Ness Botanic Gardens
Agnes Lois Bulley, who died on 27 December 1995, donated Ness
Botanic Gardens to the University in 1948, together with the house, the large
estate that went with it, and an endowment of £75,000. It was the largest
bequest the University had received other than the Harold Cohen Library. Her
father, Arthur Bulley, was a pioneer Fabian and successful
Liverpool cotton broker. He used his wealth to become perhaps the most important
patron of British plant collecting this century, creating at Ness a garden which
holds today one of the finest plant collections in the British Isles.
Agnes Lois Bulley was a
political activist and philanthropist throughout her life. Born
into wealth, she felt that she had no right to inherited wealth,
but owed a debt to the society which gave it to her.
Professor
Robert Marrs, Director of Ness Gardens and Bulley Professor of Applied
Plant Biology said of her 'Her initial vision and her subsequent interest in the
developments at Ness have been an inspiration to all who knew her'.
Our sympathy
goes to Nancy Kershaw, her companion of many years, and her
family'.
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