William Cowper’s Grave And Memorial Headstone

William Cowper was buried in the little church of St Nicholas, Bishops Sutton (Church Lane), where you can still find his grave and a memorial headstone with a moving inscription dictated by his wife. The inscription reads as follows: “Sacred to the memory of / William Cowper, / youngest son of / Richard Cowper / of this county Esq^r / A citizen and surgeon of London / for Genius, Knowledge and / Experience most humane and successful / in every branch of his Profession. Most / eminent in the Science of Anatomy / which whilst he prosecuted with / unremitting perseverance anxious / to complete his treatise of Myotomy, / he ruin’d his Constitution by severe / labour and watchings. Seiz’d at the first / with an Asthmatick complaint / and afterwards with the Dropsy. / He died prematurely / on the 8^th day of March / in the year of our Lord 1709 / and in the 43^rd year of his age. / His afflicted Wife erected this Monument / to the best of Husbands”.

• Photos by Adrian Thomas (July 2016)

• Locate the item on this Google Map

See also the record about Cowper in the Hampshire History website