The interior contains some interesting sepulchral monuments, among
which is one of Roubiliac in the reliefs to the memory of Viscount
Bolingbroke and his second wife, niece of Madame de Maintenon, both
lie in the family vault in St. Mary's Church. The epitaphs on himself
and his wife were both written by Bolingbroke. That upon himself is
still extant in his own handwriting in the British Museum, and is
as follows:--"Here lies Henry St. John, in the reign of Queen Anne,
Secretary of War, Secretary of State and Viscount Bolingbroke; in
the days of King George I. and King George II. something more and
better. His attachment to Queen Anne exposed him to a long and severe
persecution; he bore it with firmness of mind, he passed the latter
part of his life at home, the enemy of no national party, the friend
of no faction, distinguished under the cloud of proscription, which
had not been entirely taken off by zeal to maintain the liberty and
to restore the ancient prosperity of Great Britain." Another monument
commemorates the descent and preferments of Oliver St. John, Viscount
Grandison, who was the first of the family that settled at Battersea.
When studying the law at one of the Inn Courts, he killed in a duel the
Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth and Champion of England. "In
1648, Sir John St. John was buried at Battersea with such unusual pomp
that the heralds were fluttered and commenced a prosecution against
the Executor for acting contrary to the usage of arms and the laws of
heraldry. William Riley, one of the heralds deposed 'that the funeral
of the deceased was conducted in a manner so much above his degree that
the escutcheons were more than were used at the funeral of a Duke; and
that he never saw so many persons but at the funeral of one of the
blood royal.' This burial is omitted in the register." In the south
gallery is a monument to Sir Edward Wynter, an officer in the service
of the East India Company in the reign of Charles 2nd, on which is
recorded an account of his having singly and unarmed killed a tiger,
and on foot defeated forty Moors on horseback. He appears to have
been a friendless youth but obtained his promotion by virtue of his
intelligence, courage and good conduct as the epitaph states:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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