The nursery at Thomsensgade 14 (cadastral number 7d) was started by P. Thomsen and taken over by Hans Peder Pedersen in 1891. It was run at the address until 1969 by his son Viggo Pedersen, who was married to the famous gardener.
From Funen to Skive
Hans Peder Pedersen was born in 1859 in Espe Parish near Fåborg. He belonged to the congregation in Ryslinge and was confirmed by the well-known congregation priest Vilhelm Birkedal. H. P. Pedersen was educated at Ravnholt, with N. P. Rasmussen in Odense and with E. Lassen in Nykøbing M. He took over the nursery and business in Skive Landsogn at Thomsensgade 14 in 1891.
The nursery was run with help, sometimes with 6 employees.
H. P. Pedersen held several positions of trust. He sat on the Skive Landsogn-Resen Parish Council for Venstre for 2 periods from 1909. He was on the board of “Skive Folkeblad”, Krabbesholm Folk High School, Salling Landboforening, Højskoleforeningen for Skive og Omegn and was active in Sygekassen. From 1918 he was a member of the Board of Representativesof the ” Alm. dansk Gartnerforening“ and from 1923 – 29 he waschairman of Skive Kreds.
H. P. Pedersen sold off parts of his large plot for dairy expansion on several occasions. Nevertheless, the nursery plot was still 2.5 acres when the municipality took over in 1977.
H. P. Pedersen died after a long illness in 1937.
2. generation
Viggo Pedersen (1896 – 1976) was born in the house at Thomsensgade 14. He trained as a gardener with his father in Copenhagen and Odense. Viggo Pedersen became manager of the nursery in 1918. In 1929 he married Ella Pedersen and the couple took over the nursery after a few years. Pedersen’s parents continued to live in no. 14.
There was a large production of flowers in the nursery’s 11 greenhouses and the potted plants sold in the shop were produced there.
Nurseries in Skive
In Skive Kommunes Historie bd. II from 1880 – 1940 from 2002, p. 188 shows how many nurseries there were in Skive in the mid-thirties (based on Danske Gartnerivirksomheder, bd 3):
Gartnerinden – Ella Pedersen – Mother Denmark
Ella Pedersen was born in Vestergade, her father was master blacksmith Laurits Christensen. She was apprenticed to Bernhard Fogh and 4 years later became – as she said – “cand. klud”. In 1929, she married Viggo Pedersen, a child of the city. They had met at a carnival in “Den ny”, where she was dressed as a harem lady and he was the most beautiful gymnast.
Ella Pedersen worked in the nursery and the shop and she was in charge of the bookkeeping. She was also chairman of the rowing club for 25 years and vice-chairman of the boards of the Housewives and Library Association and Skive Havnebad. She was best known for her role in the Children’s Aid Days parade, where she rode in the lead as a stately Mother Denmark. She was also Diana the trapeze artist in Circus Fiducia.
Ella Pedersen sold the nursery to the municipality after her husband’s death, but she lived in the nursery until her death in the late 90s.
Sources :
- Skive Folkeblad February 18, 1976
- History of Skive Municipality vol. II 1880 – 1940, p. 188
- Skive Folkeblad November 19, 1977
- Skive Folkeblad June 18, 1998
- Danish Horticultural Companies vol. 3, ed. Johannes Tholle, Dansk Håndbogsforlag 1936
- Photos: Skive City Archives