Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan.

  • Bryan, George.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Chelsea in the olden & present times / by George Bryan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/240 (page 14)
    Dr. Chamberlayne.—On the south side, fronting the river, there are several monuments to the memory of this family, for the erection of which and for making a vault Dr. Chamberlayne obtained a grant from the parish, in consideration of a bene- faction which will probably be mentioned hereafter. He was buried here in 1703. On the left side of the western window, on a large mural slab, is an inscription to his memory. The latter part of it is remarkable :—“ He was so studious of doing good to all men, and especially to posterity, that he oidered some of his books, covered with wax, to be buried with him, which may be of use in times to come. God preserve thee, O traveller ! go, and imitate him. This monument, not to be rashly violated, his friend, Walter Harris, Doctor of Physic, caused to be erected as a testimony both of his respect and grief” “ Dr Harris evinced some singularity of opinion,” says Mr. Faulkner, “in supposing that posterity would gain any information from works thus entombed with the body of their author; but whatever might have been the intention, his views in depositing the books in the tomb of his friend have been frustrated, as, some years since. Dr. Chamberlayne’s tomb yielded to the injuries of time, and, on examination, it was dis- covered that the damp and moisture admitted by the general decay, had totally obliterated almost every appearance of them; his seal, with his arms, was however still perfect.” A Female Heroine.—One of the inscriptions to the memory of the Chamberlayne family is as follows :—In a vault hard by lieth Anne, sole daughter of Edward Chamberlayne, LL.D., who long declining wedlock, and aspiring above her sex and age, fought under her brother, ivith arms and manly attire, in a fire-ship, against the French, for six hours, on the 30th June, 1690. After returning home she married Sir John Spragg, with whom she lived very affectionately for eighteen months, but, giving birth to a child, she died a few days after in 1691. On the north side of the churchyard, on a mural monument, is an inscription to the memory of John Pennant, Esq., who died in 1709. Sir Hans Sloane, Bart.—In the south-east corner is a large and handsome monument to the memory of this distinguished resident in the parish, and of his lady. As frequent notices are taken of Sir Robert Stanley in this work, it is only necessary here to give a brief description of the tomb. It is composed of Portland stone, on the top of which, under a portico, supported