Walter Alford (1866-1938) was a farmer and market gardener living in Sholing. He became a councillor in 1920 and was made an alderman in 1927. For the last 11 years of his life he was the chairman of the council’s Public Lands and Markets Committee. His achievements in this role included setting up an aviary in Andrews’ Park and a paddling pool on the Common. He also established the corporation nurseries at Sydney House. He was a popular public figure and hundreds of people attended his funeral at St Mary Extra in 1938. In 1940 a drinking fountain was erected in his honour in Mayfield Park; he had helped push through the acquisition by the Council of the grounds as a park. The memorial states "His untiring efforts in horticultural work were largely responsible for the improvement and development of the parks and open spaces of Southampton".
Walter Alford Memorial Fountain, Mayfield Park
Photograph, c.2000
Newspaper clippings available in Southampton Local Studies Library:
"A Passion for Flowers" (Southampton Daily Echo, 14/03/2005). Article about Alford's life. Mentions research by Bitterne Local History Society.
Further reading:
Southampton Memorials of Care for Man and Beast, by A. G. K. Leonard, p65-68. (HS/k)
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