Eliza Eve Gleadall: Botanical Artist

Eliza Eve Gleadall was a gifted botanical artist, author and poet who lived and worked at Heath Old Hall, near Wakefield. Her illustrations appeared most notably in The Beauties of Flora, a rare nineteenth-century botanical work depicting ornamental plants found in the orangeries and collections of great houses in Wakefield and beyond.

Her detailed botanical illustrations went on to inform classifications and understanding of plants far beyond Yorkshire, including at Kew Gardens in London, and still carry importance today. While Eliza’s beautiful book is now a rare item, her story lives on.

Eliza Gleadall, British Botanical Artist, Headmistress and Author

Eliza Eve Gleadall’s Artistic Life

The following biography first appeared in an extended piece written by Sarah Leah Cobham, Forgotten Women of Wakefield project lead. Sarah wrote this for Yorkshire Bylines, based on research by herself, and lead researcher Helga Fox.

Eliza Eve Gleadall was born around1806 and baptised in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. Her botanical account of 40 ornamental foreign plants drew on specimens found in the orangeries of great houses in Wakefield and beyond. She produced the work while in her late 20s and early 30s. At that time, she was living at Heath Old Hall, Heath.

Gleadall became a teacher, and by the time she was 29, the head mistress of an exclusive ladies’ seminary. This had been first established at Heath Old Hall in 1827 by Miss Simpson. She was also advertising her highly successful Beauties of Flora in the local and national press. She dedicated the second volume to “His Grace, The Lord Archbishop of York”.

Marriage and a Return to Education

In 1838, she married Benjamin Williamson, a widower of Leeds. Busy with four stepchildren and three of her own, Gleadall never produced any further botanical artwork.

The Misses Penn took over her successful ladies seminary and continued to educate the daughters of the great and the good of Wakefield. Until at least 1851, they built on the outstanding educational reputation Gleadall had created.

When Gleadall found herself a widow in 1854 at the age of 48, this remarkable woman set up another ladies seminary in Beech Grove, Harrogate. She ran this until her death in 1887, aged 81.

The Beauties of Flora

In 1897, the brother of Lady Catherine Milnes-Gaskell, The Honourable Fredrick Wallop, gifted a copy of The Beauties of Flora to Charles Milnes-Gaskell. Their copy, one of only 115 ever printed, went to auction at Bonhams in 2014.

Gleadall’s legacy as a botanical artist and author was significant. Kew Gardens used her illustrations to help classify exotic plants. Her work also helped religious communities and gardeners worldwide to understand more about the language of flowers.

Eliza Eve Gleadall’s Wakefield Blue Plaque

As part of our 2022 International Women’s Day celebrations, we honoured Eliza’s achievements as a botanical artist, author and educator with a Wakefield blue plaque.

We unveiled her plaque at Westgate Chapel on 5 March 2022. Eliza became Blue Plaque Number 23 in our campaign for Blue Plaque Parity.

Plaque Unveiling

This short film gives an introduction to Eliza’s life and achievements, based on research by Helga Fox and Sarah Cobham.

Exploring Eliza’s Story Through Art and Walking

In October 2021, Dream Time Creative accepted an invitation to deliver two creative workshops at Wakefield’s Sandal and Normanton libraries. The amazing work of the women who attended our workshops astounded us. They talked with us about their struggles over the previous few years and their hopes for the future.

Thank you to Wakefield Libraries Service, Creative Wakefield and Wakefield Council for funding these incredible few days.

The creative responses have been condensed into a brochure telling the story of Eliza’s life, and providing a walking tour around the area where she once lived.

EE Gleadall leaflets showing waling trail

You can download the walking trail leaflet here:

Eliza Gleadall Walking Trail Download

If you enjoy walking tours, look at these too:

And here is a creative response by filmmaker Jason Lee Wakefield who, with his family, walked the trails that Eliza Eve Gleadhill may have previously walked: