Eleanour Sinclair Rohde – Founding Advisor

Eleanour Sinclair Rohde – Founding Advisor

Laura Pardoe| March 14, 2025 | Figures of the Herb World

Welcome to the third blog in our month of celebration for International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

Words by Kate Morgan-Owen

When Leyel founded the Herb Society, the model of the period was to assemble reputable and famous advisors, and she was a very good networker. Rohde, by this time, was a tour de force due to her published works on herbs, with connections across society linked to all things gardens and roses. She would be a perfect choice with her scholastic status, journalistic reputation and record of prestigious appointments, combined with a true adoration of herbs shining through all her work. She wrote a book a year practically from 1913- 1941, with a phenomenal research ethic. In particular, The Old English Herbals (1922) was a massive undertaking, (starting in the 9th Century,) covering 216 manuscripts, then 205 historic herbals. Libraries cited included the Bodleian, British Museum, multiple Oxford & Cambridge Colleges and many Cathedrals – she travelled well.

Green living

Although, clearly a library addict and bibliophile, she chose not to live in central London at the height of Bloomsbury culture, but stayed alone in her family home in Reigate, on a direct rail link to the city, but at the tip of the Surrey Hills, just off Wray Common – then an open expanse of green. This was close to her heart as much as the books.

“Only an exceptionally dense person is insensible to the joy of walking over acres of thyme on the Surrey Hills in midsummer, when the bees in thousands are robbing the thyme of its honey.” A Garden of Herbs (1921)

But when did the gardens lure her in? After her early childhood in India, lush green countryside must have been enticing. So, conversations with plants on the page or in the garden seems to be her preference. In the scant general content about her she’s often described as shy and solitary, but that doesn’t quite fit. Throughout her life, we will see that she was perhaps private, but a confident, independent woman, navigating a remarkable time in history with determination and a passionate champion of herbs.

An independent, educated woman

Entering Cheltenham Ladies’ College in 1896 aged 15, Rohde was at the epicentre of an exceptional time in women’s history as Cheltenham’s principal was in the process of founding St Hilda’s Oxford. Rohde passed her Oxford entry exam with History, English Literature and Old English, going on to study History there in 1901. Although students attended lectures, Oxford did not recognise St. Hilda’s officially until 1910, or grant actual degrees until 1920. In the audio archive of St. Hilda’s, a contemporary interviewed in 1981, Doris Odlum, speaks of the drive all the girls had to be independent and go on to work. Rohde is mentioned, returning in 1910 as temporary VP and a history tutor. Odlum also describes Rohde as “objectionable”, though no context is given. Though generally charming and personable, there are several references to her being difficult at times. In some of her textual comments she can appear brusque and suffers no fools.

Independence challenged

Rohde was appointed governess to the Curzon family at their Derbyshire estate in 1906 – 1907, perhaps for longer. This coincided with Lord Curzon resigning as Viceroy of India, his return to England and, shortly after, the death of his wife. Curzon was struggling politically after India, and he was part of the National League Opposing Women’s Suffrage. Here, there’s a gap in the timeline: bar returning to work in Oxford in 1910, we next hear of Rohde speaking in 1911 at the Women’s Unionist and Tariff Reform Association, Cheltenham. She speaks for the motion of tariff reform. The Curzon job would have been lucrative, but perhaps came at a moral price.

Embracing eccentricity

In 1913 Rohde published Piedmont co-authored with eminent artist Estella Canziani. They also collaborated on Oxford College Gardens (1932). Canziani lived in Kensington Palace grounds and was considered eccentric in later life. She’d joined the Folklore Society in 1910 and was part of a network of female traveller folklorists. It’s fascinating to speculate how she and Rohde met – I can’t find reference to Rohde being a member. They were a similar age. Canziani was interested in social reform. There are Oxford links: after travelling, writing and collecting, Canziani donated 700 items to Pitt Rivers Museum. Canziani was fixated by fairy and magic throughout her art career. Rohde frequently mentioned fairies. There was much common ground and it appears Rohde was her travelling companion around 1912. (Access to Canziani’s autobiography and Piedmont are on my wish list to find out more!)

Engaging fantasy

In A Garden of Herbs Rohde mischievously wrote – “I have included just a few recipes, which are, alas, of no use, in our sadly unimaginative age! One of these will be found under the heading ‘Thyme: To enable one to see the Fairies,’ and I can only trust it will not fall under the eye of any severely practical person.” But the yearning is deeper than that.

Contemplating Anglo Saxon herbals she says:

“There is only one way to look at understanding these old writers, and that is to forget ourselves entirely and try to look at the world of nature as they did. It is not ‘much learning’ that is required, but sympathy and imagination…They transport us to an age far older than our own, and yet in some ways so young that we have lost the magic key. In their writings… we see ‘as through a glass darkly’ a time when grown men believed in elves and goblins as naturally as they believed in trees… that natural objects were imbued with mysterious powers…” The Old English Herbals.

And in A Garden of Herbs again,

“Fairies have first claim on the herb garden…How beautiful an old herb garden is, and how all together lovable… the very name suggests rest and tranquility, a quiet enclosure of sunlight and delicious scents…where the humblest of newcomers can always find its own niche.”

This is a beautiful distillation of her relationship with the herbs in person, not just on the page.

Down to earth

In October 1914 Rohde’s only brother John was killed at Ypres. Also in that month the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries released its call to arms for home grown, serious herbal medicine supplies. In response, Maud Grieve rallied, creating the National Herb Growing Association in 1914 at her horticulture school (founded 1906) in Buckinghamshire.

Rohde attended this place in 1915 and there are photographs of her there. Sources in Grieve’s biography describe Rohde as a “charming presence, being rather mystic, but reputed to be difficult to work with at times.” It’s said she took this practical knowledge back to the large Reigate garden. In later book reviews her practical skill was acknowledged.

“Scholarly, poetic and extremely practical.”The Observer.

“It is impossible to endorse too urgently her chapters on cultivation… her exhaustive instructions for the cultivation of individual vegetables.” Punch.

Self sustaining

Rohde’s career continued vibrantly, resulting in a book a year, which must also have been a financial necessity living alone. She became the first woman to design a garden at RHS Chelsea Flower show in 1921 using Grieve’s plants. She wrote extensively in quality magazines and papers, rising to be President of the Society of Women Journalists. She formed a significant friendship with the prominent Messel family at Nymans, 10 miles south of Reigate. Col. Leonard Messel became an avid horticultural book collector post war, curating an exemplary private library; he proofread many of Rohde’s books, which she then dedicated to his wife Maud with love. Maud was a famous horticulturalist specialising in old roses – a passion shared in many of Rohde’s books, most notably “The Scented Garden” (1931). Rohde also ran a plant nursery in later years, cultivating older species while the new run of vegetables and exotics are often deplored in her writing. She decided to take direct action, it seems.

A dedication to herbs runs deeply through Rohde, and the newly formed Society of Herbalists (now Herb Society) in 1927 would clearly appeal to her, to protect the legacy post war of all the hard work they had achieved in this field. In the only clear photo circulating of Rohde she is dressed in a stylish Edwardian cream jacket, holding red roses, sitting on a rustic crafted bench – in The Garden Post – looking relaxed and cheerful.

About Kate

Kate Morgan-Owen is based in Lincolnshire. She completed her BSc in Herbal Medicine at Middlesex University in 2014, inspired to study having found her local affiliated herb society in Welwyn Garden City in the early 2000s – a chance meeting of the herbal community that proved a life-changing. Over the years, Kate has juggled family life with a mix of clinical work, herb clubs, music, events and project management. She currently runs a local herb club and is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

Glorious hours in the British Library reading original herbals as the first layer of bioprospecting for her dissertation forged her admiration for the incredible work from Hilda Leyel and her contemporaries, including Grieve and Sinclair Rodhe. Their goals and message and their legacy help us reach out to regain our herbal heritage in these insecure times.

As an Ambassador to the the Herb Society, Kate highlights our ability to join together issues from food sovereignty to personal agency, local self-sufficiency, biodiversity and sustainability, with empowering herbal knowledge.

Explore the Archives

As the Herb Society approaches its Centenary year (2027), we’re excited to be able to develop our website pages to give fuller account of the history of the society and all the fascinating people and stories who’ve been associated with it through the years. There is a wealth of archive material that we’re keen to share more widely, giving plenty of scope for volunteers to get involved. If you’d like to be part of the team helping draw out these stories and developing an engaging set of web pages, get in touch with Nichole at [email protected]