The Bodorgan Connection 4

This large cross in the churchyard of St Cadwaladr's Church, Langadwaladr, Wales bear the following inscription: 

This cross erected by Sir George [Augustus Elliot Tapps-Gervis-] Meyrick Bart 

in loving memory of his uncle

Owen John Augustus Fuller Meyrick Esq

of Bodorgan

Died Feb 12 1876 aged 72

The memory of the just is blessed

The Bodorgan Connection 3

Of Augustus Elliot Fuller's ten children, only one, Clara Meyrick Fuller, had children. She married Sir George William Gervis-Tapps 2nd Bart on the 26th of  September 1826 in St James's, Piccadilly. Sadly, two weeks after the birth of their fourth child Clara died on the 27th of December 1832, aged 29. Their oldest son George Augustus Eliott Tapps-Gervis-Meyrick became the 3rd Baronet Meyrick and inherited John "Mad Jack" Fuller's country estate Rose Hill, Brightling Sussex. In 1879 he sold Rose Hill to Percy Tew who renamed it Brightling Park.

Memorial in St Cadwaladr church, Llangadwaladr, Anglesey, Wales:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF 

RICHARD GARTH FULLER 

WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 16TH 1812 

AGED 16 DAYS 

JOHN FRANCIS FULLER

 DIED APRIL THE 12TH 1822 

AGED 16 YEARS 

WILLIAM LOWNDES FULLER 

DIED FEBRUARY THE 10TH 1825 

AGED 13 YEARS 

MARY FULLER 

DIED NOVEMBER THE 27TH 1831 

AGED 14 YEARS 

CLARA TAPPS 

WIFE OF GEORGE WILLIAM TAPPS ESQR 

DIED DECEMBER THE 27TH 1831 

AGED 29 YEARS 

THEY WERE THE CHILDREN OF 

AUGUSTUS ELIOTT FULLER ESQR AND CLARA HIS WIFE 

AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF 

OWEN J. A. FULLER MEYRICK ESQR

 OF BODORGAN, ANGLESEY

The Bodorgan Connection 2

Catherine Sarah Fuller was born in St James, Westminster and died unmarried in Clifford Street, London. She was the third of five daughters of Augustus Elliot Fuller, one of John Fuller's heirs. She was buried in the churchyard of St Cadwaladr church in Llangadwaladr, Anglesey, Wales on the 12th of June 1858. A memorial in the church reads:

In Memory of 

Catherine Sarah 

daughter of 

Augustus Elliot Fuller 

of Rose Hill and Ashdown House Sussex 

and Clara his wife 

born 

the ninth of November mdcccxiv [1814] 

and died 

the sixth of June  mdccclviii [1858]

The Bodorgan Connection 1

We are now on holiday in Wales and have visited St. Cadwaladr Church in Llangwaladr, which is on the Bodorgan Estate. Jack Fuller's will provided for two main beneficiaries: his nephew (by his sister Elizabeth) Peregrine Palmer Fuller Palmer Acland and Augustus Elliot Fuller, the son of his first cousin John Trayton Fuller of Forest Row, Sussex. Augustus Elliot Fuller married Clara Meyrick of Bodorgan, Anglesey, Wales. This memorial, in the church, is to Clara Meyrick's father Owen Putland Meyrick:

IN MEMORY OF 

OWEN PUTLAND, THE SON OF OWEN MEYRICK, ESQR 

OF BODORGAN; 

WHO DIED MARCH 24TH 1825, AGED 72 YEARS, 

A TRULY HONEST MAN: 

WHOSE DELIGHT WAS TO DO GOOD, 

AND

 "TO DWELL AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE." 

HIS DISCONSOLATE WIDOW 

HERE RECORDS HIS WORTH AND HER OWN AFFLICTION: 

He married Clara, daughter of Richard Garth, 

Esqr of Morden, Surry (sic), with whom he lived in happy 

union 50 years, and by her has left two only 

surviving children, CLARA, the Wife of 

AUGUSTUS ELLIOT FULLER, and LUCY ELIZABETH 

now the widow of ISAAC HARTMAN, Esqr. His only 

son, OWEN GARTH, was born August the 16th 1776

 and died September 1783, aged 7 Years.

William Mackenzie's Pyramid, Church of Saint Andrew, Liverpool

In the churchyard of this Presbyterian church, closed since 1975, stands a pyramid mausoleum dedicated to William Mackenzie. He was born on the 20th of March in 1794 at Nelson, Lancashire and died on 29 October 1851 at his home at 74 Grove Street, Liverpool. Mackenzie was a civil engineer and contractor who worked on canals, tunnels and railways throughout the United Kingdom and parts of Europe.

Legend has it that Mackenzie was a gambler who had a wager with the devil and so asked to be interred seated upright holding a winning hand of cards so Satan couldn't claim his soul after his death.

This seems highly unlikely as the pyramid was commissioned by his younger brother, and sole heir, Edward, in 1868 which was seventeen years after his death. An inscription reads: "In the vault beneath lie the remains of William Mackenzie of Newbie, Dumfriesshire, Esquire who died 29th October 1851 aged 57 years. Also, Mary his wife, who died 19th December 1838 aged 48 years and Sarah, his second wife who died 9th December 1867 aged 60 years. This monument was erected by his Brother Edward as a token of love and affection A.D. 1868. The memory of the just is blessed". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mackenzie_(contractor)

The day we visited was cold, overcast and light snow was falling. The church is under extensive renovations but I believe it has been decommissioned so more research is needed to find out about its future.