From the hotel website:
“Dating back to the 1800s, Meudon was once home to Falmouth’s famous Fox family. The Foxes were Quakers who owned many different properties in and around Falmouth, including nearby Glendurgan and Trebah. Their passion for the living splendour of exotic gardens led them to create a valley paradise here. Howard Fox – a Falmouth shipping agent – joined together with the wealthy banker and MP, Edmund Backhouse, to transport plants from far-flung reaches of the globe.”
ref: “But my guess is that you will want to see this garden fully and that means a walk down the wooded valley all the way to the private beach on Bream Cove. Originally created in 1815 by Robert Were Fox, the sub-tropical garden includes rare plants, shrubs, and trees “using specimens from the earliest RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) expeditions up the Yangtze and the Himalayas”. Many of the giant Australian tree ferns came from Australia as ballast. As the Meudon literature say, “They were planted in our valley while we were still sending prisoners over there”. Now fully restored, the woodland garden will be a treat to explore and enjoy”
ref: Edmund Backhouse, a Quaker and MP for Darlington, came to Meudon in 1864. He married Juliet Fox and inherited Trebah House and Gardens. Backhouse combined his wealth and connections with Howard Fox, shipping agent of Falmouth and his Packet (mail) ships, to bring plants home.