Penelope Hobhouse

Penelope Hobhouse (b. 20 November 1929, Moyola Park, Castledawson, Northern Ireland) is a garden writer, designer, lecturer and television presenter.

Background

Born Penelope Chichester-Clark into an Anglo-Irish family she is the daughter of James Lenox-Conyngham Chichester-Clark and a sister of Lord Moyola and Sir Robin Chichester-Clark.

Education and career

She was educated at North Foreland Lodge and Girton College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA in economics in 1951. She went on to be a garden writer and designer, publishing many books on the subject. Until 1993 she was in charge of Tintinhull House gardens in Somerset.

In 1996 she hosted a television series for House and Garden Television in the USA. Her publications include; Colour in Your Garden, Plants in Garden History, Penelope Hobhouse on Gardening, Penelope Hobhouse’s Garden Designs, and Penelope Hobhouse’s Natural Planting.

She has designed gardens in England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. They include a garden for Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Walmer Castle in Kent, ‘The Country Garden’ for the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley, a renaissance-style garden in Italy and a garden for the fashion designer, Jil Sander, in Germany.

She is an associate editor of Gardens Illustrated magazine.

In 1993 Penelope Hobhouse received an Award of Excellence for her book, Gardening Through the Ages from the Garden Writers Association of America.

In December 1996 she received the Royal Horticultural Society Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest award given by the RHS to British Horticulturists.

In November 1999 she received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Guild of Garden Writers.

She has an honorary degree from Birmingham University and has taught at the University of Essex.

Family

Penelope Hobhouse married firstly, 17 May 1952 Paul Rodbard Hobhouse (d 1994), son of Sir Arthur Hobhouse (d 1965), of Castle Cary, Somerset; this marriage was dissolved in 1983. By Paul Hobhouse she has one daughter, Georgina Dehra Catherine (b 9 March 1953) and two sons, Niall Alexander (b 29 Aug 1954) and David Paul (b 9 Sept 1957). She married secondly, in 1983, Prof John Melville Malins (d 1992).

Known still as Penelope Hobhouse she lives in Bettiscombe, Dorset.