Monday, December 6, 2010

Mystery Monday: Mrs. Farrington: her gravestone, their story



Although the grave marker reads "In loving memory of Mrs. Farrington", we learn little about her because she is described only in terms of her relationships to others, particularly to the men in her life. On the marker we learn of her father, Hugh Lane, her grandsons, the Grays, all of whom are interred elsewhere, and, by virtue of her surname, her husband Mr. Farrington. Hugh Lane and the Grays all have found their places in the history books; however, here on the stone marking her final resting place, Mrs. Farrington is not even afforded the courtesy of her first name. Although it is by no means uncommon to see such a grave, on which a woman is defined in terms of those powerful men to whom she was connected, it gives us pause to wonder, exactly who was Mrs. Farrington?

The stone reads:

In loving memory of Mrs. Farrington
Daughter of Dr. Hugh Lane of Limerick
died at Charleville House Rathmines
Nov. the 1st 1862
"Her end was peace"
And of her grandsons
John Wilson Gray A.B. T.C.D Barrister at Law
eldest son of Sir John Gray M. P.
Died November 1872
Interred in Abury Park Cemetery London
And of George Walter Gray who died Aug. 1879
at Vartry Lodge Balleybrack
And of Dr. William Darcan Gray L.R.C.S
Who died January 1886 at Sydney N.S.
Interred at Poorwood Cemetery Sydney
And of 
Lady Gray
Who died 27th April 1887
At Charleville House Rathmines

*Click on photographs to view a larger version.
All materials Copyright© J.Geraghty-Gorman 2010.
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