1773 - 1841 (68 years)
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Name |
Mary Douglas |
Birth |
1773 |
Gender |
Female |
Death |
1841 |
Person ID |
I7528 |
My Genealogy |
Last Modified |
2 Jun 2014 |
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Notes |
- About sixty yards to the west of the Christ church in Mahabaleshwar is the Beckwith monument 4558 feet above sea level and reached by a bad stony path. It is a plain obelisk about thirty feet high and was erected from public subscription at a cost of Rs 3000. Sir Sidney Beckwith died here in 1831 while commander-in-chief. The subscribers put up an inscription and Lady Beckwith sent out another on a marble tablet. The influence of weather on marble rendered the second inscription almost illegible as early as 1843; the first inscription remains comparitively uninjured though the writing is much obliterated and blackened and can only be read with the greatest difficulty. For several years the monument has been regarded as sacred by the poorer classes, who resort to it for the purpose of obtaining answers to prayers. The first inscription on the west face runs :
"Sacred to the Memory of
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith, K.C.B.,
Governor and Commander-in-chief of Bombay, and Colonel of
His Majesty's Rifle Brigade;
who, after along course of distinguished service, expired at his Residence on these Hills, on the 15th day of January
1831, aged 60 years.
Erected by a small circle of his friends in testimony of their admiration for his noble character and to perpetuate the memory of so good and amiable a man."
The other inscription on the east face runs :
"This Tablet is placed by Mary, Lady Beckwith, daughter of the late Sir William Douglas, of Kilhead, Bart as a memorial of the most devoted affection for her lamented husband, by whose sudden death she has been deprived of a most attached partner and friend and guide, in whom was combined every amiable quality by which the Christian character is adorned, and the intercourse of domestic life is endeared-a loss which can only be alleviated by the hope that looks beyond the grave. The sympathizing friends who erected this monument have kindly permitted a sorrowing widow to add her heartfelt tribute to their."
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