Percy John Thrower (30 January 1913 – 18 March 1988) was a British gardener, horticulturist, broadcaster and writer born at Horwood House in the village of Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire. He became nationally known through presenting gardening programmes, starting in 1956 with the BBC's Gardening Club, then the BBC's Gardeners' World from 1969 until 1976. Career as gardener The surname Thrower is peculiar to East Anglia, where Percy's father worked as a gardener at Bawdsey Manor, Suffolk, before moving to Horwood House near Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, as head gardener. Percy Thrower was determined from an early age to be a head gardener like his father, and worked under him at Horwood House for four years after leaving school. He then became a journeyman gardener in 1931, at the age of 18, at the Royal Gardens at Windsor Castle, on £1 a week. He lived in the bothy at Windsor, along with twenty other improver gardeners and disabled ex-servicemen who were employed on full wages. He spent five years there under the head gardener, Charles Cook, who was subsequently to become his father-in-law. Thrower left Windsor on 1 August 1935 for the City of Leeds Parks Department as a journeyman. There he passed the Royal Horticultural Society's General Exam. In 1937, he moved to Derby Parks Department, initially as a journeyman, but was promoted to be a foreman, General Foreman and finally the Assistant Parks Superintendent. At Derby, he met John Maxfield, whom he considered to be the best gardener he ever worked under. Percy studied and passed the National Diploma in Horticulture (N.D.H.) at the second attempt. He also became a lecturer at Derby Technical College. He became engaged to Connie (Constance Margaret Ina) Cook, the daughter of Charles Cook, now the head gardener at Sandringham, having moved from Windsor, where Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson had interfered with the running of the gardens. In order to help him, Queen Mary, in residence at Sandringham after the death of her husband George V, instigated his move from Windsor to Sandringham. On 9 September 1939, at Sandringham, Percy and Connie married. The couple received a wedding gift of a set of Burslem china dishes from Queen Mary. While at Derby, Thrower became a leading light in the "Dig for Victory" campaign in the Second World War, carrying out educational visits to many of the local parks and even Derby Sewerage Works. Percy became