Joseph Pemberton (1852–1926) was a British rosarian, remembered for creating the hybrid musk class of cultivated roses.
Career The Reverend Joseph Hardwick Pemberton was born in 1852 in The Round House, Havering-atte-Bower, Romford, Essex; he lived there with his sister Florence until his death in 1926. He was an Anglican clergyman for more than 30 years. A keen amateur rose grower, he joined the Royal National Rose Society shortly after its founding, and in 1911 served as its president. After his retirement in 1914, Pemberton turned to rose breeding in an attempt to recreate the "Grandmother's roses" he recalled from childhood. He set up Pemberton Nursery at Romford and nearby where eventually some 35–40,000 roses were grown annually for sale. All the roses of the Pemberton Nursery were bequeathed to their gardeners, who at Romford were Jack and Ann Bentall. They released several new roses after Pemberton's death.
Rose breeding Using the climber 'Trier' (descended from 'Aglaia', itself an 1896 cross by Peter Lambert using Rosa multiflora), Pemberton crossed it with hybrid tea roses to produce a class of highly scented, generally cluster-flowered roses which remain popular garden material to this day. Initially he classed them also as hybrid teas, but later took to referring to them as 'hybrid musks', based upon a tenuous link between 'Trier' and Rosa moschata.
Pemberton also bred a number of more conventional hybrid teas, and several Multiflora ramblers still worth growing.
Hybrid Musks reached their apogee well after Pemberton's death. Reimer Kordes' universally grown 'Schneewittchen' ('Iceberg') of 1958 was bred from Pemberton's 'Robin Hood'.
Selected Pemberton roses Of the roses on the following list, 'Buff Beauty' is thought to have been bred by Pemberton but was actually introduced by Ann Bentall in 1939, some 13 years after Pemberton's death. 'Ballerina' was likewise introduced by her in 1937.Phillips, R. and Rix, M., The Ultimate Guide to Roses, Macmillan, 2004, p170
NameDateColourPollen parentSeed parent PhotoAurora1923Golden YellowDanaeMiriamBallerina1937White-centered pinkUnknownUnknown'Buff Beauty'1939Orange and yellowWilliam Allen RichardsonUnknownCeres1914Yellow and pinkUnknownUnknownClytemnestra1915ChamoisTrierLibertyCornelia1925Deep PinkUnknownUnknownDanae1913Light yellowTrierGloire de Chédane-GuinoisseauDaphne1912Light pinkUnknownUnknownDaybreak1918Golden yellowTrierLibertyFelicia1926Pink blendTrierOpheliaFortuna1927Light pinkLady PirrieNur MahalFrancesca1922ApricotDanaeSunburstKathleen1922BlushDaphnePerle des JardinsMaid Marion1930Pink and whiteUnknownUnknown Moonlight1913CreamTrierSulphureaNur Mahal1923CrimsonChâteau de Clos VougeotSeedlingPax1918WhiteTrierSunburstPemberton's White Rambler1914WhiteUnknownRosa multifloraPenelope1924Seashell pinkOpheliaSeedlingProsperity1919WhiteMarie-JeannePerle des JardinsRobin Hood1927Cherry redSeedlingMiss Edith CavellSammy1921Carmine-redGruss an TeplitzTrierThisbe1918BuffMarie-JeannePerle des JardinsVanity1920Deep pink'Château de Clos Vougeot'Seedling
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