Dame Mary Page 1672 -1728 wife of Sir Gregory Page

Dame Mary Page 1672 -1728  wife of Sir Gregory Page

Dame Mary Page 1672-1728

Dame Mary Page 1672-1728 was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Trotman, her father was a wealthy Quaker and merchant, and he was a citizen of London. She Married Sir Gregory Page c. 1669 – 1720 on the 21^st January 1690 aged 17 when he was 21. 

Trotman Family Tree

They originally lived in Wapping and later moved to Greenwich. Her husband was an immensely successful brewer and merchant from Wapping and a busy Whig Politician. Dame May would have been a formidable wife involved in the day-to-day activities of her husband. Dame Mary by all accounts, was a well-liked philanthropist and churchgoer, who gave copiously to charity. She had four children:

Gregory Page 2nd Bt born 1687.  of which more later

Thomas Page, lived at Battlesden (Beds) the estate purchased for him by his brother Gregory.  Thomas married the Hon Juliana Scrope Howe b. 1701 (sister of Admiral Earl Howe. Earl Bathurst sold Battlesden to Sir Gregory Page Bt of Wricklemarsh.

Mary Page died in 1724 who married Sir Edward Turner bt of Ambrosden (created baronet 1731) chairman of the East India Company 1733

Sophia Page died in 1736 buried at Bunhill Fields who married Lewis Way of Richmond in 1721, he married 4 times barrister of the inner temple the director of the South Sea Company, and president of Guys Hospital, he was buried at Denham Bucks.

During the remaining 20 years of  Sir Gregory Page's life, the Red House was to become a treasure house of some of the most magnificent furniture, silver, porcelain, and pictures in the country, though no inventory survives. Sir Gregory Page 1^st Bt was to leave the Red House to his eldest son, subject to his wife Mary‘s life interest, the contents, appear to have been free for Mary to dispose of as she felt fit.  Mary bequeathed in her will a number of specific bequests of £20,000 to her son Thomas, and £25,000 to her daughter Sophia or to her son-in-law Mr Lewis Way in case Of her decease, after which the residue was left to Mr Lewis Way sole executor, Though Gregory Page’s will, directed all jewelry, plate, linen etc. to his wife for life and then to son Thomas. However, Lewis Way as residuary legatee of Lady (Mary) Page, was to inherit the contents of the Red House. The reason for this may have been, that by the time Mary Page died in 1728, both her two sons, Gregory 2^nd Bt and Thomas, were well established on their own estates at Wricklemarsh and Battlesden, with substantial mansion houses and doubtless the contents to fill them.

It is impossible to be precise, about exactly which contents of the Red House were removed to the Old Court, Richmond, and subsequently to the Ways of  Denham Place. It is known that the Inari Kang H'si armorial porcelain service, with the arms or Page quartered with those of Trotman and consisting of sane 250 pieces, made in 1718, with the Red Hand or Ulster, was inherited by the Ways.  There was also a pair of Page Queen Anne Mirrors, with the Page Arms at the top, one of which was sold with other Page objects in 1920 (the other is thought to be still in the hands of the Way family at the time Denham Place was sold by the Ways to the Vansettards.   

Yet another Page item from the Red House to be sold at this time by Knight, Frank & Rutley, was a highly desirable set of William & Mary settee and chairs, with the Page crest on each piece, for the sun of £1,102, this would acquaint to over £11,000 today, but in today's market night he expected to make between £500,000 and a million pounds. Unfortunately, there is no record of the whereabouts of these today. 

There were two-page portraits. One of Mary Lady Page (wife of Gregory Page 1^st Bt.) full length in grey satin dress, standing by carriage with attendant footmen.  

 

Full-Length Portrait of Dame Mary Page by Herman Van der Mijn  1684 – 1741

Detail showing her 2 sons Gregory Page and Thomas Page

Dame Mary Page hung at Denham Place

The other portrait known to have hung  at the Red House and moved  to the Old Court, Richmond, was of Sophia Page, the portrait is now thought to be that of a boy (undoubtedly Gregory 2^nd Bt.) before he was breeched, wearing Roman costume, holding a bow & arrow with two Lurchers, behind him in the background, a substantial mansion. Now in a private collection in London.

Sir Gregory Page 2nd Bt 1685-1775 formerly called
Sophia Page d. 1735 married Lewis Way

A fine Page silver gilt cup, with the Page crest (demi horse) forming the top of the lid, by Paul de Lameri (1688—1751), which was still known to be in the hands of the Way family when Reginal Saw wrote his notes — "The late Owners of the Wricklemarsh Estate — The Page and Page-Turner family" in 1966,(a copy of which is in the archives).  The last piece is the George I plain pear-shaped Beer Jug on a circular molded foot, engraved with the coat of arms in a baroque cartouche by Jacob Margas 1715 — 8.5/8 inch high. 

Sir Gregory died at the Red House on the 15th. May 1720 at the age of 52, brought to a close a successful, eventful, and fruitful life. Sir Gregory left a widow, Dame Mary, who was to continue living at the Red House, until her death, the Red House was left to his wife for life and then to his son Gregory, who also received his house and brewhouse at Wapping;  Dame Mary, a much loved and respected person, who despite her enormous wealth, had retained the common touch, died in March, 1728 at the age of 56. The funeral was to take place at Devonshire Square on the 16th. March, amidst a huge congregation of family and friends, with a sermon preached by Thomas Harrison at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Way. A book published at the time, containing the sermon, a short funeral oration, pronounced at the time of her internment, and an ode sacred to her memory. She was to leave a simple will, leaving her eldest son, Gregory £500 and recording the £20,000 due to Thomas (on which she had a life interest) left by her husband. Sophia Way received £25,000, to go to her son-in-law Mr. Lewis Way in case of her decease. Her brother-in-law Ambrose was to receive £100 and a similar sum to John Elwick. To the Reverend Thomas Richardson, Minister of the Baptist Meeting in Devonshire Square, London £200 and £50 to be equally distributed between 50 widows of the parish of East Greenwich, Co. Kent. Strangely, Dame Mary was not to be buried in the family vault at Greenwich, but in her father’s family vault at Bunhill Fields, Finsbury. This was because she was a dissenter and Quaker. Dame Mary's epitaph, personally dictated by herself and approved by her eldest son, includes the following passage:‘

" Here Lyes DAME MARY PAGE

Relict of Sir Gregory Page, Bt

She departed this life March 4th 1728

In the 56th year of her age."

 "In 67 months she was tapped 66 times,

Had taken away 240 gallons of water,

Without even repining at her case

Or even fearing the operation."

It is the epitaph she asked for in her will; the epitaph of an eccentric self-obsessed oddity? Or, there is a different take. Mary Page was a Christian non-conformist. She had four children who, unusually for those days, are not mentioned on her tomb. Perhaps what she wanted us to know about was what she believed was grace in suffering and also her greatest achievement, Christian forbearance. Many of the words on the memorials at Bunhill are illegible, some of the occupants of what were elaborate graves, are now anonymous. Dame Mary Page’s epitaph is clear and legible, the words heartfelt. Her illness, Meigs syndrome, has even been diagnosed from the detail on the tomb and written up in medical journals.

Dame Mary Page was a religious woman a Quaker and dissenter, she had built herself a most stately pew in the Devonshire Square Baptist Meeting Church, in 1728; a minister who had no connection with her chose to preach a funeral sermon, of which there is a published book detailing the sermon preached. 

      

Three Pages from the published Funeral Sermon, preached by Thomas Harrison at the 

funeral of Dame Mary Page on March 16th 1728

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground where Dame Mary's Tomb can be found.

The burial ground to the immediate north of the Finsbury Barracks is now known as ‘Bunhill Fields’, but in the mid-18th century it was also known as ‘Tindal’s Burying Ground’. The name is Bunhill is said to derive from ‘Bone Hill’, which the area was given since it was used for burials as early as during the Saxon period. Another likely explanation for the name Bone Hill is that when the St Paul’s charnel house was demolished in 1549, many thousands of bones from it were dumped in the Bunhill district. These bones were piled up and covered to produce a raised portion of land – a hill! During the Great Plague of 1665, corpses were buried in this area, but it was never consecrated by the Church of England. When Mr Tindal took over the lease for what is now Bunhill Fields in the 17th century, he permitted burials of non-conformists, that is Protestants who practiced their religion outside of the Church of England. Anyone, who could afford Mr Tindal’s fees, could be buried in his graveyard. Non-conformists continued to be buried at Bunhill Fields until 1854 when it was deemed to have been completely filled up.

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground London

Today, Bunhill Fields is open to the public. Most of the graves are enclosed in grassy areas planted with flowers and surrounded by railings. Wide paved footpaths pass between the enclosures and are much used by city workers hurrying from A to B. The place is very picturesque with many trees and a rich variety of weather-beaten gravestones, many of which bear inscriptions that are becoming hard to read. Here and there, benches are available for the weary, and to the north of the gravestones, there is a large grassy area. This venerable cemetery is overlooked in one corner by the castle-like Finsbury Barracks, and in many other directions, the skyline is dominated by construction cranes and new buildings.   

Bunhill Fields is the final resting place of many well-known people as well as those whom time has forgotten. Amongst the ‘celebrities’ interred at Bunhill is the author of “Pilgrims Progress” John Bunyan (1628-1688). His monument is not enclosed and is close to that of another author, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), whose monument is also not behind railings. Close to both of these authors, and also unenclosed, is a stone commemoration of the poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827). These three graves are easy to spot whereas those of, for example, Thomas Bayes (mathematician and clergyman) and Susanna Wesley (mother of Charles and John Wesley) are difficult to spot even though a map in the cemetery gives approximate locations for them. Close to Blake’s memorial, but behind railings, there is a black gravestone commemorating John Wheatly who died in 1823, aged 84 years. This well-preserved gravestone has a circular bas-relief showing allegorical representations of the transience of life.  

Lady Page lies in the western half of the cemetery. Further west, about one block away from Bunhill Fields, there is what remains of another graveyard, that was used by the Quakers. The Quakers - a sect of Christian ‘dissenters’ - were founded as the ‘Society of Friends’ by George Fox (1624-1691), who traveled around Britain preaching. Being ‘non-conformists’, the Quakers could not be buried in the usual graveyards where conforming Protestants were interred. In 1661, the Quakers bought a plot of land to use as a burial ground. This was four years before the establishment of the burial ground for non-conformists at nearby Bunhill Fields.

Bunhill Fields was part of the Manor of Finsbury (originally Fensbury), which has its origins as the prebend of Halliwell and Finsbury, belonging to St Paul's Cathedral and established in 1104. In 1315 the prebendary manor was granted by Archdeacon Robert Baldock to the Mayor and commonalty of London. This enabled more general public access to the semi-fen or moor stretching from the City of London's boundary (London Wall), to the village of Hoxton. In 1498 part of the otherwise unenclosed landscape was set aside to form a large field for military exercises of archers and others. This part of the manor has sports and occasional military use: Artillery Ground.

Next to this lies Bunhill Fields. The name derives from "Bone hill", likely linked to occasional burials from at least Saxon times, but more probably derives from the use for mass-deposit for human bones—amounting to over 1,000 cartloads—brought from St Paul's charnel house in 1549 (when that building was demolished).The dried bones were deposited on the moor and capped with a thin layer of soil. This built up a hill across the otherwise damp, flat fens, such that three windmills could safely be erected in a spot that came to be one of the many windmill hills. 

In keeping with this tradition, in 1665 the City of London Corporation decided to use some of the land as a common burial ground for the interment of bodies of inhabitants who had died of the plague and could not be accommodated in the churchyards. Outer walls were completed but Church of England officials never consecrated the ground nor used it for burials. Mr. Tindal took over the lease.

He allowed extramural graveyard burials in what was unconsecrated soil, thus popular with nonconformists—those Protestant Christians who practiced their faiths outside the Church of England; unlike Anglican churchyards, it was open for interment to anyone who could afford the fees. It appears on Rocque's Map of London of 1746, and elsewhere, as "Tindal's Burying Ground".

An inscription at the eastern entrance gate to the burial ground reads: "This church-yard was inclosed with a brick wall at the sole charges of the City of London, in the mayoralty of Sir John Lawrence, Knt., Anno Domini 1665; and afterward the gates thereof were built and finished in the mayoralty of Sir Thomas Bloodworth, Knt., Anno Domini, 1666." The present gates and inscription date from 1868, but the wording follows that of an original 17th-century inscription at the western entrance, now lost.

The earliest recorded monumental inscription was that to "Grace, daughter of T. Cloudesly, of Leeds. February 1666". The earliest surviving monument is believed to be the headstone to Theophilus Gale: the inscription reads "Theophilus Gale MA / Born 1628 / Died 1678".

In 1769 an Act of Parliament gave the Corporation the right to continue the lease for 99 years. The City authorities continued to let the ground to their tenant as a burial ground; in 1781 the Corporation decided to take over management of the burial ground.

So many historically important Protestant nonconformists chose this as their place of interment that the 19th-century poet and writer Robert Southey characterized Bunhill Fields in 1830 as the ground "which the Dissenters regard as their Campo Santo". This term was applied to its "daughter", Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington.

In 1852 the Burial Act was passed which enabled grounds to be closed once they became full. An Order for Closure for Bunhill Fields was made in December 1853, and the final burial (that of Elizabeth Howell Oliver) took place on 5 January 1854. Occasional interments continued to be permitted in existing vaults or graves: the final burial of this kind is believed to have been that of a Mrs. Gabriel of Brixton in February 1860. By this date, approximately 123,000 interments had taken place in the burial ground.

Two decades before, a group of City nonconformists led by George Collison bought a site for a new landscaped alternative, at part of Abney Park in Stoke Newington. This was named Abney Park Cemetery and opened in 1840. All parts were available for the burial of any person, regardless of religious creed. It preceded Brookwood Cemetery as the prototype of many cemeteries to come nationally with "no invidious dividing lines". It has a unique nondenominational chapel, designed by William Hosking.