Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe | Page 5

side of the square. Nothing is said in the Memoirs to locate the building
where she met her husband when he was brought to London a prisoner
after Worcester fight. The room in Whitehall facing the Bowling-green
of course perished in the fire which destroyed the Palace at the end of
the seventeenth century. [Footnote: A description of Borstal Tower
mentioned in the Memoirs will be found in "Picturesque Old Houses."]
In regard to the monument of Sir Richard in Ware Church, which was

erected to his memory by Lady Fanshawe, it is strange that there is no
record of the interment in the Register. In the Register of All Saints
Church, Hertford,[Footnote: The old church, including a fine
monument to the Harrisons, was completely destroyed by fire a few
years ago.] however, it is stated that the body was first interred in Sir
John Harrison's vault:--"1671, May 18. Sir Richard Fanshawe,
Ambassador, was taken out of this vault and laid in his vault at Ware."
The monument was formerly in the Chapel at the south side of Ware
Church, and was afterwards removed to the east wall of the south
transept. No memorial marks the last resting-place of Lady Fanshawe.
She was interred in the new vault that had been prepared for her
husband under St. Mary's Chapel.
As before stated, the family portraits are now in the possession of the
descendants of the half-brothers William [Footnote: It was William
who married Mary Sarsfield, nee Walter, the Duke of Monmouth's
sister. Vide "King Monmouth."] and John Fanshawe, the sons of Lady
Fanshawe's cousin, John Fanshawe.
The portraits of the Parsloes branch remained in the old Essex house
until some thirty years ago, when they were removed to a town
residence. They included Lady Fanshawe's portrait (reproduced here),
the original of that engraved in her Memoirs in 1830 (by no means too
faithfully); portraits of her husband Sir Richard, by Dobson [Footnote:
An interesting portrait of Sir Richard in fancy dress by Dobson is at
West Horsley Place.] and Lely; Sir Simon (the rake), with Naseby Field
in the background: Sir Richard's grandfather, Thomas, Remembrancer
to Queen Elizabeth; Alice, the second wife of Sir Richard's cousin,
John of Parsloes (the daughter of his cousin Sir Thomas Fanshawe of
Jenkins, and the mother-in-law of the Duke of Monmouth's half-sister,
Mary Walter); Sir Richard's nephew, Thomas, the second Viscount (in
breastplate and flowing wig), and his second wife, Lady Sarah, the
daughter of Sir John Evelyn and widow of Sir John Wray. [Footnote:
The ancient Lincolnshire family of Wray is mentioned in the
Introduction of "King Monmouth" in connection with the remarkable
portrait of the Duke after decapitation, which formerly was in the
possession of Sir Cecil Wray. Since writing on this subject it occurs to
me that it is very possible that the picture may have come originally to
the Wrays through Lady Sarah Fanshawe, her husband being a cousin

of the Duke's sister's second husband. Mary Fanshawe, nee Walter, it is
very possible may have come into the possession of the portrait
(perhaps after Henrietta, Lady Wentworth's death, for whom there is a
tradition the picture was originally painted), and her straitened
circumstances may have induced her to part with the work to the
relatives of her kinswoman.]
The original MS. of the Memoirs (of which, thanks to the courtesy of
the owner, Mr. E. J. Fanshawe, I am able to give an illustration) is
bound in old red leather, and bears the Fanshawe arms. It was written in
1676 for Lady Fanshawe's "most dear and only" surviving son. This Sir
Richard, the second Baronet, died in Clerkenwell in July 1694, having
some years previously had the misfortune through illness to become
deaf and dumb.
Comment at various times has been made upon the inaccuracy of the
printed Memoirs, but judging from a personal inspection of the original,
there appear to be but few serious errors. [Footnote: "Turning" for
"Trimming instruments" (in Lady Anne's will), and such like slips. See
p. 29.]
It must, however, be pointed out that the editor, Sir Harris Nicholas,
only used a COPY of the Memoirs which was made from the original
in 1766 by Charlotte Colman, Lady Fanshawe's great grand-daughter.
The editor's transcript, though made ten years later, was not published
until half a century afterwards. [Footnote: Vide Preface of 1830
Edition.] I draw attention to this fact as the Rev. T. L. Fanshawe, the
grandfather of the present owner of the MS., was under the impression
that his original Memoirs when lent to a friend had been copied and
printed without permission, which in the face of the above statement
could not have been the case. [Footnote: I have been indebted to Mr.
Walter Crouch, Mr. R. T. Andrews, and to Mr. H. W. King's