Honouring Emily Hobhouse: A Special Talk and Celebration on Her 165th Birthday

Join us on Saturday, 12 April, at St. Ive Church for a special talk by published author Elsabé Brits, who will share a timeline of Emily Hobhouse’s life, highlighting key events and anecdotes from her birthdays over the years, reflecting on different stages of her life. The talk runs from 11:00–11:45, with free admission, and booking is recommended via the story of Emily website as space is limited.

This is part of ‘We Are of This Place’ celebrations covering all parishes between Liskeard and Looe, in collaboration with The Looe Valley festival.

Parking is available at The Story of Emily, with traffic marshals assisting crossings to the church.

As part of the celebration, we invite you to take part in our birthday cake competition, with prizes awarded in both adult and child divisions. Cakes will be available for sale afterward, with all proceeds supporting St. Ive Church.

Following the talk, passholders and their guests are welcomed to The Story of Emily for the unveiling of our new location for our Emily Hobhouse bust. Passholders and their guests are also encouraged to visit our Restaurant, where we will be serving beautiful South African heritage dishes in honour of Emily’s legacy.

For children, we are running a kite painting and kite flying activity throughout April. On the afternoon of Saturday, 12 April, if the wind allows, we will gather on the Mound to fly the kites together. Kites can be purchased in our retail area, and children are encouraged to decorate them with a message about their favourite thing about Emily or their own aspirations to change lives.

More details about the cake competition, kite flying, and the talk booking link will be available on our website from Wednesday, 12 March, at the story of Emily.