John Bishop Biography

John Bishop was born in 1932. He had a long and successful career (31 years) as a Police Officer, rising to the rank of Superintendent by retirement. He will have been married to Gwen for 55 years in June 2009. This is their "Emerald" anniversary year. Gwen has been a constant source of encouragement and support in all things sweet pea, and indeed she has won many prizes in her own right for her decorative arrangements.

John first grew sweet peas as a young man in 1955. The results were not good but he persevered as their scent captivated the young couple. He became keen on gardening and grew many other flowers including dahlias, chrysanthemums and zinnias.

He was persuaded to exhibit his sweet peas locally and in 1962 joined the National Sweet Pea Society (NSPS). Being a former keen sportsman, in particular rugby, his competitive streak urged him to show his flowers at both local and national levels. In 1975 he was elected to join the General Committee of the NSPS, and then as Honorary Secretary in 1987, a post he held until being elected as President in 1998. He remains as President today.

In 1983, John entered the premier sweet pea competition, the Daily Mail Trophy at the national show held that year in Kent, England. This class required an extremely challenging 12 vases of 15 stems - each vase to contain a distinct cultivar. This year he came second, but the following year, 1984 he won from eight entries.

As his involvement in the administration side of the NSPS grew with increased responsibilities, time for growing and showing became limited. However, even today John continues to grow and exhibit as much as possible.

John's involvement extends to working with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) at their trials ground at Wisley, Surrey, where he has been a trials judge for thirty years with the last four (until 2008) as chairman. He also judges sweet pea (and other flower) shows at a national level.

He edited the NSPS annual booklet for 5 years when secretary, and wrote regular articles for 12 years for the Garden News, a UK based national publication. He has possibly the largest collection of sweet pea literature in the World - with over 100 books, together with a complete collection of the annual booklet from its first edition in 1906.

For his services to Sweet Peas, John was awarded the "Henry Eckford Memorial Medal" in 1998. There are only 5 living recipients of this medal.

Sweet peas have had a big influence generally on the Bishop family. As well as meeting many members of the Royal family over the years, they have established links with other horticultural societies as far afield as China, Russia and Canada. However also in 1998, Unwins Seeds named a new sweet pea "Gwendoline" after John's wife. This flower has been a winner commercially and on the showbench.