Hannah Courtoy (1784 - 26 January 1849), born Hannah Peters, was a London society woman who inherited a fortune from the merchant John Courtoy in 1815. Her distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum in London's Brompton Cemetery has been the subject of considerable curiosity and speculation ever since a report by Reuters in 1998 repeated claims that it contained a working time machine.
Hannah Courtoy was born Hannah Peters [1] in 1784, her occupation was a maid. [2] She had three daughters out of wedlock with John Courtoy, Mary Ann (1801), [3] Elizabeth (1804-1876), [4] and Susannah (1807-1895).[ citation needed ] In 1830, Susannah married Septimus Holmes Godson, [5] a barrister of Gray's Inn. [6]
In 1815, Courtoy inherited a fortune from the elderly merchant John Courtoy (born Nicholas Jacquinet in France, 1709) through a Will that was disputed in court.
Courtoy died on 26 January 1849, [7] at 14 Wilton Crescent, Belgrave Square, one of the most expensive areas of London. Her Will is held in the British National Archives. [1] [8]
Courtoy's distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum of 1854 [9] in Brompton Cemetery, where her unmarried daughters Elizabeth and Mary Ann are also interred, has been the subject of considerable curiosity because of rumours that it might be or contain a working time machine, a speculation that has been fuelled by various articles and recordings made by the musician Stephen Coates of the band The Real Tuesday Weld [10] [11] [12]
The Egyptologist Joseph Bonomi the Younger is buried nearby.
Dame Penelope Alice Wilton is an English actress.
Francis Place was an English social reformer described as "a ubiquitous figure in the machinery of radical London."
Brompton Cemetery is since 1852 the first London cemetery to be Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Established by Act of Parliament and laid out in 1839, it opened in 1840. Consecrated by Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London, in June 1840, it is one of Britain's oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. Some 35,000 monuments, from simple headstones to substantial mausolea, mark more than 205,000 resting places. The site includes large plots for family mausolea, and common graves where coffins are piled deep into the earth. It also has a small columbarium, and a secluded Garden of Remembrance at the northern end for cremated remains. The cemetery continues to be open for burials. It is also known as an urban haven for nature. In 2014, it was awarded a National Lottery grant to carry out essential restoration and develop a visitor centre, among other improvements. The restoration work was completed in 2018.
West Brompton is a London Underground, London Overground and National Rail station on Old Brompton Road (A3218) in West Brompton, located in west London, and is on the District line and West London Line (WLL). It is immediately south of the demolished Earls Court Exhibition Centre and west of Brompton Cemetery in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The Real Tuesday Weld is a British band, founded in 1999 by lead singer and producer Stephen Coates, who studied at the Royal College of Art. They have released several albums, many singles and EPs, and many tracks on compilations. Their combination of big-band jazz era sounds with electronica and vintage-style animations has been influential on the current range of electro swing artists and DJs. Their live shows are usually accompanied by visuals in the form of bespoke films and animations.
James William Gilbart (1794–1863) was an English banker and author.
Wilton Crescent is a street in Belgravia, Central London, comprising a sweeping elegant terrace of Georgian houses and the private communal gardens that the semi-circle looks out upon. The houses were built in the early 19th century and are now Grade II listed buildings. The street is the northern projection of Belgravia and is often taken to fall into the category of London's garden squares.
James Bonnin was an English property developer who built more than three hundred houses in the Brompton, Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea areas of London. In 1846, he was declared bankrupt, and decided to emigrate in 1849, but died a few days after arriving in Adelaide, South Australia.
James Harwood Panting was a British writer who specialised in school stories for boys. He was the editor of Young Folks and a member of the editorial staff of the South London Press.
Samuel Knight (1834–1911) was a British architect practising from Cornhill Chambers, 62 Cornhill, London EC and later 175 and 176 Temple Chambers, Tudor Street, London EC.
Albert Edward Kingwell was an English architect, surveyor and land agent who was one of the first to use concrete in his practice. He oversaw the Jack Estate at Hadley Wood in Hertfordshire for more than 50 years.
Joseph Bevan Braithwaite was an English stockbroker and Quaker. Through his stockbroking firm and personally he played an important part in the development of the electricity supply industry in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century and in the early twentieth century.
Francis Edmund Hayman Fowler was a British architect who designed the Metropole Hotel with James Ebenezer Saunders. He was a member of the Metropolitan Board of Works but was forced to resign after being found guilty of corruption.
The Iris Publishing Company were a small publishing company located at 30 and 31 Furnival Street, London, in the late nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth century. They were associated with The Chichester Press and specialised in publishing translations of foreign language works into English.
Septimus Holmes Godson (1799-1877) was a British barrister who was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1837. He was the youngest son of William Godson who died in 1822. His brother was Richard Godson (1797-1849) who was member of Parliament for St Albans in 1831-32 and then Kidderminster 1832-34 and 1837–1849.
Thomas Talbot was a beverage bottler of Gloucester who founded the Talbot Mineral Water Company in 1845. In 1886, he was elected high sheriff of Gloucester and later became an alderman of the city.
George William Potter was a builder, estate agent and surveyor in Hampstead, London, whose firm contributed to the modern development of Hampstead and Hampstead Garden Suburb. As a builder, he constructed the houses in Gayton Crescent and Gayton Road. Late in life he wrote two books of recollections of the history of Hampstead.
Decimus Alfred Ball was an upholsterer and furniture dealer in nineteenth century London who was also a "house farmer" on the Northampton Estate in Clerkenwell, London, known for the overcrowding and poor condition of his properties.
Louisa Chatterley or Louisa Place born Louisa Simeon was a British actress. She was involved in an embezzlement case, and later married a noted social reformer with fifteen children.
Stanley Spooner, was an editor and journalist. He was originally the creator and editor of an automobile journal in 1896 called The Automotor And Horseless Vehicle Journal. The title was changed to The Automotor Journal, in April 1902. In January 1909, he was the creator and editor of the first aeronautical weekly magazine in the world called Flight, now titled Flight International. After the success of Flight, his Automotor Journal was renamed The Auto. He was made a Freeman of the City of London, and a liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, on 15 January 1929.
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