The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-19 00:00:00

FUNERAL OF LORD BYRON.

Late on Friday last the interment of the re-
'mains of Lord BYRON took place in the family vault in the
village church of Hucknall, eight miles beyond Nottingham,
and within two miles of Newstead-abbey, once the patrimonial
.property of the Byron family.
The funeral moved slowly from London to Nottinghamshire,
and all the decorum of such a ceremony was strictly observed
in the progress of the hearse to its final destination. The whole
of the mourners quitted the procession as it left London on
Monday, and the 'hearse was afterwards escorted by the under-
taker and his assistants, who occupied the three mourning
coaches and "six which followed the body ; and the executors
(Mr. Hobhouse and Mr. Hanson), together with Colonel
Leigh, the chief mourner, slid not again meet the funeral until
it reached Nottingham. The funeral pros:l3lOn, after its de-
parture from London, took what is called the high Leeds
road, and not the more general and better road through Lei-
cester. It halted the first night at Welwynhe second at
'Highoin Ferrara, on 'Wednesday night at Oakhoarn, and ar-
rived at Nottingham at five o'clozk on Thursday,evening. A
large concourse of people were assembled at the south end of
the town, which rapidly increased to thousands as the proces-
ston moved along ,Fisher-gate, Carter-gate, Hockley, and up
Carltou-street, on its way to the Blackmoor'a Head inn, at the
bottom_of.Pelham-street.

The hearse followed by the mourning-coaches, having en-
tered the yard, the gates were instantly shut. The coffin was
then taken out of the hearse, and the case or urn out of the first
mourning-coach, and carried into the room at the north-west
corner of the yard. This room was hung with black, and three
escutcheons of the Byrons' arms were fixed on each of the four
Walls of the room. The coffin was then placed on trestles in
the centre, with the case for the. heart, &c. at .the head ; six
very large wax candles were placed round the coffin, and a few
other lights being fixed in the room, the public were admitted,
by about twenty at once, to see the lying to state; but such was
the pressure and anxiety, that a very large body of constables
was necessary to clear the way, and to keep clear ingress and
egress. Many thousands were thus admitted in the course of
the evening, and up to nine o'clock on Friday morning.
When the funeral entered Nottingham on the previous even-
ing, an offer was made to attend it with an escort from the cor-
poration ; but this mark of. respect was then declined, on ac-
count of the unfit condition of the hearie and mourning-coaches,
for any display, after travelling on the road for four days. The
bells of the churches were, however, tolled, and the town clerk
waited upon the executors, and presented then, with the follow-
ing copy of resolutions, which were unanimously agreed to by
the corporation, us a tribute of their respect for the memory of
Lord Byron:--
" Town of Nottingham to wit.—At a meeting of the Mayor,
Aldermen, Common COuncil, and Livery of the said town, held
(in consequence of a requisition addressed to the Mayor) at the
police-office in the said tOWP, on Wednesday, the 14th day of
July, 1824.

". Resolved, on the motion of Mr. Hurst, seconded by Mr.
Alfred Fellowes, that this corporation, desire to offer a public
testimony of their respect for the memory of the late Lord
Byron, upon the present occasion of his remains passing
through the town to Ilucknall, for Interment.
`°esolved, on the motion of Mr. James Roger Allen, so.
conded by Mr. Dunn, that, in testimony of the respect which
this Corporation bear the memory of the late Lord Byron, a de-
putation from their body do on Friday next (if the executors of
the deceased will give permission) join the funeral procession
at Nottingham, and accompany the same to the place of In.
tertnent. , _ •

" Resolved, That the deputation consist of the Mayor, 'Al-
derman Soars, the Sheriffs, the Under-Sheriff, the Chamber.
lains, one of the Council, and the town.clerk. • •
Resolved, That the Town-eierk convey the foregoing re.
Solutions to John Cam tiobhouae, Esq., and request the answer
of the executors."

The executor* immediately acceded to the request so hand-
comely conveyed; and Mr. liohhouse in person thanked the
..‘layor for the manner in whic.l, ha had conic forward to evince
his respect for the deceased. PLcards with mourning; edger
were, early on Friday morning, posted throughout Notting.
horn, describing the arrangements for the funeral, and an-
nouncing that it was a mistake to suppose a full mourning-dress
was required for those who were to form In the line of the pro-
cession from Nottingham to Hucknall church, and that, as the.
mourning consisted more in a feeling of the heart than in exter-
nal appearances, care would be taken to aironi room for all
who wished to attend, in whatever attire, upon this mournful
occasion.

At eight o'clock on Friday morning, Lord Renelife (a die.
taut relation of the deceased) arrived in Nottingham, and was
soon after followed by a large body of his tenantry in mourn.
ing, with crape and hat-bands, who formed an equestrian
cavalcade in the .51arket.place. Colonel Wildman, of New.
stead Abbey, with some of his tenantry, arrived in a similar
manner. Teri o'clock on Friday morning being the time
fixed upon for the procession to leave ISTottingham, the
bells were tolled at that, hour, the shops were chiefly shut, and
vast numbers of persons came into town from all the neigh.
bouring villages. Long before the appointed hour many
thousands of spectactors had assembled in front of the Black's
Head, in the Poultry, 'Cumber-street, and Pelham-street, but
particularly in the Market.plaee, and those streets through
which the mournful cavalcade was to move.
At a quexterbefore eleven o'clock, the hearse, adorned with
twelve large sable plumes, drawn by *ix beautiful black horses,
each having a plume of feathers on his head, was ordered to the
front of the Blaeknioor's Head Inn, for the purpose of receiving
the body of his Lordship, which, on being brought put and
placed therein, the first mourning coach and six came up,' in
which was put the urn containing the heart, &c., covered with
a rich black silk velvet pall, ornamented with escutcheons of
the Byron arms on a white ground. The utmost silence pre.
Veiled during this ceremony, and considering the prodigious
concourse of people that filled the streets, windows, and roofs of
the houses, the decorum preserved on the occasion reflected
the highest credit on the inhabitants. The arra6gements
having been completed as the town clock struck eleven, the
procession set out in the following order, all the individuals
composing it being furnished with liat.bands :
Two Constables on horseback.
Two Bailiff's on horseback.
Lord Rancliffe's Land Steward.
Mr. Wooddesen, the undertaker, with 31r. Tuovey, who
assisted him.
Two 3lutes, oh horseback.
.1A large Phinte of black Feathers,}
A Page.
1 borne on a man's head'.
Six Horse Men in :cloaks riding two by two.
Two Mutes, on' horseback.
f The State Horse, richly caparisoned, and
led by two Pagui, the Rider carrying
A Page. on his arms the Coronet of the deceased
Lord oh a crimson velvet Cushion or.
• ..narnented with gold camels and l-lnge.
Pa The Hearse containing thei
g p,
BODY.
A Page.{ Alourning Coach and six, with Urn con.
raining the heart.
("Mourning Coach and six, containing th
Chief Alciiirners' Colonel' Leigh, Co.`
A Page. lonel Wildtneri,John Cam H obliouse,
Esq; and John Hanson, Eke.,
Exuto)
'lotirning co (tach andec sixr,s. with the late Lord By
hold.

A Page.

A Page..

A Page.

A .Pav•

bOti Se.

.Mourning coach and six, containing the Mayor and two Alder.
men of the Corporation of Nottingham, attended by three of
their servants In full mourning.
Mourning edaeh and six, containing'the Sheriff, Town Clerk, .
and the retnahider of the dc...putation from the'corporate body,
attended by three servantA in full morning.
The Right Hon. Lord ganeliffes carriage and four'horses, with
his Lorclghip therein.
Colonel 'Wildman's carriage, containing the pallbearers,
3tesers. Edward Staveley, Alfred Thomas Fellows, Jonathan
Dunn, Charles Heywood liomer, James Fellows, and T. C.
Smith, jun.
A number of private carriages, and 40 or 50. gentlemen in full
mourning, upon horseback, closed the procession, which slowly
advanced, accompanied by immense . crowds- of people of all
classes, down Smithy-row, across the Market-place up Chapel.
bar. along Farliscrient.3trect, up Maten-strut, and the Mans..

field-road, to Papplewick-larie, near the seventh mile-stone,
then to Pappiewick and Hucknall Torkard. The great body
of the people on foot followed to the outskirts of the liberties of
the town, and then the greater part of them halted ; a few
followed all the way. and the number increased greatly,
the procession passed through the villages contiguous to the
place of interment. when
At Hucknall, and the villages leading thereto, the utmost
anxiety was manifested to learn which way th 3 funeral would
come, and vast numbers were assembled on the road sides, eager
to catch the least intelligence upon a matter in which all seemed
deeply interested; and much disappointment was felt at the
procession nut coming through Buford and Bulwell, as had
been expected. The doors of Hucknall church were thrown
open, and great numbers of persons were there at an early
hour, inspecting the vault which wee to be the last resting place
of the Noble Lord. The rank is but small, and will not hold
more than three coffins abreast upon the floor. Those which
were already there spoke loudly of the vanity of worldly
grandeur. Scarcely a bit of wood or velvet was visible.
Nothing but aix or seven leaden coffins remained, of all the
grandeur which had been deposited in that lonely habitation ;
the most legible inscription is that of the Hon. Catherine (Gor-
don Bryan, mother othini whose Wishes were this day fulfilled,
where he said, speaking of the noble deeds of his ancestors—
" Like you will he live, or like yea' will he perish ;
"'When docay'd, may be mingle his dust with your own."
The following was, Mieluseription upon the coffin of Lord
Byron's mother
'The Hon. Catherine Gordon, of night, mother of George
Lord Byron, and lineal descendant of the Earl of Huntley
and the Lady Jean Stuart, daughter of ICing James the tat of
Scotland. Obit in the eneh year of her age, August 1, 1811."
Although her Ladyship was so recently interred, the coffin
had fallen in, the escutcheons, brass gilt plate with the inscrip-
tion, and detached drapery, from the coffin furniture, lay de-
tached, among the disjointed fragments of the timber, and the
Sacrilegious hands of many among the immense crowd,
admitted freely throughout the day into the vault, without
distinction of persons, removed as trophies of their attend-
ance upon this melancholy occasion, parts of the remnants
of useless grandeur, which noble pageantry. so idly wastes upon
the dead, and consigns to moulder with their ashes. The vault
was remarkably small and incommodious • it is constructed at
the foot of a small flight ofstone steps under the pavement near
the chancel, end about five yards in front of a nearly obliterat-
ed mural monument, in white marble, affixed to the wall, at
the north side of the communion table, with the following in-
scription:—
Beneath in a vault
lies interred the body of RICHARD Loan BYRON,
who with the rest of his family, being seven brothers,
Faithfully served King Charles the First in the civil wars,
who suffered much for their loyalty •
and lost all their present fortunes;
Yet it pleased God so to bless the humble endeavours
of the said Richard Lord Byron
that he repurchased part of their ancient Inheritance
which he left to his posterity
with a laudable memory for his great piety and charity :
he departed this life upon the 4th day of October
An. Dom. 1679, in the 74th year of his age.
In the same vault is interred the Lady Elizaigth,
his first wife, daughter of George Bused, Esq.
by whom-he had 10 children.
and ye Lady Elizabeth his second wife, daughter
to Sir George Booth, Knt and Berronet,
who appoynted this monument
to be erected
to the memory of her dear husband
and for her great piety anti gocelness
acquired a name better than yt
of sons and daughters.
The church itself is very small, and merely adapted for the
convenience ea village throng. It was white-washed (we know
not whether or no for the occasion), and as much pains as could
consistently be applied, were devoted to theeccommodntion of
those who were attracted to the spot on the present occasion.
At haMpast 11 o'clock, a number of the undertaker's men
arrived, yid immediately began to dothe "the pulpit and reading
desk with black cloth. A Wye aest next tit the together
with the communion table arictlifle, were else covered
black cloth. An escutcheon "'of the Mtn* with 'the MOHO,
" Crede Byron," anderneath, was hung in. ;Vont of the pulpit,
below the cushion. AU there preparation* were finis by
half-post one, at which boor thltninttil ben began to tolki
The Chut•eit anti little village trap, wded to excess at this
hour, and all eyes were fixed on-the et," which the procession
had to pass : it came by the Mansfiel road, for the purpose of
being drawn near to Newetesd-Abbey. Although the proces-
sion left Nottingham at 11 o'clock, andinul only eight miles to
traverse, it did not reach Hucktiall church until half-past three
o'clock. The Rev. Mr. Nixon, the Vicar, who was in attend-
tines all day, immediately repajfed to the churchyard, where he
received the body. At a quarter before four o'clock the proces-
sion entered the church.
The body and urn being brought in, arid placed on two
' trestles fixed in the silk:, the mourners passed to the seats pre.
pared for them. The' coronet and cushion were then placed
upon the case containing the urn, and upon the coffin was
placed the noble plume of sable leathers. The Rev. Mr.
Nixon, the Vicar, clothed in' his white surplice, then read a part
of the beautiful service of the Church of England ; and in a few
tniuutes the undertaker' and' his attendants slowly removed
the coffin and urn to the opening of the vault, the state-bearer
of the coronet supporting it on the cushion at the head of the
tomb, whilst the Reverend Vicar read the remainder of the
service. The coffin was then gradually lowered, and placed on
an old leaden coffin, said to be that (for no vestige of letters or
ornament remained) of the Lord Byron, whose name and
deeds are recorded upon the mural monument.

The original intention was, that it should have been laid
upon his mother's coffin, but the mutilated and decayed state
of the latter rendered that impossible ; it rests, however,
exactly next to it, with the case containing the 'urn, 'Etc. at
the head._ _ _

Around the vault stood Colonel Leigh, chief mourner, (the
present Lord Byron was said to be indisposed at Bath); next
him 31r. Hobhouse and 111 r. Hanson ; then Lord Rancliffe
rear. u Household a the deceased in the
and Colonel Wildman; th

lming the. &nal performance of the obsequies, and as the
coffin was lowering into the tomb, the unaffected and overpower-
ing display of feelings, which attested the recollection of much
departed worth, was of a nature to arouse, from the ordinary
spectators who beheld it, the warmest sympathy. The funeral
was, talcs close, unattended by the great who had accompanied
it through Westmhister. The poets and statesmen who at its
departure had, by their presence, attested their regard and at.
tachment for the kindred genius and patriotic principles of the
decease:', were not around the.tomb to excite, or to invite, by
the their own feelings, the reverence and adruit
don wPhriesschicin °f
are, u such peculiar .eirmeartsneet,- so Neil'
rendered by the public, whensthey behold the most distinguish.
opera to. the memory.of the posselaor .of great alen' wo
ed, men of their onto assembled to pay the last tribute of re-
expired in exerting them, "when
..best ealidoyedt aodwanted
most," in the cause of- liberty. But if these objects of patri.
otic excitement were not operating at the cemetery of. the
Niue deceased, there were others which could not fail to be felt,
for they went home to the heart. ' I }
'-'4e Poor black servant never
wok his eyes from the coffin. and bent his body that they should
from the gloomy abyss, of the tomb tor. Which it was consigned.
,fibililleowitiatutao:te servantlast p,lilienemipsede wahlicihf
lie
es MMus reflection still cast
d the valet (Flete hcr),were a stranger and friend-
less ;an from his late master's child.
hood his attendant, was...se overpowered as the coffin was lower-
Ing into the vault, aim he was obliged to draw back from the
chief Mourners,' amwhoa the domestics unconsciously
mixed, in pressing forward to take a farewell glance, and to
support himself against a pew .in an agony of grief. All the
mourners,.Mr. floblionse in particular, were much affected :
he ran down into the stalk, and mixed with the undertaker's
attendants, to see that, the coffin or Lord rtyroii was laid next
his mother's) to whom he had ever .been most affectionately
attached. ~.. ,
and Colonel The hearse
The whole ceremony was finished at 20 minutes past four
op'acrti occdk .v; i 'tNhVLhoerndinh the
nfuc
ini
tezt
al Mr: llobhouse de.
and mourninc coaches returned to Nottingham in the course of
the evening.

'The Duke and • Duchess of-Norcritumur.n.LAND
and family, accompanied b.y it Wntkin anti Lad/ Harriet
\l'm. Vynn anti family, lat town 04 Saturday morning.:oA
board the City tr Edintprgh stOtra-p3e4ez,'expresaly engart
by his Grace tor A .* lc::uth, withlLLytrui
Of Alrerick Cl:.asi