1717. His monumental tablet is affixed to one of the pillars of the church of St. Catharine Cree, London; it bears the arms of Des Bouverie and thereon an escutcheon-of-pretence of the arms of Urry:—
Near this place lies
interred in a private vault, the body of
SIR WILLIAM DES BOUVERIE,
Bart.; deceased the 19th day of
May 1717. Aged 60.
His eldest son, Sir Edward Des Bouverie, second baronet, was M.P. for Shaftesbury in the two Parliaments of George I. and in the first Parliament of George II. He married, on 8th July 1718, Mary, daughter of John Smith, Esq., of “Beauford-buildings,” parish of St. Clement Danes, formerly one of the Commissioners of Excise; she was the younger sister of Anne, Countess of Clanricarde. Four weeks before his marriage he had paid his fine into the chamber of London to be for ever discharged from serving the office of sheriff. He acquired the estate of Longford, near Salisbury. His lady died on 3d January 1721, without issue, and he himself in 1736, November 21st. He died at Aix, in France, but was buried at Britford, near Salisbury, beside his wife.
The third baronet was the surviving brother, Jacob, who seems to have introduced Bouverie as the spelling of his surname. The family adopted a motto most appropriate to intrepid refugees, Patria cam, carior libertas. Sir Jacob Bouverie was raised to the peerage on 29th June 1747 as Baron Longford and Viscount Folkestone. He died in 1761. [As to Viscount Folkestone and his son, the Earl of Radnor, see my Chapter XI.]
Bouverie of Beachworth and Teston (extinct). Sir Christopher Des Bouverie, knight, born in 1671, was the seventh and youngest brother of Sir William, the first baronet. He was knighted by Queen Anne on 23d June 1713, on presenting an Address from the South Sea Company. He married Elizabeth, daughter, and ultimately sole heir of Ralph Freeman, Esq., of Beachworth, in Surrey. The children of this marriage were two sons and two daughters, who at a very early age became orphans, Lady Des Bouverie dying on 13th December 1727, and Sir Christopher dying at his house in Leicester-Fields, London, on 22d January 1733. As to the children —
(1.) The elder son, Freeman, died in 1734, in early youth.
(2.) The younger son, John, became the head of this branch. He was born in 1721, and when his chief, the first Viscount Folkestone, changed the spelling of the family name, he was known as John Bouverie. His manhood fulfilled the high promise of his youth. He was an accomplished scholar and a popular English gentleman. He spent some years in his travels in Europe and Asia; and developing antiquarian tastes, he amassed considerable collections of medals, gems, and art-treasures. He and his companions, Robert Wood and Henry Dawkins, brought home magnificent inscriptions. As to his last tour, it may be that he lingered too long, for, becoming suddenly indisposed, he died at Smyrna, 8th September 1750, aged 29. In that foreign soil he was buried, and there a monumental pillar attests the admiration and affection felt for him. His sisters became co-heirs of the family estates. (Mr Richard Phelps, a scholar of high reputation, had been his travelling tutor, and probably wrote his epitaph.)
(3.) Anne, wife of John Hervey, Esq., one of the King’s Justices-itinerant, succeeded to the estate of Beachworth in Surrey. She died 1st April 1757.
(4.) Elizabeth (unmarried) obtained the mansion and estate of Teston, near Maidstone, as her share. She died 1st October 1798.
The following is the epitaph on the monument at Smyrna:—
Hospites! quicunque literarum venustiorum aut studiis aut patrocinio cultores estis idonei — quicunque virtutum omnium, quae aut publicae utilitati inserviunt aut vitae privatae decori sunt et ornamento, fautores [estis] probi — huic Marmori adeste, et grato animo memoriam recolite egregii juvenis
JOHANNIS BOUVERIE
qui antiqua et illustri apud Anglos familiâ (de republicâ, de ecclesiâ optimè meritâ, Fidei Reformatae cui nomen dedisse sibi fuit rei avitae direptionem pati, animoso pietatis exemplo, militante)
feliciter oriundus,
nobilitatem, quam a Majorum virtutibus acceperat, suis clariorem reddidit.
Is enim erat
qui bonorum et doctorum omnium lacrymas meretur,
