Bowdon, Altrincham, Cheshire, Welsh March, England, British Isles

On 23rd March 1691 Mary Langham Countess Warrington (age 39) died. She was buried at Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bowdon [Map].

The inscription of his monument:

"Beneath lieth the body of the right hon'ble Henry Booth, earl of Warrington, and baron Delamer of Dunham Massey, a person of unblemished honour, impartial justice, strict integrity, an illustrious example of steady and unalterable adherence to the liberties and properties of his country in the worst of times, rejecting all offers to allure, and despising all dangers to deter him therefrom, for which he was thrice committed close prisoner to the Tower of London, and at length tried for his life upon a false accusation of high treason, from which he was unanimously acquitted by his peers, on 14 January, MDCLXXX V/VI which day he afterwards annually commemorated by acts of devotion and charity: in the year MDCLXXXVIII he greatly signalised himself at the Revolution, on behalf of the protestant religion and the rights of the nation, without mixture of self-interest, preferring the good of his country to the favour of the prince who then ascended the throne; and having served his generation according to the will of God was gathered to his fathers in peace, on the 2d of January, 169¾, in the XLIId year of his age, whose mortal part was here entombed on the same memorable day on which eight years before his trial had been."

"Also rest by him the earthly remains of the r. hon'ble Mary countess of Warrington, his wife, sole daughter and heir of sir James Langham (age 71), of Cottesbrooke, in the county of Northamptom, [sic] knt. and bart. a lady of ingenious parts, singular discretion, consummate judgement, great humility, meek and compassionate temper, extensive charity, exemplary and unaffected piety, perfect resignation to God's will, lowly in prosperity and patient in adversity, prudent in her affairs, and endowed with all other virtuous qualities, a conscientious discharger of her duty in all relations, being a faithful, affectionate, and observant, wife, alleviating the cares and afflictions of her husband by willingly sharing with him therein; a tender, indulgent, and careful mother, a dutiful and respectful daughter, gentle and kind to her servants, courteous and beneficent to her neighbours, a sincere friend, a lover and valuer of all good people, justly beloved and admired by all who knew her, who having perfected holiness in the fear of God, was by him received to an early and eternal rest from her labours, on 23 March 1690/1, in the XXXVIIth year of her age, calmly and composedly meeting and desiring death with joyful hope and steadfastness of faith, a lively draught of real worth and goodness, and a pattern deserving imitation, of whom the world was not worthy. Heb. XI. 38."

On 2nd January 1694 Henry Booth 1st Earl Warrington (age 41) died. He was buried at Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bowdon [Map]. His son George (age 18) succeeded 2nd Earl Warrington, 3rd Baron Delamer, 4th Baronet Booth of Dunham Massey.

The inscription of his monument:

"Beneath lieth the body of the right hon'ble Henry Booth, earl of Warrington, and baron Delamer of Dunham Massey, a person of unblemished honour, impartial justice, strict integrity, an illustrious example of steady and unalterable adherence to the liberties and properties of his country in the worst of times, rejecting all offers to allure, and despising all dangers to deter him therefrom, for which he was thrice committed close prisoner to the Tower of London, and at length tried for his life upon a false accusation of high treason, from which he was unanimously acquitted by his peers, on 14 January, MDCLXXX V/VI which day he afterwards annually commemorated by acts of devotion and charity: in the year MDCLXXXVIII he greatly signalised himself at the Revolution, on behalf of the protestant religion and the rights of the nation, without mixture of self-interest, preferring the good of his country to the favour of the prince who then ascended the throne; and having served his generation according to the will of God was gathered to his fathers in peace, on the 2d of January, 169¾, in the XLIId year of his age, whose mortal part was here entombed on the same memorable day on which eight years before his trial had been."

"Also rest by him the earthly remains of the r. hon'ble Mary countess of Warrington, his wife, sole daughter and heir of sir James Langham, of Cottesbrooke, in the county of Northamptom, [sic] knt. and bart. a lady of ingenious parts, singular discretion, consummate judgement, great humility, meek and compassionate temper, extensive charity, exemplary and unaffected piety, perfect resignation to God's will, lowly in prosperity and patient in adversity, prudent in her affairs, and endowed with all other virtuous qualities, a conscientious discharger of her duty in all relations, being a faithful, affectionate, and observant, wife, alleviating the cares and afflictions of her husband by willingly sharing with him therein; a tender, indulgent, and careful mother, a dutiful and respectful daughter, gentle and kind to her servants, courteous and beneficent to her neighbours, a sincere friend, a lover and valuer of all good people, justly beloved and admired by all who knew her, who having perfected holiness in the fear of God, was by him received to an early and eternal rest from her labours, on 23 March 1690/1, in the XXXVIIth year of her age, calmly and composedly meeting and desiring death with joyful hope and steadfastness of faith, a lively draught of real worth and goodness, and a pattern deserving imitation, of whom the world was not worthy. Heb. XI. 38."

On 9th July 1759 Thomas Assheton (age 80) died.

Monument at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bowdon [Map] by Westmacott, inscribed:

In a vault near this place were interred the remains of Thomas Assheton, of Ashley, esq. on the 9th day July, 1759, aged 64; and in the same vault Harriet Assheton, who died at Manchester, Jan. 1773, aged 74; also the remains of Thomas Assheton Smith (age 34), of Ashley, esq. son of the above Thomas and Harriet, who died April 16th, 1774, aged 49 years, to whose memory William Henry Assheton, esq. erects this monument.

Over the inscription is an elegant female figure habited in a loose robe, and leaning on the light knee, the hair dishevelled: she holds a brass pencil in the right hand, and rests her cheek upon the other. Under the figure:

Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus

Tarn cari capitis.¹

Note 1. Virgil's Eclogues (Eclogue V, line 42): "What shame or limit can there be to the longing for so dear a head?"