Henry Doubleday Research Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) is a British organisation dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food. The organisation was formed in 1954 by horticulturalist and freelance journalist Lawrence D Hills, and named after Henry Doubleday, an Essex based Quaker smallholder who had a particular interest in the properties of comfrey.
The organisation was originally based at Bocking near Braintree, Essex (hence the name of Bocking 14, a variety of comfrey bred by Hills for its useful properties), being set up with the sum of £300 pounds that he had been able to borrow.
The overall management of the organisation was taken over by Jackie and Alan Gear in 1976, and in 1985 the organisation relocated to its present 22 acre headquarters site at Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry in the West Midlands. The Gears retired in 2004, when Susan Kay Williams became the HDRA's chief executive.
In 2005 the HDRA decided to take on the 'working name' of Garden Organic, although following a vote at the 2004 Annual General Meeting, it was decided that the 'full' name of the organisation would remain unaltered.
HDRA is a registered charity, and Europe's largest organisation in this field, with some 30,500 members as of 2005.
It maintains three organic display gardens, at:
- Ryton-on-Dunsmore near Coventry
- Yalding near Maidstone
- Audley End near Saffron Walden.
HDRA also runs a "Heritage Seed Library", saving hundreds of old and unusual vegetable varieties for posterity, and distributing them to its members.
It has a sister organisation, the Henry Doubleday Research Association of Australia Inc.
