of the place to appreciate the blow by blow of Paxton's improvements. And the deeper angle promised by that title is misleading; there's nothing really about disguise or duplicity here, just a straightforward life of a great Victorian. Which still has its interesting moments, sure, not least the fact that the Great Exhibition only took 16 months from first committee meetings to the opening of a building such as the world had never seen before – and all while working around some protected elms. Compare and contrast literally any big British project of recent years. There's also a flipped perspective on that comic mainstay of the flighty aristocrat and his resourceful employee, with the 6th Duke of Devonshire at once the making of Paxton, whose upward mobility across his life again shames modern Britain, and an absolute menace, forever dragging Paxton away from home and family, or else coming to stay and needily imposing. One suspects Jeeves and Wooster wouldn't be half so funny if it turned out that Jeeves had a series of health issues exacerbated by overwork, a wastrel son, and a wife alternating between appalling snobbery and justified exasperation with the demands of her husband's impractical employer. All in all, not a book that scratched the itch I hoped it would, fun though it always is to hear Sydenham described as a den of vice.

[Janet Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It was so well researched and yet still a very accessible read. Of course it helps to be interested in this period in British history, but it is staggering the sheer amount some of these Victorian men achieved. In Joseph Paxton's case, not only was he Head Gardener at one of the leading Stately Homes in Britian, but he designed the 'Crystal Palace' for the great 1851 Exhibition, was heavily involved in the development of railways both in Britian and Europe, was Member of Parliament for Coventry and fathered 7 children! And this is just some of his outstanding achievements!

[Paquita Lamacraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

The remarkable story of Joseph Paxton, a self educated man who designed the first flat pack building - the Crystal Palace, designed clever watering and heating systems - and was a truly Renaissance man.

Sunday Telegraph said it all'If a better biography was published this year, I didn't read it'

[Ruth Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book so often that its cover is tatty and its spine giving up the ghost. I love biography as a genre and the Victorian period is my own specialist subject, so this marvellous book is right up my street. The author has managed to tell the story of the amazing Joseph Paxton without falling into the obvious trap of becoming the biographer of the sixth Duke of Devonshire at the same time. The two men's lives were intertwined, but there was so much more to Paxton. I have read and reread it countless times and cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding biography of a complex and fascinating character. Paxton rose from humble beginnings as a yeoman's son and gardener's boy to become a famous and successful horticulturalist, architect and businessman. A knighthood and close friendships with members of the aristocracy, most notably the Duke of Devonshire, didn't alter the character of this modest and kindly man, who seemed to be able to maintain a level-headed and down-to-earth attitude in spite of all the adulation he received. While Paxton himself was an impressive figure, perhaps the real hero of this story is his wife, Sarah. In an era when many women were relegated to housework and child-rearing, Sarah acted as Paxton's partner, 'holding the fort' when he was absent on his frequent journeys - although one senses she was not impressed to be left in charge while pregnant and/or looking after young children, while Paxton and the Duke set off on another 'jolly' overseas!

This is one of the most enjoyable biographies I have read for some time. Colquhoun sticks firmly to the facts, yet she manages to convey them in a way which brings alive the people about whom she is writing. While this should be required reading for anyone with an interest in horticultural history, I also highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys biography or history of any kind.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle edition = crowd-sourced editing :-(

Such a fascinating man, it's a shame the book doesn't do him justice. The writing is mediocre. What's sorely missing is illustrations, photos and/or drawings of the plants and the architecture. The Crystal Palace went through at least three configurations, none are illustrated. Paxton deserves better.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank god this book exists. Fills a huge hole--Joseph Paxton was everywhere, doing everything, in 19th c UK!
Also really well written, except for the final few chapters--they seemed rushed.
I loved getting to know Paxton, his environs, and his relationships with all the well-known horticulturists and botanists of his age.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a huge Derbyshire and particularly Chatsworth, lover, I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and engaging biography of an amazing, innovative, creative, vastly productive and visionary man, Sir Joseph Paxton. Wonderfully written.

[Ilse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful story about a genius man, but sometimes a bit laborious to read.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An outstanding biography of a fascinating man.

[Ezra Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serviceable and complete description of the life of a truly extraordinary man.

[Jose Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very interesting to read about the life and work of Joseph Paxton. And what a great life, very inspiring!
Love the description of the society of the victorian age and all the interactions between the botanical world of the 19th century! Great book!

Uma leitura muito interessante sobre a vida e o trabalho de Joseph Paxton. E que vida! Muito inspirador!
Adorei toda a descrição da sociedade vitoriana e todas as relações no mundo botânico do séc. XIX! Uma biografia muito boa!