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Probus Environmental Action Team

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Three years ago in February 2020, Probus News featured an article by Neil Staten, who sadly left us last year, on Emily Stackhouse. She was born in 1811 and moved to Trehane Barton Farm in 1834. He described her outstanding pioneering scientific work in botany and classification of mosses, and her water colour illustrations of flowers which were used in many botanical publications and whose originals are much sought after even today. However, because she was a woman, much of her work was uncredited and received less attention than if she had been a man.

Neil included a photo of her neglected and overgrown grave behind the large oak tree near the south gate of the church and wrote ‘The grave of such an eminent Probus resident deserves much

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Left: One of Emily Stackhouse’s stunning drawings: Evergreen Altanet - Anchusa Sempervirens.

better than this. Her achievements in a male dominated world deserve greater appreciation’. Alas, his words fell on deaf ears and the grave continued to be neglected and became almost invisible under bramble and other plants.

The PEAT team of volunteers have now cleared the area around the Stackhouse family grave as can be seen from the photos. Further work will be done to level the area and remove stubborn roots and then we intend to give this plot the special attention that Neil wrote about so that Emily's achievements are never forgotten about. We also hope to work on a project with Probus Primary School focusing on her botanical work as part of their green curriculum.

The team has been very encouraged by the support of Probus residents and in particular the offers of financial contributions that will enable us to purchase flowers and shrubs to plant around the church grounds, and especially around the Stackhouse plot. We will be sowing seeds and planting the various flowers that have been donated to us when the weather improves, but the ability to buy additional stock will be wonderful.

If you would like to contribute to our work, an account specifically for this purpose has been set up. Use the QR code:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/57997/ anchusa-sempervirens/details

The Stackhouse family memorial recently uncovered by the PEAT team. Credit: Jon Hibberd.

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