THALASSA CRUSO HENCKEN

AAFA #0330

1909 England –1997 MA

 

 

Publicity photo sent to AAFA by Thalassa

 

 

STANDARD-TIMES

New Bedford, Bristol Co., MA—Sunday, 15 June 1997

 

WELLESLEY [Norfolk Co.]—Thalassa Cruso Hencken, formerly of Marion [Plymouth Co.], known by gardeners everywhere as the Plant Lady, died on June 11, 1997. She was 88. She was the widow of Hugh O’Neill Hencken of Boston and Marion

            Mrs. Hencken, who was known professionally as Thalassa Cruso, was born in London, England. She received her Academic Diploma in Archaeology from the London School of Economics, London University in 1931, and subsequently became Assistant Keeper of the Costume Collection at the pre-war London Museum.

            From 1966 until 1969, she wrote and starred in “Making Things Grow!” for WGBH-TV. Following the success of that show she became a regular guest on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, published four books on gardening, and for twenty-two years, wrote a gardening column for the Boston Sunday Globe.

            She also trained in field archaeology, and from 1933-1936 directed the excavation of Bredon Hill, an Iron Age fort in Worcestershire, England. The report on this excavation established a basis for much of the later archaeological work on British Iron Age sites, and led to her election to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1938.

            In 1935 she married Hugh O’Neill Hencken of Boston and Marion who later became Curator of European Archaeology at Harvard University. During World War II, she wrote reports on American public opinion for British Intelligence, for which she later received a special commendation.

            After the war, Mrs. Hencken joined the Chestnut Hill Garden Club and began her career in horticulture and the environment. In 1961 she was made a Garden Club of America Horticultural Judge. In 1962, with two friends, she established the Amateur Horticultural Competition at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s annual Spring Flower Show.

            She was awarded the Medal of Merit by the Chestnut Hill Garden Club, for the Garden Club of America, in 1969, the Distinguished Service Medal by the Garden Club of America in 1970 a Distinguished Citation by the Horticultural Society of New York in 1970, and the George Robert White Medal of Honor in 1985 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. She also served on the Boards of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

            She leaves three daughters, Ala Reid of York Harbor, Maine, Sophia Stone of New Orleans, La. and Thalassa Scholl of Boston; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

            A memorial service will be held at two o’clock in the afternoon on June 24th at the Church of the Redeemer, 379 Hammond Street, Chestnut Hill.

 

AAFA NOTES: SSDI records show that Thalassa C. Hencken (SS# issued in MA) was born 7 July 1909.

 

 

 

 

            Her Alford lineage, starting with her mother’s paternal grandmother: Frances Mary 1849 ENG⁴, Henry 1810 ENG⁵, Henry 1782 ENG⁶, Samuel 1747 ENG⁷, Thomas 1703 ENG⁸, Thomas 1672 ENG⁹, Richard 1641 ENG¹⁰, Thomas 1599 ENG¹¹, Matthew 1567 ENG¹², Henry 1540 ENG¹³.

            Henry 1810 ENG married his first cousin Frances Oke Alford, so Thalassa has two Alford lineages. Her second lineage: Frances Oke 1811 ENG⁵, Samuel 1776 ENG⁶, Samuel 1747 ENG⁷, continued from first lineage.