Rosecroft Nurseries.

Collections

salishan Place by the River currently maintains a collection of over 9000 photographs, 2000 archival documents, 9000 objects, 500 works of art, and 300 oral history recordings. This collection, spanning hundreds of years, is a wonderful window on the past and present life of our community.

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Object Description

Object Name

Print, Photographic

Object ID

2014.027.005

Title

Rosecroft Nurseries.

Date

[194-?].

Description

Photo : b&w ; Rosecroft Nurseries building with field in front and bus parked beside. At the time the Petty brothers, Jack and Bob, took over, Jack and his family lived on the right side of this building, and Bob lived on the left. The Nurseries packing happened in the middle, between the two living spaces. Same as image 2014.027.009, which is not so closely cropped.

People/Subject

Petty, John Langley (Jack)

John (Jack) Langley Petty was born in Langley on June 1,1913 to parents William Hillier and Ellen Gertrude Petty, shortly after they arrived. Jack first began working at the Langley Greenhouse. William and Ellen started Rosecroft Nurseries at about 60th Avenue on Fraser Highway at about 198th Street, and Jack and his brother Bob ran the business after they retired. Jack was a member of the Langley Players Drama Club. He married (Georgina) Bernice Patchett of Merritt and they had a daughter. During World War II, he tested ammunition in Prince George and in Brandon, Manitoba, and went overseas just before the end of the war. In 1958, he was the president of the BC Nursery Trades Association. Prior to his fulltime retirement, Petty was a bus driver for the Langley School District. The couple later settled in Chilliwack. He was a member of the Ionic Lodge #19, Chilliwack, the Eureka Masonic Lodge #103, Langley, and the Chilliwack Naturalists. Jack passed away on October 15, 1997.

Petty, William Hillier

William Hillier (Will) Petty was born in about 1875. He married Ellen Gertrude Portchmouth, and they came to Langley in 1913. They had four sons; Arthur Lester Petty died in Langley the year after they arrived, on June 13, 1914 at the age of 2, and John Langley (Jack) Petty was born in Langley in 1913. The two other sons were Robert William (Bob) Petty and Alfred Percival (Bill) Petty. In Langley, William and Ellen ran Rosecroft Nurseries on a property at what is now 60th Avenue and Fraser Highway, and sons Jack and Bob later took the business over. William died in Langley on January 10, 1942, at the age of 67.

Rosecroft Nurseries

Rosecroft Nurseries was run by William and Ellen Petty. It opened sometime after they arrived in Langley in 1913, and was located at Fraser Highway and 60th Avenue (near what is now the Langley By-Pass, including the property that is now the Esso Gas Station). The couple had three sons, and sons Jack and Bob took care of the nursery in later years.

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