Tag: art

A doomed Royal marriage and a mausoleum in Ramsgate – St Laurence in Thanet.

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View of the D’Este Mausoleum showing bricked up entrance. ©Carole Tyrrell

Part 1 – The love story and a terrible home coming

The churchyard of St Lawrence in Ramsgate contains 1400 graves and was consecrated in 1275. It is now closed to burials but as I explored in early October I found a huge mausoleum right at the very back, peeping out from behind yew trees. It is a little worse for wear to say the least but the mausoleum has royal connections.

It is the D’Este mausoleum according to an information board and the guidebook.  Its inscriptions are now illegible, the outer decoration has been smashed, its roof tiles stolen and the entrance has been bricked up but it has such a story to tell.

It contains 6 people hence its size. They are:

The Duchess of Sussex, wife of Prince Augustus Frederick.

The Duchess’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Dunmore

Two unacknowledged grandchildren of King George III, Augustus and Augusta. She is interred with her husband, Sir Thomas Wilde, The Lord High Chancellor.

Illustrious permanent residents indeed.  I was immediately intrigued and found an archive photo which showed that it had once had an imposing position within the churchyard. Please follow this link:

MMT – Gazetteer Mausoleum Details

It is now considered to be at risk.

The D’Este Mausoleum showing where the inscriptions would have been originally on all sides of the mausoleum. ©Carole Tyrrell

This is the original wording on the inscriptions from 1895:

324. D’Este Mausoleum. South side: Sacred to the beloved memory of The Right Honorable Thomas WILDE, 1st Baron TRURO, who began his professional life as an attorney, by great talent, perseverance, and integrity, unaided by patronage, became Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and afterwards Lord High Chancellor of England. Born 7th day of July 1782, died 11th November 1855. He had by his first marriage with Mary WILEMAR three sons, the eldest of whom died in infancy, and one daughter. By his second wife Augusta Emma D’ESTE he left no issue. In this tomb are also enclosed the remains of The Right Honourable Augusta Emma, Baroness Truro, widow of Thomas, 1st Baron Truro. And only daughter of Augustus Frederick, Duke of SUSSEX, who died on the 21st day of May 1866. “May God mercifully receive her soul”.

On the west side of ditto: Erected by Augustus Frederick D’ESTE, to receive the mortal remains of his venerated and loved mother, the Lady Augusta MURRAY, 2nd daughter of John, Earl of DUNMORE. Married at Rome on the 4th day of April, A.D. 1793, to His Royal Highness, Prince Augustus Frederick, afterwards Duke of SUSSEX, 6th son of His Majesty KING GEORGE THE THIRD, a subsequent marriage was solemnized at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London. Both marriages were held invalid in England, as contrary to an Act of Parliament entitled “The Royal Marriage Act”. Here also repose the remains of Augustus Frederick D’Este, the only son of Lady Augusta, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex. Born 13th January 1794, died 18th December 1848.

North side of ditto: On this side are deposited the remains of John, 4th Earl of DUNMORE, died March 1809, and of his Countess, the Lady Charlotte STEWART, daughter of Alexander, 6th Earl of CALLAWAY, died November 1818.’   Kent Archaeological Society

Lady Augusta Murray – portrait miniature by Richard Cosway. Image shared under Wiki Commons

It’s the inscription to Augusta, Duchess of Sussex that begins the story. This is the 18th century Royal marriage which fell foul of a punitive Act of Parliament, The Royal Marriages Act. A wife was denied and repudiated becoming a social outcast, her family ruined and her children nameless. Until eventually she ended up living in Ramsgate where several road and street names still commemorate her.  This the sad story of Lady Augusta Murray’s doomed marriage to Prince Augustus Frederick, the sixth son of George III.

I am indebted to Julia Abel Smith’s biography of Lady Augusta, ‘Forbidden Wife – the Life and Trials of Lady Augusta Murray’ which was published by The History Press in 2020.

She was the daughter of John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore and his wife Lady Charlotte Stewart. Augusta was 32 when she met Prince Augustus, the sixth son of George III in Rome in 1793 . He was 20 and  largely estranged from his father. She was widely travelled and very accomplished which was unusual for a woman of her time. Her father had been the Governor of  New York,  and later Virginia, as the first stirrings of independence happened. In fact, she and her mother were in Gibraltar when news came of the French Revolution and the beheading of Marie Antoinette.  Augusta and Augustus then remarried in London.

Prince Augustus Frederick, portrait by Guy Head. Shared under Wiki Commons.

Augustus had not yet told his father of the marriages as he wanted to do it when he became of age. But neither he nor Augusta had any idea of how strictly the Royal Marriages Act of 1771 could be applied, and particularly to them, once George III and Queen Charlotte found out.

The Act declared that any descendants of George III would be prevented from marrying without his previous consent as well as his heirs and successors. Any marriage contracted without the King’s consent would be null and void.  The result of this would be ruin and rejection for both parties and any children would be illegitimate.  Anyone connected with the marriage would also be liable for prosecution.  However, it was different if the royal petitioner was aged over 25 and hadn’t received the King’s consent as they could give notice to the Privy Council and, if within a year the Houses of Parliament had no objection they would be free to marry.

The inquiry on the legitimacy of both of the marriages which was held on 27 January 1794, was scathing. The marriages were deemed ‘pretended’ and ‘absolutely null and void’ and Augusta was ‘falsely calling herself the wife of the said Royal Highness Prince Augustus Frederick.’  If that wasn’t enough she was also liable for the legal expenses. But Augusta always regarded her marriages as completely legal.

As a result of the inquiry she was awarded a pension of £1,000 p.a. but she, their children and her family became pariahs in the eyes of polite society.  But her parents never stopped supporting her.

Prince Augustus and Augusta continued to see each other and a daughter, called Augusta Emma, was born on 9 August 1801. She was always known as Emma. She and her brother were given the surname of Hanover and it was later changed to D’Este. But life was hard for Augusta with no income and no longer being part of society. She ended up in considerable debt.

However, after eight years of trying to have Augusta recognised as his wife, the final separation came on 7th December 1801 when Augustus finally conceded defeat. He wrote:

‘We are to meet no more. My whole wish now is to make her comfortable.’.

He then became the Duke of Sussex in England, Earl of Inverness in Scotland and Baron Arklow in Ireland. He also moved to Portugal and had a mistress.

Part 2 – The aftermath and the move to Ramsgate

Text and photos ©Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

St. Laurence Churchyard

Augusta Emma Wilde, Baroness Truro – Wikipedia the daughter

St Lawrence, Laurence, Ramsgate, Thanet – Churchyard M.I.’s by Charles Cotton 1895 the sicriptions on the Mausoleum

Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex – Wikipedia

Lady Augusta Murray – Wikipedia

Forbidden Wife: The Life and Trials of Lady Augusta Murray, Julia Abel Smith, The History Press, 2020.

The pet cemetery of Lamb House, Rye, April 2025

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View of Lamb House pets cemetery © Carole Tyrrell

In April, I was on a literary weekend in Sussex and Kent. We made the town of Rye our base. The town has a rich literary tradition with several famous writers having lived there.  Several of them were lucky enough to live at Lamb House, a red brick Georgian house with spacious rooms and a garden that was just beginning to take shape on my visit. Neatly labelled rows of vegetable seedlings gave an indication of what was to come later in the year. There is a magnificent view of St Mary’s church from an upper window and Henry James is commemorated with his writing desk and ‘The Telephone Room’. I love finding pet cemeteries as I find them fascinating and touching.

© Carole Tyrrell

Lamb House is now owned by the National Trust and when I last visited over 20 years ago, it looked very different. There was an upstairs tenant – lucky them! Now the upstairs rooms have been opened to visitors and on my visit there was an exhibition, ‘Ghost Written’, which featured the house’s most well known writers through their ghost stories.

Lamb House Rye Shared under Wiki Commons © Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD

The American writer, Henry James, (1843-1916) wrote three of his most famous books at Lamb House:  ‘The Wings of the Dove’, ‘The Ambassadors’ and ‘The Golden Bowl’. He discovered Lamb House while visiting a friend and instantly fell in love with it. He leased it in 1897 and, two years later, he finally bought it.

The house appears in his novel, ‘The Awkward Age’, where it is Mr Longdon’s home. During James’s time there a literary circle came into being that included Rudyard Kipling and H G Wells amongst others. In 1916, James was very ill in London and wanted to be taken back to Lamb House but he was too ill to be moved.

He was followed by E F Benson (Edward Frederic) Benson (1867-1940) who is known for his Mapp and Lucia novels which are set in a fictional town called Tilling that was based on Rye. They were adapted and made into a successful TV series. I know him through his ghost stories or ‘spook stories’ as he called them. He became Mayor of Rye twice and was awarded the Freedom of Rye which was the town’s highest award. He is buried in the local cemetery on the outskirts of town.  ‘Fred’ as he was known bequeathed two colourful windows, the East and the West, in the local church, St Mary’s. 

View of Fred Benson’s monument © Carole Tyrrell

Another view of Fred Benson’s monument.© Carole Tyrrell

Other writers who lived at Lamb House were Montgomery Hyde and the prolific author of ‘Black Narcissus’, Rumer Godden.

It was in the south western corner of the garden that I found the pet cemetery which was dedicated to Henry James and Fred Benson’s pet dogs. I remembered it from my first visit where it was hidden behind vegetation.  The cemetery is a small collection of headstones. There are no cats as, although Henry James, was;

‘A great lover of animals he would chase them (cats) away from the garden’

National Trust guidebook

The first headstone in what James called his:

‘domestic mortuary’

was dedicated to Tosca, his black and tan terrier who died in 1899.   

Tosca was followed by Tim who was another terrier, then came:

‘my admirable little Peter’

Then there was another terrier, Nick.  But James’s heart was undoubtedly given to Maximilian or Max, a red dachshund. According to his owner Max had

‘a pedigree as long as Remington Ribbon.’

He also described Max as:

‘the gentlest and most reasonable and well mannered as well as most beautiful small animal of his kind to be easily come across.’

Max loved being taken on long walks but, due to his love of chasing sheep, had to be kept on a long leash. 

Henry was very upset at having to leave Max behind when he went on an  extended trip to the US.  He wrote to his lodgers of his homesickness and how much harder it was when thinking of:

‘poor sweet pawing little Max.’

© Carole Tyrrell

© Carole Tyrrell

© Carole Tyrrell

Fred Benson also adored dogs and his favourite was a collie called Taffy. This is a photo of them together and Taffy is also commemorated in the East Window of St Mary’s church.

From the exhibition, ‘Ghostwritten’ at Lamb House

Taffy is the black dog in the lower part of the window, East window, St Mary’s, Rye. © Carole Tyrrell

© Carole Tyrrell

Rumer Godden loved Pekingese dogs and she owned several throughout her life.

I didn’t recall the pet cemetery being so large but the Trust’s intention is to recreate the garden so that it resembles

‘ the space that delighted and inspired Henry James and Fred Benson’

National Trust guidebook

I found the little cemetery with its little plain, simple stones very touching and a poignant reminder that these much loved pets were not forgotten.  And as I read the names on the stones they seemed to come alive again racing around the garden at play.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading

National Trust guidebook

Lamb House, Rye | History & Photos

Lamb House – Wikipedia

What I did over the summer and what is to come……

On By shadowsflyawayIn VisitsLeave a comment

St Peter & St Paul churchyard Seal Kentt. A magnificent view of the North Downs from the back of the church.
©Carole Tyrrell

Dear readers

It has been an eventful summer for me, to say the least. I moved house again for various reasons and now live in Rochester, Kent.  For those of you that don’t know it, it’s a town associated with Charles Dickens and is on the banks of the River Medway.

But I have also been busy researching 18th century memento mori’s in Kent churchyards, both around Sevenoaks and Rochester. It was quite surprising to see the differences in carvings from church to church and parish to parish.  They started out as naïve, almost crude, motifs and then professional stonemasons became involved.  In the churchyard of St Peter & St Paul church in Tonbridge there were still 2 tombstones dating back to medieval times. A blog post on my research, or I prefer to call it, poking about in churches and churchyards, is forthcoming as is Symbol of the Month amongst others.

So although shadowsflyaway has been quiet over August I’ve been gearing up for the autumn.

To whet your appetite for the Memento mori post here is one from the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul in Seal, Kent which is almost like a piece of Folk Art in my opinion…

Memento Mori, St Peter & St Paul, Seal, Kent. I think it’s almost like folk art.
©Carole Tyrrell

© Text and photos Carole Tyrrell