I am not entirely happy with the photographs here but they will have to do for the time being.
The location within the Vernon Chapel in the Church at Hasnbury is very dark and I don't like using a flash.
The monument has not been inscribed by the sculptor.
Pevsner is fairly damning stating that it is by Roubiliac but "not one of his best". Which seems a little unfair!
I suspect that Pevsner was not a great fan of 18th century sculpture.
The earliest reference I can find to Roubiliac is in the 1860's.
I have touched on the subject already see -
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-statues-of-henry-cheere.html
The statue of Sir George Cooke (1675 - 1740) in the Ashmolean. Circa 1749.
Marble Statue. 320 cm by 122 by 107cm.
In the past this statue has been attributed to Sir Henry Cheere (1703 - 81). I am as Pevsner and others currently leaning towards Roubiliac. It is not inscribed!
There are 58 separate components to this work.
It is currently in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford having previously been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
https://georgiangroup.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2024/06/GGS_1984_11_Malcolm_Baker.pdf
Georgian Group Journal 1988 -
.................
Bowater Vernon.
Thomas Vernon (1686 - 1721) amassed a fortune as an eminent Chancery barrister for 40 years, as well as becoming Whig MP for Worcester in 1715. He married Mary Keck in 1680 but they had no children, so the estate was passed to his second cousin, Bowater Vernon.
Thomas Vernon's success as a barrister enabled him to substantially increase his family’s estates, which by his death in 1721 amounted to around 7,000 acres, giving him an income of over £5,000 a year, and included land in Hanbury, Dodderhill and Feckenham in Worcestershire and further estates in Warwickshire, Shropshire and Lincolnshire.
Thomas and Mary had no children, and in his will he made his second cousin Bowater Vernon (1683-1735) his heir. However, there was a dispute over his will, as his closest relation was his sister Elizabeth, whose husband Roger Acherley, an unsuccessful lawyer, claimed he should be a substantial beneficiary. Acherley managed to protract the case for several years, but was unsuccessful, and Bowater continued to enjoy the fruits of his inheritance,
Bowater Vernon was born 21 May 1683, 1st Son of William Vernon of Caldewell, Worcs. by Phoebe, daughter. of Rev. Samuel Bowater of Shrawley, Worcs.
He married his first wife 1721, Mathia (d. June 1721 ‘three weeks after her marriage’) daughter. of George Wheeler, under-treasurer of Inner Temple,
He married his second wife Jane Cornwallis (1703 - 1760) daughter. and coh. of Thomas Cornwallis of Abermarlais, Carm. 11 December 1732 at Fulham. She was sister of Francis Cornwallis MP.
His wives and children are recorded on the monument
His son Thomas was born 7 June 1724, daughter Jane Emma b. 29 June 1732 d. 6 May 1740, and Letitia b.8 September 1734 (d. May 1757).
Bowater Vernon divided his time between his London home in New Bond Street, Mayfair, and Holt Castle in Worcestershire during the life of Thomas’s widow Mary, who continued to live at Hanbury Hall until her death in 1733.
Finally arriving at Hanbury Hall, only two years later Bowater Vernon died from a stroke, leaving a son and a daughter.
His son Thomas (1724-71) inherited the estate, and when only 22 served as MP for the City of Worcester for 15 years. He married Emma Cornewall, a lady 13 years older than himself, and had two children, one of whom died young.
His only surviving child was Emma (1754-1818), who inherited when her father died, like his father, from a stroke when only 47, and after he died was brought up mainly in New Bond Street by her mother.
On inheriting the fortune of Thomas Vernon, Bowater Vernon stood for Bishop’s Castle, announcing that ‘he had brought down money to carry the election if that would do it’.
Described as a ‘South Sea man’, who was resolved to outbid the Duke of Chandos, ‘let him offer what he will’, he was returned after a contest as a government supporter. After sitting for four years he was unseated on petition, the elections committee finding that all but one of his 52 voters had been bribed, at a total cost of nearly £700. He did not stand again, dying 30 Nov. 1735.
Bowater Vernon was known as a spendthrift, who managed to run through his inheritance in record time, and lived a riotous life of parties and gambling.
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