3 Incredible Women of Trebah

Happy International Women's Day 2024!

Here at Trebah, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some stories from some of our very own epic women who have shaped the garden over the years!

First up is Sarah Hustler Fox, who was born to Quakers William and Jane Hustler in 1800. She’s often overlooked when Trebah’s history is retold, and instead her husband Charles is credited with most of the work. However, in her own right she was a writer, poet and philanthropist. She would go for dinners at Windermere, visit William Wordsworth, Hartley Coleridge, and more, who all regarded her with extreme fondness.

Another extraordinary woman who shaped Trebah is Alice Hext, born in 1865 to George and Emily Petherick of St Austell.

Alice was known locally for her generosity; she was a huge benefactor for the local Girls Friendly Society, of which she donated a house in Falmouth, named Miramar at Grove Place, as well as helping to fund the Elizabeth Barclay home in Bodmin, donating the playing field in nearby Constantine.

She also set up multiple covenants with the National Trust to preserve local land.

The final woman we want to celebrate is the last female owner of Trebah, Eira Hibbert who, alongside her husband Major Tony, helped restore the garden and turned it into the paradise you see today.

You could find her dead-heading hydrangeas as her “lenten penance” every spring and, having passed away in 2009, she is remembered in the lookout over the garden and beach, aptly named the Eirey.