A WEYMOUTH gardening legend has come to life through the yellowing pages of a journal written more than 140 years ago.

The resort is famous for its beautiful seafront floral displays, which captivate crowds every year.

But it was Reuben Newberry who helped lay the foundation for that reputation back in the 1840s because in those days it was he who was responsible for maintaining the pleasure gardens along the front.

His pride and joy was Alexandra Gardens, which were then known as The Rings.

So great an influence did he have that the town eventually named not one but three roads after him, Newberry Road, Newberry Terrace and Newberry Gardens.

His relations still live in the area and his great-granddaughter Joyce Clark, ne Newberry, lives at Preston.

She recently found out a lot more about the Newberry family history after talking to Reuben's great-great-grandson and her nephew Bob Newberry, a heating engineer from Maidstone, Kent.

Joyce said: "We knew nothing about Reuben's fame until my father died in 1962, when we found a journal in a bureau detailing the times, written by Reuben's son, John Hinde Newberry."

Bob has been researching the family history for more than 20 years and the journal is playing a key role in his investigations.

He discovered that his great-great-grandfather Reuben was born on December 3, 1811 at Axminster in Devon,where he was raised.

Bob said: "When he left school he learnt the trade of a gardener, his father Soloman being a florist."

Reuben became a gardener on the estate of Squire Bennett of North Cadbury, Somerset, and married Miriam Hinde, from Bridport, in September 1835 at Bridport Parish Church.

The couple later moved to Stottingway House in Stottingway Street, Upwey, Weymouth, in the early 1840s.

Reuben was closely associated with Weymouth Corporation for more than 30 years and organised the planting of shrubs, flowers and plants at The Rings and many other sites.

His efforts also extended to trees and one order for which the corporation granted him permission was a double row of alternate lime and sycamore trees stretching from the Sanatorium in front of Bank Buildings and Pulteney Buildings.

Bob said: "Reuben was highly respected in the area for his prowess as a gardener and a nurseryman and he also seems to have had a keen sense of humour.

"One incident recalled came when he and his wife Miriam were terrified by the appearance of the Devil outside their bedroom window one night - only to find that it was a straying horse looking through the glass. He had a good laugh at 'Old Nick'.

"We are all very proud of the pioneering work Reuben did for Weymouth's gardens because many of his cultivated areas are still there a century and a half on."

Bob added that the journal was a fascinating insight into 19th century Upwey from descriptions of trout-filled streams to fertile valleys offering a rich harvest of crops.

A measure of Reuben comes with son John's memories of his mother chiding his father over 'what a stupid fellow you must have been to walk 28 miles to see your new born son and heir'.

He worked well outside Bridport at that time.

John's journal also records memories of Upwey, where he said 'beasts thrive remarkably well there in a valley which terminates with a high perfectly conical hill crowned with an old Druid Chapel which has a hole in it which when the sun is setting can plainly be seen from Upwey'.

He notes that his father's home had gardens rich with plants including wisteria, begonia and conifers as well as 'masses of rustic rockwork set with ornamental rock plants'.

He adds that floral areas were a blaze of annuals, perennials and herbaceous plants, while a yew boundary hedge was cut in the shape of a castle front.

Joyce said: "His ideas were the cornerstone for many Weymouth gardens of today.

"He was a good strong man who lived to be 86, while his wife Miriam was 101 when she died in Bournemouth.

"They are both buried at Upwey."