Book  (Dec 1998)  Page(s) 348.  Includes photo(s).
 
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam. Modern, large-flowered hybrid tea. Light pink. Repeat flowering. This is one of the best known names in the history of the modern rose, but the impressions it made at the time of its introduction were mixed. It tends to put much strength into forming perfect flowers at the expense of growth, and therefore it delighted rose exhibitors. The secretary of Britain’s National Rose Society gave his opinion of its worth as a garden plant by saying that it would be difficult to find a weaker and more unsatisfactory grower than ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’. In view of that, it is surprising first that it should have become one of the most influential pollen parents behind the modern roses of today, and second that it could survive for more than a century and still be found in nursery lists, though it is hard to be certain if the variety offered is the right one. It has pale flesh pink blooms of regular form that are globular, full, long lasting and scented. They are repeat-flowering and are borne on short branches on a plant of below average height that has matt green foliage. Zones 5-9. Bennett, UK 1882. (Parentage:) ‘Devoniensis’ x ‘Victor Verdier’.

Book  (1997)  Page(s) 33, 34.  Includes photo(s).
 
'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam', when put to stud -- unlike her French counterpart, 'La France', which was virtually sterile -- proved very fertile and was used extensively by both French and British breeders.

Book  (Sep 1993)  Page(s) 246.  Includes photo(s).
 
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam Large-flowered. Henry Bennett 1882. Parentage: 'Devoniensis' x 'Victor Verdier'. Named for a grand-daughter of King William IV. Description... soft pink... it is one of the most important ancestors of Modern Garden Roses... 'Mrs. Wakefield Christie-Miller' is sometimes sold as 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam'...

Magazine  (1993)  
 
1993 Heritage Roses in Australia Conference Hahndorf, SA. Proceedings.
p48. Bill Grant’s address. This is one that Hazel and a lot of people stood around talking about, because this is Lady Mary Fitzwilliam (HT 1882), parent of many roses and it is available in Australia.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 246.  
 
'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam'. Large-Flowered. Named for a grand-daughter of King William IV, 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam' was raised by Henry Bennett in 1882. It was greeted with derision: 'A weaker and more unsatisfactory grower would be impossible to find', sneered one writer of the day. However, it is one of the most important ancestors of Modern Garden Roses, and it is still a lovely fragrant bloom in soft pink. Foliage is pale green and matt. Beware of imposters - the lovely 'Mrs Wakefield Christie-Miller' is sometimes sold as 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam'. Devoniensis’ x ‘Victor Verdier’. Repeat flowering. Fragrant.

Book  (1993)  Page(s) 113.  Includes photo(s).
 
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam. A hybrid tea with rather globular flowers. A very important parent of Hybrid Teas. Raised by Bennett in Britain, launched 1882. (Devoniensis x Victor Verdier). Repeat flowering. Height to 60 cm (2 ft). Slight scent.

Book  (1992)  Includes photo(s).
 
p29 .....credit must go to Henry Bennett for his all-round work on the rose, but it was ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ above any other that established his reputation as, beyond doubt, ‘Lord of the Hybrid Teas’. I cannot exclude a personal anecdote at this juncture. It is about an illustration which appeared in a small book entitled Late Victorian Roses, written by myself, with photographs by Keith Money. This picture was of an unidentified variety discovered by Keith at Caston (Norfolk) in 1975. We did not state dogmatically that it was ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ but it was hoped it might create some interest, either confirming that it was ‘Lady Mary’ or suggesting a suitable name. Two letters came from Australia, both expressing the opinion that the rose was indeed ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’. One was from Deane Ross, a professional rose grower whose father had started their business in 1906, and who, when shown the photograph, was an alert gentleman of eighty-seven years. Deane wrote: ‘When I showed him your book he said, “Now that is Lady Mary Fitzwilliam.” Deane then went on to say that his father had grown this variety extensively in his early years as a nurseryman, and remembered it well. This does not necessarily authenticate the rose - photographs are not the easiest means of identification - but it is particularly interesting, since later I acquired a colour print of ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ which strengthens my belief that the rose could well have been rediscovered. It came from Mrs. Margaret Meier, a niece of Henry Bennett’s great-granddaughter, Mrs. Ruth Burdett, and Mrs. Burdett herself added support to this belief by informing me that Henry Bennett’s son Charles emigrated to Australia and started commercial rose-growing there at the turn of the century, doubtless taking with him ample stocks of his father’s roses.

p30. Photo. 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam'
[refer also to the 2004 HRiA reference on this photo].

p389. Lady Mary Fitzwilliam. Bennett, UK 1882. ‘Devoniensis’ x ‘Victor Verdier’. Large, freely produced soft pink flowers, flushed deeper pink. Shapely, high centred and scented. Not over vigorous but quite bushy. Ample, good dark green foliage. This is a famous old rose; parent to many of the early British Hybrid Teas. A rediscovery at Caston, Norfolk, by Keith Money in 1975. More or less continuous flowering. Moderately fragrant. Good for bedding or planting in groups. Suitable for pots. 2’x 2’ or 60 x 60 cm.

Website/Catalog  (1986)  Page(s) 19.  
 
Lady Mary Fitzwilliam  (HT) A famous early parent, thought to be extinct, this discovery from England accurately fits the descriptions.  Globular deep flesh pink.  Low up to 800cm.  Double.  Fragrant.

Magazine  (1986)  Page(s) 167.  
 
Article by John Strange. ....let me write of the ladies that I have been able to trace and pride of place is given to ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ (‘Devoniensis’x ‘Victor Verdier’). The Rose Annual 1956 contained a highly research article by the late James Alexander Gamble of Maryland on this rose. The writer of the article explored Modern Roses IV and found that 37% of the roses having recorded pedigrees were traced to this English-bred rose, which was a flesh-coloured, two-tone pink. Mr. Gamble included tables with his article listing some popular rose varieties descended from ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’and included in the list is ‘Peace’. When one considers the huge number of roses since raised which have ‘Peace’in their blood, there is no doubt that a close study of the varieties listed in Modern Roses VIII will show an even higher percentage of varieties originating from ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam.’ Mr. Gamble disclosed that Lady Mary Fitzwilliam was born in 1846 in England and was the grandaughter of the Duke of Ormonde. She became the daughter-in-law of the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam in 1877 and shortly afterwards was named Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg of which House King Edward VII was a member. Henry Sheperd, who raised the rose, [*] obtained Royal permission and special warrant in 1882 to name it after her. Another article on this famous rose by M. L. A. Wyatt can be found on page 195 of The Rose (Spring 1963).

[*Refer 1987-91 reference]

Book  (1985)  Page(s) ?.  Includes photo(s).
 
By this time I had made friends with my local rose breeder Peter Beales.....
Thence to Peter's establishment. "Hmmmm," he said twirling a bloom or two at arm's length.  I knew by the lift of his eyebrows that it was a useful hmmmm.  Usually, when the eyebrows stay  down, one knows that the hmmmm is not justifying the petrol.  But this time the eyebrows were way up.  I volunteered Lady Mary Fitzwilliam of 1882, more by way of a fleeting acquaintanceship with a Fitzwilliam home than by any true knowledge;  However, the eyebrows were still 'up' so I knew we had something.     In the fullness of time, as they say, when we had published a photograph, tentatively accredited, word came through from Mrs. Burdett, the great-granddaughter of Henry Bennett (the breeder), that the rose accorded with her family's records; and also, from Australia, from the son of the rose breeder Dean[e] Ross, that the picture was indeed of the bloom they had always known as 'Lady Mary Fitzwilliam'.  She is outside now, having survived a severe winter, as she must have done in '47 and '63.