The story of Captain Neil Boyd McEacharn
Captain Neil Boyd McEacharn was born in Garlieston on 28 October 1884 to a wealthy Scots family, owners of a shipping company, rich iron and coal mines and vast estates in Australia.
He came to Italy for the first time at the age of eight. It was a meeting with a land that marked the course of his life and the start of his interest in botany.
In 1928 he began looking in Italy for land that lent itself to the creation of a magnificent garden. In 1930, after seeing an advertisement in The Times newspaper, he bought a property named “La Crocetta”, situated in Pallanza on the Castagnola promontory, from the Marquess Sant’Elia.
He soon began to transform its appearance with excavation and construction work. The most delicate work was the botanical repopulation. Seeds and plants were collected from all over the world.
In 1939 the Captain, forced to leave Italy at the outbreak of the Second World War, donated the property to the State on the condition that it remain private. He entrusted his beloved estate to his friend and administrator, the lawyer Cappelletto, and reluctantly embarked for Australia.
The end of the war saw the Captain return to Pallanza. At the request of friends and authorities, he opened the gates to the public.
On 18 April 1964, he died while sitting on the veranda overlooking his beloved garden. Some months earlier, on 27 July 1963, the town of Verbania had bestowed honorary citizenship on him.
Situated in the grounds of Villa Taranto Botanical Gardens is a bust of its visionary founder, Captain Neil McEacharn. The monuments pays tribute to his passion for botany and his dedication in transforming Villa Taranto into one of the loveliest, best known, gardens.
