Lady Anne Brewis

Lady Anne Brewis MBE (née Palmer, 26 March 1911 – 31 March 2002), was an English botanist, environmental campaigner and writer. She is best known for the book The Flora of Hampshire (1996).

Lady Anne Brewis MBE
Born	Lady Anne Beatrice Mary Palmer 26 March 1911
Died	31 March 2002(2002-03-31) (aged 91)
Alma mater	Somerville College, Oxford
Known for	The Flora of Hampshire (1996)
Spouse	John Brewis ​ ​ (m. 1935; died 1972)​
Father	Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne
Scientific career
Fields	Botany

Noar Hill near Selborne in Hampshire

Family

Brewis was born as Anne Beatrice Mary Palmer on 26 March 1911.^[1]

She was the daughter of Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne and his wife the Hon. Grace Palmer (née Ridley), the third daughter of Matthew White Ridley, 1st Viscount Ridley. She had five siblings^[2] and was born just three months are his election as Member of Parliament for Newton-le-Willows in Lancashire.^[1]

Her paternal great-grandfather had been a keen botanist and entomologist.^[2]

Marriage and children

As a young woman, Brewis was a debutante.^[2] She married Anglican priest Rev. John Salusbury Brewis in 1935. Her marriage took her to many localities before returning to Hampshire on her husband's retirement from the clergy in 1954.^[3]

They also had four children:

• Thomas William Brewis (b. 27 Aug 1937)

• Robert Salusbury Brewis (b. 21 May 1939

• Mary Elizabeth Maud Brewis (b. 11 Apr 1947)

• Susan Amy Brewis (b. 21 Jun 1949)
• She was widowed in 1972.^[1]

Botany

As a child, Brewis had spent long holidays studying the orchids on Noar Hill, near Selborne in Hampshire.^[4] This led her to study the works of the naturalist Gilbert White, and eventually to a achieve degree in Zoology at Somerville College, Oxford.^[5]

Over 27 years, she meticulously catalogued hundreds of species of vascular plants,^[6] and co-authored with Francis Rose and Peter Bowman the definitive guide to Hampshire's plant life,^[7] The Flora of Hampshire, published in 1996.^[8][2] She was a member of the Wild Flower Society and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.^[2]

Brewis was also an environmental activist and spearheaded the campaign to make the British Ministry of Defence aware of the damage that training caused to flora, fauna and the wider natural environment.^[5]

In retirement, Brewis was a warden at the Noar Hill nature reserve, working for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.^[4] Every summer, she would organise "botanical safaris" for local children.^[4]

Awards

She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Years Honours list 1999 for "services to Nature Conservation in Hampshire."^[9]

Death

Shortly before her death, Brewis donated the majority of her plant collections to the Hampshire County Museum Service.^[2] Brewis died on 31 March 2002.^[4]

Bibliography

• The Flora of Hampshire, Bowman P, Brewis A, Mabey R, Rose F. 1996. Harley Books. ISBN 0-946589-34-8. (This 1996 book was preceded by the Flora of Hampshire, 2nd edition, 1904 by Frederick Townsend.)^[10]
• Natural History of Selborne, White G. 1789 (repr: 1977) Penguin London, ISBN 0-14-043112-8 Hampshire(1996).