Favourite Quote:

"Photography preserves fragments of the past like flies in amber."

'Leaping-board' grave markers - a scarce & unusual image.

This carte was produced by Samuel Poulton of 352 Strand, London, whose studio operated from these premises between 1861 & 1864; in addition, he published photographs from the same address until 1866. The image, therefore, dates from the early to mid 1860s.

The photograph depicts the eastern end of St. Andrew's Parish Church in Sonning, Berkshire and features two men amongst the graves in the churchyard. It records the bed-head shaped grave markers known as 'leaping-boards', which were common currency in English churchyards from the 14th or 15th centuries onwards. Although mostly made of wood, some were also fabricated from cast-iron, many of which were sacrificed to recycling for the war effort in 1939.

Sadly, being of predominantly wooden construction, means that very few original examples are extant; notable exceptions include those at St. Mary's in East Barnet, Hertfordshire. Aside from their predisposition to rot and fall apart, I am not certain as to why leaping-boards fell out of favour. Perhaps changes in burial practices and space limitations were factors in their demise; whatever the reason, they finally became redundant in the early 1870s.

The Fitzroys' Tragedy

Superficially, this carte appears quite ordinary and unremarkable: a run-of-the-mill depiction of two charming girls posing with their mother, taken by a competent, provincial photographer. All well and good as far as it goes, but as is so often the case, the real value of this carte resides not so much in its photographic merit, as in the stories of those it portrays. This family carte, for example, has a compelling and affecting tale to relate, far above and beyond the single, benign moment it captures along their timeline.

Fortunately, in this particular instance, the dramatis personae are identified. It is estimated that only about 10% of cartes bear inscriptions, a figure which correlates with my experience. Such identifiers are not always contemporaneous with the photographs, however, so caution must be exercised when assessing their accuracy and reliability. But that issue can be examined more closely on another occasion.

By putting names to faces, the sitters cease to be ephemeral figments and become flesh and blood; fellow travellers with whom we can empathize. The elements of their heartbreaking story conspire to make it easy to identify with this family's tragic ordeal, made somehow even more poignant having occurred on a Christmas Eve. The dénouement is a strangely familiar theme, reminiscent of a clichéd Victorian melodrama; but It was no fiction for the Fitzroy family, whose reality-laden night ended with distressing finality. 

The photograph's central figure is Eugenia Susannah Fitzroy, the widowed mother of daughters Ella Mary & Maud Eugenia. Given that Eugenia's and the girls' clothing, and the approximate ages of the children are consistent with the year annotated au verso, it is safe to accept the photograph does date to 1872.

6 year old Ella (left) & 4/5 year old Maud with their 27/28 year old widowed mother, Eugenia.

Eugenia Susannah Fitzroy née Chapman (born 4th November 1844; baptized 1st January 1845) was the daughter of wealthy banker David Barclay Chapman and his wife Maria Chapman née Chatfield of Downshire House, Roehampton. In 1865 at Wandsworth, she married diplomat George Henry Fitzroy (b.1826), the son of Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy – a former Governor of New South Wales in Australia – and his wife, Lady Mary Fitzroy née Lennox.

Shortly after the marriage, George Fitzroy, accompanied by Eugenia, was posted to Shanghai; whilst stationed in China the couple had two daughters, Ella Mary (born 22nd January 1866) and Maud Eugenia (born 27th July 1867). As a result of ill-health, George removed to Nagasaki in 1868 where he died on 8th July; shortly afterwards, Eugenia and her daughters returned to England. An entry in the 1871 Census confirms the family lived with her parents at 29 Brunswick Square, in Hove, Sussex. That dovetails nicely with the CDV, which was taken by Hennah & Kent of nearby Brighton in 1872, as confirmed by the backstamp and contemporary inscription, au verso.

In 1879, Eugenia remarried; her husband was a widower, Edward St. Aubyn (c.1838-1914), the son of Sir Edward St. Aubyn of St.Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and his wife Emma St.Aubyn née Knollys. The following year she gave birth to their son, Edward Geoffrey St. Aubyn (1880-1960).

By 1885, the family were living in Manor Lodge at Stoke Damerel in Devon when tragedy struck as Ella and Maud, now 19 & 18 years of age respectively, prepared for a Christmas Ball in Plymouth. At 9’oclock in the evening of Wednesday, 24^th December 1885, Ella took a lighted candle and proceeded to her dressing room. As she entered, a draught blew the candle flame, which caught the material of her gown and set it alight; almost immediately, she was engulfed in flames. 

Ella’s screams alerted her sister Maud, who made a strenuous effort to extinguish the fire, but in doing so, ignited her own dress. Gripped by blind panic, Maud fled downstairs into the path of her stepfather, who rolled her on the carpet and put out the fire. He then rushed upstairs to help Ella and was initially relieved to discover the flames were already extinguished. 

Medical assistance was summoned and two doctors dispatched to the scene; upon arrival they found both girls had sustained terrible and widespread burns, their dresses completely consumed by the fires. According to a report in the Times newspaper, ‘Grave doubts were entertained from the first whether either of them would survive.’

Sadly, those doubts were realized even before the newspaper reached the vendors' stands. Maud succumbed to her injuries first; she died at midnight on Christmas Day whilst Ella survived a further three weeks, until 11th January 1886. Eugenia Susannah, their grief-stricken mother, died shortly afterwards on 12th March 1886.

The girls' deaths were covered by the Times newspaper in some detail, but no mention is made as to whether or not their mother was injured in the fire. If that was the case, presumably the newspaper would have recorded the fact; so in all likelihood, she was not physically harmed, but the trauma of losing both daughters must have been immense. Whether or not that may have been either the direct cause of her death just two months later or a contributory factor, I do not know. Conceivably, it might have been coincidence, but to me, that notion is counter-intuitive.

It should, of course, be possible to discover the official cause by inspecting her death certificate, but such documents tend towards the literal and may not shed much more light upon the precise circumstances. Furthermore, it seems just a little intrusive and unnecessary; objective medical reasons notwithstanding, common sense suggests the dreadful accident at Manor Lodge claimed not just two, but three lives on that fearful Christmas Eve, back in 1885.

Postscript:

Eugenia's husband, Edward St. Aubyn, remarried in 1891 and died in 1914.

Her surviving son, Edward Geoffrey St. Aubyn, went to Eton and Cambridge prior to joining the Army. He fought in the Boer War from 1901-02 and subsequently in the First World War, when he was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the French Croix de Guerre. He also received the D.S.O., ultimately achieving the rank of Brigadier General; he became Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire, a Justice of the Peace and died in 1960. 

Memorials:

There are memorials to Eugenia, Maud & Ella, in the form of two pairs of stained-glass windows, at Holy Trinity Church in Roehampton. The first pair contain a biblical quote: 'These are they that came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' 

Under it is inscribed: 'These words are here inscribed in loving remembrance of Ella Mary Fitzroy aged 20, and Maud Eugenia her sister aged 18, daughters of Eugenia Susannah St Aubyn who passed through fire to their rest. Christmas 1885-86.'

The second pair of windows bears the following biblical quote: 'How glorious is the kingdom where all the saints rejoice with Christ, they are arrayed in white robes and follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth.' 

Beneath that is a dedication: 'These words are inscribed in recollection of Eugenia Susannah St Aubyn born 4th Nov.1844 and died 12th March 1886.

The memorial windows were erected when the church was built in 1898, some twelve years after the tragedy.