History

In the north aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey is a marble monument, by sculptor Grinling Gibbons, to Mary Beaufoy. She was buried on 17 July 1705 aged 28. Her effigy kneels on a cushion and above, in clouds, are cherubs who place a crown of glory (now broken) on her head. The monument was originally surmounted by an urn and garlands of flowers but these were removed in the late 18th century. A shield of arms is now placed below the sarcophagus. The arms originally were “Ermine, on a bend azure three quatrefoils or (for Beaufoy), impaling argent a lion rampant gules within a bordure sable, on a canton azure a harp crowned or” (for Lane) but when they were repainted the bend was omitted. The inscription reads:

“Near this place lyes the body of Mrs Mary Beaufoy, the only daughter and heir of Sr Henry Beaufoy of Guyscliffe near Warwick, by the Honoble. Charlotte Lane, eldest daughter of George Lord Viscount Lansborough, and now the widdow Lady Beaufoy; who caus’d this effigies to be made and erected at her own charge in memory of her deare daughter, the loss of whom she shall (while she lives) very much lament. Reader, who e’re thou art, let the sight of this tombe imprint in thy mind, that young and old (without distinction) leave this world: and therefore fail not to secure the next. Obiit July ye 12th 1705”.

Mary was not married and her mother Charlotte was buried with her on 25 February 1725/6 aged 70. She had married Henry in St Martin in the Fields church in London in 1676.

A photograph of the monument can be purchased from Westminster Abbey Library.