Thomas Baldwin served as gardener to Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, Marquess of Hertford at his estate Ragley Hall in Warwickshire. According to an 1847 article in the magazine The Gardener’s Monthly Volume, Baldwin was regarded as the best pineapple grower of his day. He prepared this manual on the cultivation of pineapples in 1818. However, Baldwin tried to charge one guinea for a copy of his short guide, meaning that very few copies were sold.