Description: The Rev Samuel Reynolds Hole, Dean of Rochester and one of Britain's most revered rose patriarchs, is credited with starting the first competitive rose show in 1858 (presumably non-competitive displays had been staged before that time) and is most well known for his authorship of 'A Book On Roses'. Samuel Reynolds Hole was born on December 5th 1819 and lived most of his life in Caunton Manor with his wife Caroline, where he raised his roses and his children, and was the local Vicar. He was a well-loved preacher, (he preached in over 500 churches) known for his down to earth manner and use of humour and stories in his sermons. He had a lasting friendship with the great gardener Gertrude Jekyll, and with Charles Dickens. Rudyard Kipling, Conan Doyle, Millais and Thackery were among the writers and artists that he maintained a continued correspondence. When the National Rose Society was founded in 1876, he became its president until his death in 1904. When William Paul named a rose Reynolds Hole, The Reverend Hole commented that 'I did not think I should live to be described as a 'splendid maroon dashed with crimson, large and globular, generally superb.' He was appointed Dean of Rochester when he was 68, necessitating a move from his beloved Caunton Manor. He was energetic in all he did, travelling to the US and Canada when he was 75 to raise money for Rochester Cathedral, while simultaneously taking notes for his next book. In one of his final books, 'Our Gardens' he wrote that anyone with money may employ a Head-Gardener to do the work for him, but 'The Heart-Gardener makes a garden wherever plants will grow, and finds something beautiful, go where he may.' He died at Rochester on the 27th August 1904 and was buried at Caunton. A list of his main works follows:- 'A Little Tour in Ireland' (1859), 'A Book on Roses' (1869); 'Six of Spades' (1872); 'Hints to Preachers' (1880), 'Nice and her Neighbours' (1881); 'A Book about the Garden and the Gardener' (1892); 'The Memories of Dean Hole' (1892); 'More Memories' (1894).