For me no trip to a country house or stately home is complete
without a visit to the local church and a walk around the churchyard. So,
following my tour of Avebury Manor and the Art in the Garden exhibition I
popped next door to the Church of St James.
A list of incumbents revealed that the Mayo family put in a
lot of service (and services too, no doubt) from 1712 to 1823 and then I
discovered the following plaque:-
The clock in this
tower was erected in loving memory of
Isabella Horsley Mayo
Who died 5 January
1883 and lies buried in the adjoining churchyard
1883
The parish register reveals that prior to her death Isabella
was living at Stoke next Guildford. She was buried on January 10, 1883 and the
service was conducted by Charles Herbert Mayo, Vicar of Long Burton with
Holmert, Dorset, Rural Dean. She was 46 years old.
Where did Isabella fit in to this clerical family and what was the
story of her life? Was she a latter-day Jane Austen type figure, only without
the successful novels?
Her father was John Mayo, born February 15, 1786. There’s an
awful lot to be found out about him in – A Genealogical Account of the Mayo and
Elton Families by Theodore Mayo M.A. published in 1882, the year before Isabella’s
death. According to Theodore, John was in the East India House, and resided in
Connaught Terrace, London, and afterwards at Stoke next Guildford. He married,
24th December 1831 at St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, Matilda
daughter of Major Robert Horsley, 11th Light Dragoons. He died in
London, and was buried at Avebury, 9th March, 1866, where his
monument bears the inscription:-
Sacred to the memory
of John Mayo
Of Stoke next Guildford,
Surrey
Born 15 Feb 1786 Died
2 Mar 1866
Second son of the Rev
James Mayo
Vicar of this parish
1789-1822
By grace ye are saved
– Ephes ii, 5.
Theodore has rather less to say about Isabella. The third
daughter of four children, Isabella was born on 2nd June 1836 and
baptised at St Mary Magdelene, Paddington.
A contributor to a Mayo family tree on Ancestry has
helpfully added that the memorial clock was made by Gillett, Bland & Co of Croydon,
and was placed in the tower by Isabella’s siblings and Uncle Thomas Mayo.
In her will Isabella left a personal estate of £5,602 16s 1d
– a tidy sum in 1883. I wonder if the cost of the clock came from her own
money.
So that is basically it for Isabella. How she spent her 46
years on this earth we will never know. I bet she was good at embroidery
though please don’t get me started on the sewing thing!
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