si quid habent laude digni
artium elegantissimarum peritia ab omni affectione longissimè aliena — multifaria eruditio adeò ostentationis expers adeò recondita, ut illius modestia (nisi comitem notissimum habuisset summum animi candorem)
invidiae forsan argueretur.
Dignus certè qui posteris tradatur,
si quid habent honesti amabilis morum simplicitas amaenissimâ urbanitate exornata, prudentia a calliditate abhorrens,
placidissima indoles, inconcussa fortitudo, probitas antiqua.
Eximii animi dotibus dignitatem contulit et gratiam peculiarem
mira corporis venustas,
ut in illo comitas, benevolentia, fides, non pectoris tantùm incolae, at fronti palàm insedisse, intuentibus aspectabiles viderentur.
Europâ pene universâ semel peragratâ,
in patriam regressus non vitia aut ineptias (quod quorundum est peregrinantium) sed linguas, sed artes, sed quicquid erat morum liberalium, secum advexit. Jucundissimis politionum antiquorum studiis praecipuè deditus, numismata, gemmas, et variora id genus χειμήλια, pretiosas veteris Italian reliquias, sumptu amplo sed judicio pari — ingenii elegantissimi futura oblectamenta —
sedulè comparavit.
Eheu! fatale mentis ornandae studium!
quod flentes simul collaudare cogimur!
His enim intentus quum in Asiam trajecisset, Graeciae etiam et AEgypti eruditionum gazas Romanis additurus,
morbo repentino correptus
in ipso itinere
(proh! spes hominum fragiles! proh! nostras delicias breves!)
e vitâ excessit.
The estate of Beachworth[1] had come to him through his mother (née Elizabeth Freeman), and the estate of Teston through his aunt Anne, wife of Sir Philip Boteler, Baronet, of Teston. In Literary Anecdotes he is styled “Mr. Bouverie of Teston.” Both of these estates were eventually possessed by his younger sister Elizabeth, who, although unmarried, was known as Mrs Bouverie of Teston.
The will of Elizabeth Bouverie, of Teston, written entirely in her own hand, was dated 12th October 1786. She was also the proprietrix of the estate of Beachworth, Surrey (to which were united two estates in Kent, namely, Sutton-Vallence and Langley). After the death of her sister, Mrs. Hervey, in 1757, these estates had been inherited successively by that sister’s sons, Stephen and Christopher Hervey, both of whom died without issue. Miss Bouverie, of Teston, divided her estates, in 1786, among four heirs:—
- Betchworth, in Surrey, she left to the Hon. William Henry Bouverie, half-brother of Jacob, second Earl of Radnor.
- Sutton-Vallence, in Kent, she left to the Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie, brother of the above, and half-brother of the same earl.
- Langley, in Kent, she left to the Hon. Philip Pusey, of Pusey, half-brother of William, first Earl of Radnor.
- Teston, in Kent, she left to Sir Charles Middleton, Baronet, and made him her sole executor and residuary legatee.
Although she gave this well-merited testimony of regard to an excellent friend, yet the Bouverie family received substantial notice and benefit. Besides the three estates (named above), it received three legacies thus:— The Earl of Radnor, £100; Hon. Edward Bouverie, senior, of Delapre Abbey, £1000; Hon. Edward Bouverie, junior, nephew of the senior, and youngest brother of William-Henry and Bartholomew, £1000. These main provisions she never varied, although she lived until 1st October 1798, and on the 22nd of that month the Will, with thirteen codicils, was proved by Sir Charles Middleton, of Hertford Street, in the parish of Saint George, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex, Baronet, Admiral of the Blue. His task as executor was no sinecure, the legacies and annuities being very numerous. The most interesting were the following:—
£2000 to Dr. Philip Lloyd, Dean of Norwich. (This legacy lapsed by his death, and was changed into an annuity of £300 to his widow, by codicil of 25th June 1790.) There were also several legacies to the clergy upon her estates.
£1000 to Rev. William Cawthorne Unwin. of Stock, Essex. (This legacy lapsed by his death, and was transferred to Mrs. Unwin, his widow, by codicil of 7th March 1787.)
£1000 to Thomas Jones, Esq., of Park Street, Westminster.
- ↑ The pronunciation seems to have been Betchworth; it often was spelt so.
