Anne Brewis

Who was Anne Brewis?

Lady Anne Brewis, daughter of Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne was an English botanist. As a child, Brewis had spent long holidays studying the orchids on Noar Hill, near Selborne. This led her to study the works of Gilbert White, and eventually to a degree in Zoology at Somerville College, Oxford. Marriage took her to many localities before returning to Hampshire on her husband's retirement. Over the next 27 years, she meticulously catalogued hundreds of species, and co-authored the definitive guide to Hampshire's plant life. Every summer she would organise botanical safaris for local children.