| Administrative History | Joseph and Thomas Johnson were born in Tibshelf in 1879 and 1884 respectively. They began their working lives as miners but both had shown a keen interest in growing and cultivating plants from an early age. In 1923 Thomas finished working in the mine due to ill health and this gave him the opportunity to devote more time to his hobby. This proved to be so successful that four years later Joseph was also able to give up his job at the mine and join his brother full time growing and cultivating chrysanthemum plants. The business flourished to such an extent that by 1934 the brothers had acquired 3-4 acres of land on which to grow their chrysanthemums. In 1957 the brothers were each awarded the Chrysanthemum Society's gold meal which at that time was only the sixth ever to be awarded. They continued to work up until their deaths, Joseph in May 1962 and Thomas in September 1968. |
| Custodial History | These documents were deposited in the Record Office by Joseph's daughter in July 1986 and September 1987. |