Obituary Notices

http://kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/archaeologia-cantiana/ Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number 223382 © 2017 Kent Archaeological Society ( Hi ) (Pbttuarp JJottos, THE EEV. W. A. SOOTT ROBERTSON, M.A., HONOKAVBY CANON OIT CANTERBURY. WILLIAM ARCHIBALD SCOTT ROBERTSON was born at Churchill in Somersetshire on the 8th of August, 1836, being the elder son of William Robertson, who was of Scotch descent, and formerly an officer in the Indian Army. The younger son, George Augustus, was drowned when only fourteen years old, while bathing at Clevedon. The elder was primarily educated at a private school in London. Subsequently he became Scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1855, graduating as Senior Optirne in 1859, and proceeding to the degree of M.A. in 1862. In 1859 he was ordained Deacon, and in 1860 received Priest's Orders in Wells Cathedral. While at college he resided with his mother, who was then a widow, and very young. Not being of a robust constitution he took no athletic exercises and could not stand hard work, being unable to pursue his studies in the evening. At that time he led a rather retired life, and shewed no antiquarian tendency beyond copying brasses. His first curacy was at Chilthorne Dormer, Somerset; a year after he was appointed Rector of Sutton Montis in the same county, a living kept open for him until he became a Priest, and which he held until 1864 for the son of the former Rector (the Rev. Mr. Leach). From 1864 to 1866 he acted as Curate-in-charge of Fryerning in Essex, when he was presented to the Rectory of Elmley, near Sittingbourne in Kent, which is in the gift of his cousin, daughter of the late Ube 1Rev. TRfl. B. 5cott*1Robertson, /ID.H., HONORARY CANON OF CANTERBURY. OBITUARY NOTICES. Iiii Colonel Archibald Robertson of the Indian Army. He left Elmley in 1884 on being appointed by Archbishop Tait to the Vicarage of Throwley. In 1892 Mrs. Wheler of Otterden Place conferred upon him the Rectory of Otterden, which he resigned in 1895. While there he was instrumental in bringing about great improvements in the church, with the liberal help of Mr. Wheler and his family. The chancel was built, a new pulpit erected, a brass lectern and other fittings added, and an organ introduced. The church was also re-seated. Mr. Scott Robertson belonged to the Evangelical school of clergy, and was an extempore preacher. As he was riding to preach his first sermon, which was written, he lost it out of his pocket, which possibly determined his mode of preaching afterwards. Mr. Scott Robertson was appointed an Honorary Canon of Canterbury in 1873 by Archbishop Tait, Commissary for the Bishop of Moosonee in 1882, Rural Dean of Ospringe 1888, and Commissary for the Bishop of Madras 1891. He was also Domestic Chaplain to the Earl of Tankerville. When Mr. Scott Robertson became Rector of Elmley in 1866 he resided at Whitehall, Sittingbourne, and a year after was elected a Member of the Kent Archseological Society. His archaeological attainments were immediately recognized by the executive, so much so, in fact, that in 1871 he was appointed Joint Honorary Secretary with Mr. T. G. Godfrey Faussett, whose state of health rendered it necessary that he should have some assistance. The latter found it imperative to resign the office he had so ably filled in 1873, thus leaving his colleague to carry on the secretarial and editorial duties alone. For a period of over twenty years after that time no man stood more prominently before the Society, nor was more esteemed, than Mr. Scott Robertson. His learning, zeal, tact, indomitable energy, and remarkable power of organization well fitted him for the onerous task he had undertaken, and all these qualities he ungrudgingly devoted to the advancement of the science of Archseology and the welfare of the Society. During the lengthened period already mentioned he contributed about a hundred papers liv OBITUARY NOTICES. to Archceologia Cantiana, many being of great historical value. The patient labour and research which the preparation of his contributions involved can be best understood by those who pursue similar lines of study. Beyond all this, the subject of our memoir was daily confronted with the grave duties of editing the Society's Transactions, to say nothing of the correspondence necessarily connected with the Secretary's office. If the Archceologia Cantiana possesses, as we believe, a high reputation both at home and abroad, it is not too much to say that its success was mainly due to the care bestowed upon it by Mr. Scott Robertson for the nineteen years of his editorship. When describing some example of ancient architecture, either ecclesiastical or domestic, be was in his element; and those who attended the Annual Meetings during his tenure of office will never forget the learned, lucid, and pleasant way in which he described the numerous churches and buildings they visited under his guidance. He was endowed with that invaluable gift, a clear enunciation, and evidently had not lost sight of the fact in his early youth that it is imperative on the part of every man who is destined to speak in public for the rest of his life to pay some attention to the art of elocution. It was fortunate for the Society that he was not overburdened with his clerical duties during the eighteen years he was Rector of Elmley. The Isle of Elmley is about four miles in length and two in breadth, being separated on its north side from the Isle of Sheppey by a narrow water called the Dray. On the south side it is bounded by the river Swale, which the Rector crossed and re-crossed every Sunday, in all weathers, in an open ferry-boat. At high water the Swale at Elmley Ferry is half a mile wide, and after landing there is a walk of three-quarters of a mile to the church. This journey in the depth of winter, or in rough weather, in a country so bleak, is trying to the last degree. The population of Elmley numbered about two hundred, consisting of the employes of a cement factory, shepherds, and farm-labourers and their families. What kind of congregation the Rector drew to his church from such a coinOBITUAEY NOTICES. lv munity it would be interesting to know. He invariably rode to the Ferry from Sittingbourne on a weedy thoroughbred, which held out for many years. He might be often seen going at a hand canter along the grassy edge of the marsh road. When the weather was inclement he remained at Elmley, returning after afternoon service was over. On. these occasions he subsisted on a packet of sandwiches, and whiled away the time between the services in the vestry. His kindliness of heart prompted him to take packets of sweets in his pockets when he went to Elmley on Sundays; these he gave to the children who opened the marsh gates for him along the road. At Christmas it was customary for him to take with him in his carriage a large plum-pudding and other good things, which he distributed amongst the school-children in the vestry after service. His love for children made itself manifest at all times, and he frequently entertained them at his house when a bachelor. To young men who shewed any ability he was especially kind. At Whitehall he was accustomed to hold a class for the junior teachers of the National Schools at Sittingbourne; these he taught con amore, thus fitting them for a higher sphere of labour in after life, to which, perhaps, they would not otherwise have attained. During Mr. Scott Robertson's long residence at Sittingbourne he took part in many matters which concerned the welfare of the town and neighbourhood, but not prominently so. He rendered valuable aid to the local Literary and Scientific Association by describing a hundred churches at the summer excursions, and lecturing at the winter meetings. For a year or two he was President of the Society, relinquishing the office when he left for Throwley. His home life was simple and uneventful. His mother, to whom he was devoted, resided with him until her death, which occurred in 1871. Thirteen years later he married Mary, second daughter of the late Rev. George Bridges Moore, Rector of Tunstall, a,nd great grand-daughter of the late Archbishop Moore. Her thought and care for the sick and needy, her charm of manner an d sweet disposition, were household words in the district in which she dwelt. These lvi OBITUARY NOTICES. virtues, combined with her devotion to her husband, brought great happiness into their home. Their marriage gave the Members of the Society an excellent opportunity of shewing their admiration for the Honorary Secretary and appreciation of his services by presenting him with a handsome silver salver, tea service, and candelabra as a wedding gift. This was highly prized by Canon and Mrs. Scott Robertson, and regarded as one of the most precious treasures they possessed. Mr. Scott Robertson's great interest in Foreign Missions was well known, and in spite of the numerous calls upon his time and energy, he prepared annually elaborate statistical tables of the progress of the Mission Work of the Church in foreign lands, which were considered reliable sources of information. These appeared regularly in The Guardian. He published nothing on his own account, but gave the whole of his papers on ecclesiological and antiquarian matters to the Kent Archseological Society. He, however, rendered valuable assistance to other authors and publishers by revising their works as they passed through the press, the most important work of this kind being the revision of the proof-sheets of the new History of Kent, of which the first volume only has been issued. In December 1888 the sad intelligence that Mr. Scott Robertson had been stricken with paralysis spread far and wide, causing the greatest consternation amongst his numerous friends. The peculiar nature of the attack, resulting from a clot of blood upon the brain, filled the members of his household with the gravest alarm. For some weeks his condition was one of complete prostration, but he happily recovered, and iii six months' time he was sufficiently convalescent to enable him to attend a Council Meeting in June 1889, when he, to the great regret of all present, begged to be relieved from the secretarial duties. The Council saw that it would have been inconsiderate to press him to continue in office; his resignation was therefore reluctantly accepted. In July he was elected a Vice- President of the Society. When the Annual Meeting took place at Canterbury in July 1890, the Earl Stanhope, as OBITUARY NOTICES. lvii President, in the name of the Society, presented to the late Honorary Secretary a fine silver bowl of the time of George IIL, on which appeared the following inscription: " Presented to the Rev. Canon W. A. Scott Robertson by the Kent Archaeological Society, in token of their high esteem and appreciation of his valuable services, on his resignation as Honorary Secretary. July 21st, 1890." This piece of plate was purchased agreeably to a resolution passed at the Council Meeting a month previously. Mr. Scott Robertson continued Honorary Editor of Archceologia Cantiana until the twentieth volume was issued, and then retired on the 19th of July 1892. This brought to a close all the official work that he did for the Society, but, as a Vice-President, he continued to attend the Council Meetings, to render valuable help occasionally at the Annual Meetings, and to contribute papers to our Archceologia. In 1895 he resigned the living of Otterden in consequence of the difficulties attending the letting of a rather extensive glebe. No tenant could be found, and he feared that his wife might be burdened with trouble and expense connected with it in case of his death. Taking up his new residence in that charming spot the Dane John at Canterbury, he seemed about to enter upon a new life. Now he was free to go where and when he pleased, to revel in the delights of the magnificent Cathedral he loved and understood so well, and to render help to the Dean and Chapter and others whenever his services were required. From his wide range of antiquarian knowledge ho was much sought after in Canterbury, and was always only too ready to assist the inquirer. This happy state of existence, however, was wrecked by a return of the paralytic symptoms which had so prostrated him eight years before. After an illness of some weeks' duration he again recovered and resumed the peaceful routine of his daily life. On Saturday the 6th of March 1897 he was pursuing his literary investigations in the Cathedral library, and the same evening wrote a loug letter to the Archdeacon of Maidstone; later on he was seized with a fit of apoplexy, and passed away early on Sunday morning. As the congregations were leaving the various churches at Canterbury, the solemn tolling of the lviii OBITUARY NOTICES. great bell of the Cathedral announced that some important personage had passed to his rest. When it became known that Canon Scott Robertson was dead a painful consternation spread over the city, which in the course of a day or two extended to the whole county. The funeral took place on the 11th of March. The first portion of the Service was held in the nave of the Cathedral. The body was met at the north-west door by the Dean and other members of the Chapter, with the Choir. As the procession passed down the central aisle the sentences were read by the Archdeacon of Maidstone. On arriving at the centre of the nave the coffin was placed upon a catafalque, draped with violet velvet and covered with a mass of beautiful wreaths. At the foot of the steps leading to the Choir the city and local clergy were assembled in their surplices. As soon as the mourners had taken the places assigned to them, the Choir sang unaccompanied the hymn, " On the Resurrection Morning." The usual Psalm followed, and then the Lesson was read by the Dean. Next came the hymn, " When the Day of Toil is done." The Nunc Dimittis was sung while the body was being borne out of the Cathedral, the first portion of the Service concluding with " The Dead March in Saul," played as a voluntary. The solemn procession then wended its way to St. Martin's churchyard, where the remains were laid to rest in a new earth double grave under a yew-tree on the north-west side of the ancient church. The concluding portion of the Service was conducted by the Rev. A. T. Theodosius, who succeeded Canon Scott Robertson at Elmley, and the Rev. A. Stevens. The Suffragan Bishop of Dover (Dr. Eden) pronounced the Benediction. There were present at the Cathedral or the graveside numerous friends of the deceased, and several of the Council and Members of the Kent Archajological Society. The ceremony we have described at the funeral of our departed friend was an honourable and graceful tribute to his memory, and the spot selected for his grave, hallowed by OBITUABY NOTICES. lix so many sacred and historic associations, was above all others best fitted for his last resting-place on earth. On the Wednesday following his death he was to have preached at the mid-weekly Lenten Service at Canterbury Cathedral. Dean Farrar occupied the pulpit in his stead, and in the course of his sermon said:— "My friends, if you look at the Cathedral paper you will see that the sermon this evening was to have been preached by one who but last Friday was in perfect health, in all his usual cheerfulness and geniality, but who already lies silent on his bed of death, and has been four days dead. To-morrow, after a Service at two o'clock in this Cathedral, he wi 11 be laid in his last long resting- place till the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. How little many of us thought, when we were talking to him a few days ago, that we had seen for the last time that genial presence ! How little he thought when only the other day he read the Lesson here, as he did so often, that it was the last time his voice would be heard in this Cathedra], which he loved so well! Of all our Honorary Canons his was the most familiar figure here. He was a constant attendant at our worship; and by his admirable taste and antiquarian knowledge—especially by his learned and excellent book upon the Crypt, which is the standard work upon the subject—he had rendered very real service to this glorious and holy House, of God. He was no mere useless and nominal member of this our body, but was glad in every way to help and to labour for it. I always felt for him, from the first visit he paid me, a high regard. I always knew that in him we had a cordial and kind fellowworker. He was not only willing, but anxious to help us by every means in his power, and whenever advice was needed I greatly relied upon his judgment. Canon Scott Robertson wa.s a delightful guest, an interesting companion, a valued friend; but far more than this, I always thought him worthy of that highest eulogy which any man can receive—he was a good man." In the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral the Dean and lx OBITUARY NOTICES. Chapter put up a handsome marble tablet with this inscription :— THIS TABLET Is erected by the Dean and Chapter To the beloved and honoured memory of WILLIAM ARCHIBALD SCOTT ROBERTSON, M.A., Honorary Canon of this Cathedral, As a mark of gratitude to one who ungrudgingly devoted to the Service of the Cathedral His faithful labours and his abundant Antiquariau knowledge. Born August 8th, 1836. Died March 7th, 1897. There was also a sum of two hundred pounds placed in the hands of the Dean, as a memorial, by one whose name we are not permitted to mention, to be spent at his discretion in some way towards the restoration of the Cathedral. A further memorial has been placed in Otterden Church at the joint cost of Mr. and Mrs. Wheler, the Rev. C. E. and Mrs. Woodruff, and Mrs. Scott Robertson. This consists of a series of beautiful frescoes by Hemming upon the chancelwalls. The principal features are tho figure of Our Lord as the Bread of Life, and the True Vine. On either side of the east window, and in the gable over, is a representation of the Agnus Dei, and Angels swinging censers, the whole being filled in with stencilling. Every one who thoroughly knew Mr. Scott Robertson will endorse the Dean of Canterbury's opinion of him ; and in conclusion we must say, without fear of contradiction, that by the death of William Archibald Scott Robertson the Kent Archasological Society has lost one of the most able men who have been connected with it. ( lxi ) THE EEV. J. CAVE-BROWNE, M.A. Bv the lamented death of this genial and kindly-hearted gentleman the Society loses a valued member of the Council, a firm friend, and an able archseologist. He belonged to a family which had many noted representatives in this country and in India. He was born at Nagapore, India, on 17th January, 1818, being the son of Lieut.-Colonel Edward Cave- Browne, fourth brother of the ninth baronet, and was educated at Wadham College, Oxford. His first curacy was at Burtle in Somersetshire after his ordination in 1841. From 1842 till 1851 he held the like office at St. Mary, Lambeth, during which time he devoted much of his leisure to investigating the history of Lambeth Palace. In 1851 he became a chaplain in the Honourable East India Company's service, and was appointed to a Government chaplaincy in 1857. He accompanied the Punjab Moveable Column in the advance on Delhi, and received a medal in recognition of his services. On his return to England in 1870 he was for two years curate-in-charge of St. James, Bermondsey, and from 1872 to 1875 held a similar appointment at Brasted, near Sevenoaks. In 1875 he was preferred to the living of Detling, which he held until his death in 1898. Mr. Cave-Browne was twice married, his first wife being the daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Turner of the Bengal Army, and the second the widow of Mr. Samuel Bostock of " The Hermitage," Walton Heath, and daughter of the late Dr. Iliff of Newington, S. During the twenty-three years he was at Detling he did much for the welfare of the parish, and lost no opportunity of putting his Church into a thorough state of repair. Mr. and Mrs. Cave-Browne gave most liberally to the latter, their principal gifts being the beautiful oak reredos, and all the stained-glass windows with one exception. They also presented, to the parishioners a Reading Room, and a clock in lxii OBITUAEY NOTICES. the school tower. From Mr. Cave-Browne's twenty years' residence in India he became well qualified to contribute some valuable and interesting information to the world at large. This he fortunately did in the following works : Indian Infanticide: its Origin, Progress, and Suppression; Incidents in Indian Life; The Punjab and Delhi. He also wrote several articles under the title of " Reminiscences of an Old Indian " in the Queen's Own Gazette, the monthly magazine of the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Mr. Cave-Browne's settlement in the county of Kent stimulated him to add to its fame by writing the histories of the parishes with which he had been associated, and of those adjoining them. Hence he published the History of All Saints, Maidstone, of Brasted, of Boxley Parish, The Story of HoUingbourne, Detling in Days Gone By, East Sutton Church, and also contributed Papers either to the British Archasological Association or the Kent Archfeological Society on "Leeds Priory, Kent," "Leeds Church," "In and About Leeds and Bromfleld Parishes," "The Abbots of Boxley," "The Seals of Boxley Abbey," "The Fraternity of Corpus Christi, Maidstone," "Otham Church," "Cranbrook Church," " Minster Church in Sheppey," " Shurland Castle in Sheppey," and others. Besides the above he had transcribed the whole of the Registers of All Saints, Maidstone, and a few numbers were printed as a monthly publication of the Baptisms, but not being subscribed for sufficiently, Dr. Howard prevailed upon him to publish the Marriages in his Miscellanea Genealogica ei Heraldica, where the3r have been printed in succeeding parts since 1895, and are still going on. His chief work was the History of Lambeth Palace, which reached a second edition. The foregoing list is sufficient testimony of the author's industry; and the bright, pleasant style which pervades the whole of his writings proves how dearly he loved the work. During the winter of 1897-98 Mr. Cave-Browne was laid upon a bed of sickness, from which he partially recovered; but a relapse occurred, and he died on 13th June, 1898, at the age of 80 years. During his illness he revised the proofOBITUARY NOTICES. lxiii sheets of the Paper on " Shurland House," which is printed in the present volume, and happily he lived just long enough to see his last work on East Sutton Church published. On the 16th of June the late beloved Vicar of Detling was laid to rest in the picturesque graveyard of the Church in which he had ministered for nearly a quarter of a century. There were present at the funeral many of the district clergy, as well as representatives of the Corporation of Maidstone, of the Museum of the Borough, and of the Kent Archasological Society, the majority of the parishioners, and the whole of the school-children.