Albert Hubbard, Hestercombe Head Gardener 1902-c.1913, nd [c.1912].

On 11 October 1902 (p.276), the editors of the Gardener’s Chronicle announced the arrival of a new Head Gardener at Hestercombe in their 'Gardening Appointments’: MR A. (ALBERT) HUBBARD, late Foreman at Blenheim Palace Gardens, as Head Gardener to the Hon. E. W. B. Portman, Hestercombe, Taunton, and entered upon his duties on the 1st inst. Accompanied by his family, 36-year-old Albert Hubbard arrived in Taunton on the 1st of October 1902 and by all accounts settled well into his new post. However, his greatest challenge at Hestercombe, the planting of a new flower garden by Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens, was not to arise for another two years.