Sigríður Tómasdóttir was born in Brattholt in 1874 and lived there all her live, the farm was a bit isolated, but visitors came from faraway places to see the natural wonder Gullfoss. Sigríður and her sisters loved the falls and showed it to visitors. They among other things laid the first walking paths to the falls. Sigríður did not get a chance to go to school but was well read, artistic, a skilled embroiderer and illustrator.

At the turn of the last century foreign investors were interested in harnessing Icelandic waterfalls for electricity. An Englishman had his eye on Gullfoss and offered Sigríður´s father 50.000 kronur for Gullfoss but he answered, "I will not sell my friend". Later on Gullfoss got into the hands of people who were going to harness it and then Sigríður started her fight to save Gullfoss. She debated with many of the richest and most powerful men in the country went on long journeys under difficult circumstances (she walked 120 km to Reykjavik). When all seemed lost she threatened to throw herself in the waterfall. Luckily it did not come to that, with the help of her lawyer Sveinn Björnsson (later the first president of Iceland) she managed to break the contract and Gullfoss became the property of the Icelandic nation.

Sigríður died in 1957 and is buried in Haukadalur, she will always be remembered for having stopped the harnessing of Gullfoss. Her memorial is by Gullfoss made by sculptor Ríkhardur Jónsson.