Emily Blanche Carr-Gomm - St Mary's Church, St Marychurch Street, London, UK
N 51° 30.082 W 000° 03.254
30U E 704447 N 5709696
This memorial stone, from a son to his mother, is on the tower of St Mary's Church in Rotherhithe, London.
Waymark Code: WMETJW
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/06/2012
Views: 2
The granite plaque is inscribed:
This Tower
Being in imminent danger of
ruin
owing to the weakness of the foundations
was underpinned and made
secure
in memory of
Emily Blanche Carr-Gomm
Lady of the manor of
Rotherhithe
by her son
Hubert William Culling Carr-Gomm
Member of Parliament for
Rotherhithe.
AD 1913
The church's website (visit
link) tells us:
"The Manor of Rotherhithe was recorded in Norman times
as part of the royal demesne. A long succession of owners and tenants have held
rights over the area, often for relatively short periods, and of many little is
known.
Sir William Gomm
The life of Field Marshall Sir William Maynard Gomm
(born Barbados 1784), who inherited the estate in1822, would be considered
remarkable by any standards. He received his first commission in 1795, before he
was 10 years old, and took part in two pitched battles before he was 14 years of
age! He fought in many battles in the Napoleonic wars, and was
Quartermaster-General of Picton's division at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. In 1839
he became Commander-in-Chief in Jamaica, at a time when the troops at Kingston
were decimated by fever, and was instrumental in the building of a sanatorium in
the hills. Many appointments and honours of national importance were bestowed on
him during his long life, but he regarded this achievement with particular
pride. His service in the British Army spanned eighty years.
Sir William and his second wife Lady Elizabeth gave
generous aid to the charities, schools, and churches of Rotherhithe, also to
bodies further afield (including Keble College Oxford). His first wife, who died
in 1827, was the daughter of the great grandson of William Penn, the founder of
Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth Lady Gomm survived her husband by two years.
She bequeathed the estate to her niece who became Mrs Emily Blanche Carr-Gomm,
Lady of the Manor. Mr and Mrs Carr-Gomm also proved good friends to the people
of Rotherhithe, continuing the family tradition of charitable service. Their
eldest son Hubert became Liberal MP for Rotherhithe in 1906. In memory of his
mother he underpinned the tower of St. Mary's to prevent its imminent
collapse."