A Brief and Informative monograph on the role of the Pineapple in British History before 1750.

 A Brief and Informative monograph on the role of the Pineapple in British History before 1750.

At the start of any article on pineapples it is important to have the origin story.  Why break with a winning formula?  Pineapples are fussy beggars. They come from the steamy lands of Brazil and Paraguay. They require a ground temperature of 20oC and about the same in air temperature.  Pineapples demand light and rich soil.  All these things will make them difficult to grow in Northern Europe,  [1]  Europe would have to wait until 1493 for Christopher Columbus to bring them back to Europe and 1962 for someone [Sam Panopoulos] to put them on pizzas. [2]

The arrival of the pineaqpple in the British isles is much more difficult to locate. The Signor-Lipps effect in palaeontology suggests we will never have an example of the first or last fossil of any species. When applied to pineapples this is probably the case as to UK imports. Jean de Lery called it the ‘finest fruit in America’ in 1578 and it seems unlikely that it had not graced these shores in some unrecorded way.

Literary descriptions of the King of Fruits go back, in Europe, to works like Gonzalo Fernande de Oviedo y Valdes’ ‘Historia General y Natural de las Indias’ in 1535. John Parkinson, Royal Botanist to Charles I  produced his work, ‘Paradisi in Sole paradisus terrestris’ in 1629.  He described the scaly and artichoke like fruit as ‘so sweet in smell.. Tasting… as if wine, rosewater and sugar were mixed together. [3] He later picked it to be one of the few American plants to grace the cover of his 1640 ‘Theatrum Botanicum’ [4]

John Evelyn was busy on 9th August 1661. His diary recorded that he dined in Gray’s Inn with Mr Palmer - who was keen on clocks and also had ‘He had also good telescopes and mathematical instruments, choice pictures, and other curiosities’.  He had already done experiments with light sensitive plants and was to listen to Mr Henshaw give a History of Saltpeter and Gunpowder’.  Of more interest to us is that ‘I first saw the famous Queen Pine brought from Barbadoes, and presented to his Majesty; but the first that were ever seen in England were those sent to Cromwell four years since.’ [5]

The Cromwell origin story would fit in with the Protectorate’s campaigning in the West Indies.  Barbados had been colonised in the 1620s - Richard Ligon would write his ‘A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados in 1657 and describe pineapples in detail]  Cromwell’s attempts on widening this holding in 1654 led to the capture of Jamaica but otherwise was a failure. Possibly this led to the presence of the pineapples in the Protector’s Court.

The Pineapple was already established as an item of luxury and status.  Evelyn [again] reported on 19th August 1668 ‘I saw the magnificent entry of the French Ambassador Colbert, received in the banqueting house. I had never seen a richer coach than that which he came in to Whitehall. Standing by his Majesty at dinner in the presence, there was of that rare fruit called the king-pine, growing in Barbados and the West Indies; the first of them I had ever seen. His Majesty having cut it up, was pleased to give me a piece off his own plate to taste of; but, in my opinion, it falls short of those ravishing varieties of deliciousness described in Captain Ligon's history, and others; but possibly it might, or certainly was, much impaired in coming so far; it has yet a grateful acidity, but tastes more like the quince and melon than of any other fruit he mentions’ [6]

The Pineapple did not lose its mystic  powers of attraction. On 24th August 1721 the Stamford Mercury felt it worth recording   ‘We hear the Neptune… has brought over a large quantity of .. pineapples, whereof some have been presented to his Royal Highness, some to Mr. Walpole, and to other persons of Quality and Distinction, one whereof being roasted and put into a Bowl of Punch, as is customary in the West Indies, gave it a most delicious flavour and taste.’  When the Prince and Princess of Wales were entertaining the Company of Vintners the Kentish Post [6th August 1748] found it worth noting the Royals sent gifts of Pine-Apples, Burgundy and Champagne.

At this point in the narrative mention should come of the fact Pineapples were rented out as display items. At the time of writing I can find this mentioned in countless websites   As yet I cannot find reference to it in contemporary sources in this period. The quest continues.

Imports of Pineapples would be the only source for some time. As late as 1730 the Council of Trade and Plantations was recommending the Bahamas as the best place to grow the fruit. [7]  The issue became, how to grow them at home.

Pineapples had been ripened in England since the reign of Charles II. Evelyn refers to such in a scribbled note on the manuscript of his unpublished book. Elysium Britannicum. This may be the origin of the story of Henry Danckerts 1675 painting showing the Royal Gardener, John Rose, presenting Charles II with the king of fruits.  The problem was to get both air and ground temperature right and an atmosphere free of noxious fumes.

The Dutch led the way in breaking the technological barriers to pineapple cultivation. Agnes Block is, by some, credited with being the first person to fruit a pineapple in Europe, on her estate at Vijerhof near Leiden.  Given she opined ‘Art and Labour brought forth what nature cannot’ you have to feel she wasn’t standing for much nonsense from her cultivars.

Pieter de la Court is given much credit for developing a way of producing many fruits, not just single examples. [8]  The development of glass houses and heating systems were important but perhaps the most vital extra ingredient was the use of Tanner’s bark.  Powdered oak bark can act as a manure. It generates heat, like any good dung heap - and has to be turned to avoid combustion.  This provided the ground heat essential for the development of pineapples. De La Court used thermometers to keep track of the winter temperatures to ensure constituency. [9]

It was the Dutch that brought pineapple cultivation to the British isles.  Matthew Decker was born in Amsterdam in 1679.  He moved to London in 1702 and became a merchant, specialising in linen. He was one of the original directors of the South Sea Company, swapped to the East Indies and, in 1716, was created Baronet of ‘the City of London’ by George I.

Decker had established himself in Richmond Green. By 1714 his gardener, Henry Telende had managed to grow pineapples in England. He was using the De La Court method of glass lean-tos allowing maximum sun in the summer and then moving the plants to hot houses in the winter months.  Decker presented George I with one of his fruits at the banquet to celebrate his baronetcy and in 1720 Theodorus Netscher was commissioned to immortalise the achievement in paint.

Pineapple mania was spreading. In 1719 De la Court sent his own gardener with fruit and trees to James Brydes, the newly minted Duke of Chandos for further cultivation.  Richard Bradley would spread the word in his ‘Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening’ in 1721 and greenhouses green across the realm.

The creation of such greenhouse complexes was an expensive thing.  The Oxford Physic Garden undertook the operation in 1734. After ten years they were successful, it usually takes 2-3 years to find out each time if your endeavours have reached fruition. This was at the cost of about 40% of the Garden’s budget.   Bt 1745 The Reverend William Smith in A Natural History of Nevis and the Rest of the English Leeward Charibee Islands in America declared that “Ananas, or Pine-Apples, are so common at Chelsea and other fine Gardens here in England, that they need no description’. [10]

The Pineapple was rapidly leaving its fruity origins.  As shops often had signs rather than names and, like a Queen’s Head, the pineapple was relatively easy to carve. The ever observant Stamford Mercury noted a fire at the Pine-apple in New Street, Covent Garden in December 1737.  Clearly 1737 was an unlucky year because the Pine-Apple in Castle Street, Leicester  -Fields also suffered fire damage. [Kentish Post 5th November 1737]

Beyond mere common place signage, the Pineapple became a feature of the decorative arts. The font cover of St, Mary’s, Charlton Marshall was proud to carry one. Sir Christopher Wren had a thing about pineapples.  He put them on St Stephen’s Coleman Street and, in the most spectacular affirmation of Protestant Pineapple appreciation, the north towers of St Paul’s are proudly topped by the King of Fruits.

[1]  The Pineapple, King of Fruits by Fran Beauman Chatto & Windus, London 2005 p.2-3

[2] There are some people who regard this as a mistake.  They are wrong and need to examine their life choices.

[3] https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/john-parkinsons-paradisi-sole-paradisus-terrestris-1629

[4] https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/john-parkinsons-theatrum-botanicum-1640 

[5] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41218/41218-h/41218-h.htm 

[6] https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/42081/pg42081-images.html

[7] https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol41/ pp351-368 

[8] ‘Pieter de la Court van der Voort and innovations in Pineapple Cultivation in Early Eighteenth Century Gardens’ by Lisa Johnson Garden History 47

[9] Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit  - he of the Fahrenheit scale [1724] invented a mercury thermometer in 1714.  Apparent De la Court recognised mercury was best but preferred to stick to his alcohol based ones

[10]   The Reverend William Smith in A Natural History of Nevis and the Rest of the English Leeward Charibee Islands in America (1745)