Monumental Inscription Detail

Place:

St Mary the Virgin, Eastbourne

Location: West end of south aisle.

Inscription:

Sacred to the Memory of HENRY LUSHINGTON
Eldest Son of HENRY LUSHINGTON D.D. Vicar of this Parish adn MARY his Wife
Whose singular Merits & as singular Sufferings Cannot fail of endearing Him to ye latest Posterity.
At ye age of Sixteen in ye Year 1754 He embarqued for BENGAL in ye Service of ye India Company, & by
attaining a perfect knowledge of the Persian Language made Himself essentially useful. It is difficult to
determine whether He excelled more in a civil or a military Capacity. His Activity in Both
recommended Him to the Notice & Esteem of Lord CLIVE: Whom with equal Credit to
Himself & Satisfaction to his Patron He served in the different Characters of
Secretary, Interpreter & Commissary. In ye Year 1756, by a melancholy Revolution, He was with Others
to ye Amount of 146 forced into a Dungeon at CALCUTTA so small that only 23 escaped Suffocation. He was
one of ye Survivors, but reserved for greater Misery, for by a Subsequent Revolution in the Year 1763 He was
with 200 more taken Prisoners at PATNA, & after a tedious Confinement being singled out with JOHN ELLIS & WILLIAM HAY Esqrs was by the Order of the Nabob COSSIM ALLY KAWN & under ye Direction of One SOMEROO
an Apostate European, deliverately & inhumanly murdered: But whyile ye Seapoys were performing their savage Office
He rushed upon his Assassins unarmed, & seizing One of their Scimitars killed Three of Them & wounded Two Others,
till at length oppressed with Numbers He greatly fell.
His private Character was perfectly consistent with his publick One. The amiable
Sweetness of his Disposition attached Men of ye worthiest Note to Him, the Integrity of his Heart fixed them ever
firm to his Interests. As a Son, He was One of the most kind & dutiful, as a Brother ye most affectionate.
His Generosity towards his Family was as hardly to be Equal'd, his Circumstances and his Age
consider'd scarce to be exceeded. In short He lived & died and Honour to his Name, his Friends & his Country.
His Race was short (bine only 26 Years of Age when He died) but truly glorious.
The rising Generation must admire, May They imitate, so Bright an Example"
His Parents have erected this Monument, as a lasting Testimony
of their Affliction & of his Virtues.

Monument details:

Type: Internal Monument.

Monument Condition: Excellent.

Inscription Condition: Excellent.

Person commemorated (or mentioned):

Last name: Ellis.

First Name(s): John.

Birth date: Not given.

Death date: ?? ??? 1763.

Comments:

This unsigned bust is attributed to Sir Robert Taylor (1714 - 88) commemorating the death of Henry Lushington, eldest son of Dr. Henry Lushington, vicar (1734 –79) and builder of the the former Towner Art Gallery. Henry a member of the East India Company died in Patna in 1763 having survived the Black Hole of Calcutta in 1756. This bust is facing away from the altar as it was moved from the Easter Sepulchre during the Victorian Restoration.

Transcription details:

Transcribed by: Mark Collins.

Batch: Unknown.

Image:

Image of a monument

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