|
Elizabeth Hinchcliff and her
daughter, Anne, came to live in Havant in about 1825, to
be near Anne's sister, Katherine, who was married to
Reverend George Mountain. Mr. Mountain was Rector of St.
Faith's from 1825 to 1846 and the memorial wall tablet
to his mother, Elizabeth, shows that his father was the
late Lord Bishop of Quebec. According to CJ Longcroft in
his 'Hundred of Bosmere', the Rector achieved an
enormous amount in his time at St. Faith's. The church
was re-pewed, the tower repaired, the nave rebuilt and
an organ purchased. The parish and infant schools were
built and the church at Red Hill was erected and
endowed. The weekly services were increased and clothing
clubs were established under his care. The plaque at the
foot of present font states that it was 'erected by a
contribution of the inhabitants of this parish, as a
memorial of their affection, esteem, and veneration for
the Reverend George Robert Mountain, who having for a
period of 20 years with zeal and kindness, and untiring
diligence, ministered to the temporal and spiritual
necessities of those committed to his pastoral charge,
died on the 25th June 1846, in the 57th year of his age'.
When George Mountain died his widow
moved from the Rectory to Langbrook, an eight-bedroomed
flint house in Langstone (demolished 1965). This house
was built on land already owned by Mrs. Mountain and was
almost opposite her sister Anne's large flint house,
Woodfield. From about 1865 Mrs. Mountain's nieces, the
Misses Granville, were also living at Langbrook. Mrs.
Mountain died there in 1877.
The Granville's recently widowed
sister, Georgiana Pigott, is in the 1871 census at
Woodfield with her aunt, Anne Hinchcliff, and four
servants. Woodfield had been owned by the family since
at least 1838 and Mrs. Elizabeth Hinchcliff died there
in 1844, aged 88. The house, which has been a school, a
hotel, and is now divided into flats, is situated at the
top of Langstone Road, though its grounds have largely
disappeared under housing. In 1881 Elizabeth's daughter,
Anne Hinchcliff, died at Langstone, aged 89. Her
obituary stated that she 'interested herself in every
good work of the parish and was a large subscriber to
the first restoration of St. Faith's in 1826 and one of
the largest in 1875'.
Georgiana Pigott died in 1889, 'late
of Langbrook,' where she had lived for some years. She
was described, in the Hampshire Telegraph, as having
'identified herself with most of the charities and
philanthropic work of the town. She was the widow of the
late Captain Pigott RN and the daughter of the late Mr.
Granville, banker, of Chester. Mrs. Pigott was buried in
the family vault in St. Faith's churchyard.' The
mourners at her funeral included Generals Williams,
Oldfield and Napier, Admiral O'Callaghan, Mr. ER Longcroft and Sir Frederick Fitzwygram MP. There were a
dozen carriages in the funeral procession.
Interestingly, my great-great-uncle Sir Robert George
Raper, a Chichester solicitor, was one of Mrs. Pigott's
executors. Georgiana Pigott is significant because she
caused a large stained glass window to be erected on the
south side of the Lady Chapel in St. Faith's church.
Under it is a brass plate, put there by her 'sorrowing
brother', Robert Creighton Granville to commemorate her
death in 1889. At the bottom of the window, itself, one
can just see the names of deceased members of the
related families.
George Augustus Shawe and Richard Grant erected the
SE chancel window, in memory of Reverend George
Mountain. Mr. Shawe's daughter Eliza was living at
Southbrook, Langstone, at the turn of the 20th
Century. She died at Hambledon in 1922, aged 98. Her
obituary states that she was the last person to be
buried in St. Faith's churchyard, as all the vaults were
then filled.
Researched by Anne Griffiths
(ASGriff@hotmail.com)
The Rootsweb at
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=dovey-mountain&id=I3780
shows the whole family tree and census information. It
confirms that Charlotte Milnes Mountain
was the Rector of Havant's sister and shows the
relationship with the Arabin family.
A Brother's Account of the Funeral of Reverend George
Robert Mountain,
Rector of Havant 1825 - 1846
There are two wall memorials at the west end of St.
Faith's Church to members of the Mountain and Arabin
families who were related through the marriage of George
Robert Mountain's sister, Eliza, to Frederick Arabin.
In his Memoirs and Letters, Colonel Armine Mountain
gives a moving account of his brother's funeral in 1846.
Armine was unable to reach Havant before Robert died but
states that his last words were 'I have no pain but I
am weary. Why don't I go to my rest?' He
continues, 'I have seen him to his grave, knelt
beside his coffin and our mother's coffin in the narrow
vault. It was an affecting sight to see the coffin
placed in front of his pulpit, where for twenty years he
laboured faithfully in his Master's Service. Everything
was neatly arranged; there was no hearse, no coaches, no
heartless pomp. The coffin was borne by men: six of the
neighbouring clergymen were the pall bearers ..... In
the road outside about sixty of his principal
parishioners, headed by Sir George Staunton and all
dressed in mourning, formed a lane and followed after we
had passed. The schoolchildren, about a hundred in
number, preceded the coffin and on arriving at the
church gate opened out into a lane through which we
passed. I saw the teachers and many of the girls sobbing
as if their hearts would break.
The church was full and all along the road were groups
of poor people, many dressed in mourning for the
occasion. The shops have had had half-shutters closed
since the body came down (from Blackheath) and are so
still.
He desired in his will that there should be no funeral
sermon and no unnecessary expenses for his funeral but
he could not prevent the universal testimony of feeling
and it is a meter tribute to his memory and a higher
testimony to his worth than any pomp or public
panegyrise.
‘Sunday: I have been to church and prayed. The whole
congregation attended in mourning and there were 154
communicants, being at least half of the whole - a
striking instance, both of respect to his memory and of
the effect of his teaching.' George Robert Mountain
was born in 1791 at Buckden, Hunts. When he was two his
father, Jacob Mountain, was appointed the first Bishop
of Quebec and the family moved to Canada. Robert joined
the 75th Regiment and served in the Peninsular War and
at the forlorn hope of San Sebastian. He resigned his
commission in 1819 in order to enter the ministry of the
church. He was vicar of North Kelsey from 1820-1825.
After his death the parishioners donated the present St.
Faith's font in his memory. In 1874 his widow laid the
foundation stone for a major restoration of the church.
The Memoirs of Colonel Armine S.H. Mountain CB, edited
1857, can be read on the Internet at
http://www.openlibrary.org/details/memoirslettersof00mounrich
Researched by Ann Stilwell Griffiths
November 2007. Email asgriff@hotmail.com
The Seal
of Jacob Mountain First Anglican Bishop of Quebec
This description of Jacob Mountain's seal is shown
below. He was the father of George Mountain,
Rector of Havant, and Charlotte Mountain, who lived in
the Pallant. Lt Colonel Arabin (there is a wall
memorial at West end of St. Faith's Church) was George
Mountain's brother-in-law. Charlotte is in the
1851 census as a house proprietor and has two of the
Arabin children living with her. They were orphaned
and aged 19 and 14.
THE SEAL OF JACOB MOUNTAIN FIRST ANGLICAN BISHOP OF
QUEBEC
by Daniel Cogné Associate Member of the Académie
internationale d'héraldique
Among the most interesting ecclesiastical seals in
Canadian collections is the seal of Jacob Mountain,
first Anglican Bishop of Quebec. This rare impression
is affixed to a document issued at Quebec on 18
October 1812, certifying that John Gunter has been
admitted into Holy Orders (National Archives of
Canada, MG 24, J 3, p.1. Photo C132124).
The shape of the seal, pointed at the top and bottom,
goes back to the Middle Ages, and has always been
favoured by the English clergy. On the dexter side is
a shield ensigned by a mitre are found the arms of the
Anglican See of Quebec: Per fess wavy Azure and Gules
in chief a book open proper clasped and ornamented
Gold upon the book a crozier in bend Or in base a lion
passant guardant also Gold holding in the dexter paw a
key erect Argent on a canton also Argent a cross Gules
between four crosses patty fitchy Sable.
The Records of the College of Arms observe that the
"Lion of England in the base supporting a key
indicates the sacred confidence reposed by the
Sovereign as Supreme Head of the Church, in the
Bishop, and the undulated line is a symbol of the
transatlantic situation of the See". The black
crosses patty fitchy remind us that Bishop Mountain
was a Sufragan of the Canterbury See. These arms were
granted by Letters Patent of George III on 8 August
1793. The lower section of the Diocesan arms was borne
without authority by Quebec City from 1833 to 1949.
On the sinister side of the shield are displayed the
arms of Jacob Mountain which were granted by the
English Kings of Arms on 3 August 1793. He bore
'Ermine on a chevron Azure between three lions rampant
guardant Sable each supporting between the fore-paws
an escallop erect Gules a mitre on each side a cross
crosslet fitchy Argent'. On a riband placed on the
edge of the seal is inscribed the legend THE SEAL OF
JACOB MOUNTAIN D.D. BISHOP OF QUEBEC 1793. George
Jehoshaphat Mountain, son of Jacob Mountain and third
Anglican Bishop of Quebec, had a superb seal engraved
by the Wyons, which was very close to that of his
father.
(Reference: Heraldry in Canada/L'héraldique au Canada -
Speakers Journal, Vol. XXIII, NO. 5, December 1989).
|
