Memorial to Holles St John Esquire
Watercolour by Daniel Lysons depicting the Memorial to Holles St John Esquire. Late 18th Century- Early 19th Century.
Watercolour of a funerary monument consisting of a coat of arms above tomb with urns on either side and inscription that reads:
"In a Vault
near this place lies interr'd the Body of the Honourable HOLLES ST JOHN ESQUIRE youngest son of the Right Honourable Henry Lord Viscount St. John by his second Lady Angelica Magdalena Pelissary and one of the Equeries to her love Majesty Queen Carolina. He dyed much lamented October the 6 1758 Aged:27 years. This Monument is erected so his Memory by the direction of his only sister and Executrix the Honorable Henrietta Knight."
This monument commemorates Holles St. John, the youngest child of Henry, 1st Viscount St. John, and Lady Angelica Magdalena St. John. Of their twelve children, only four survived to adulthood. Holles died in 1738 and was buried in the family vault at St Mary’s Church, Battersea, alongside his siblings. His will left £50 to his sister Henrietta to commission this tribute.
The St John family were long-standing patrons of St Mary’s Church, shaping its history and architecture. Their legacy is visible in features like the East Window, installed in 1631, which celebrates their lineage and estates in Lydiard Tregoze, Purley, and Battersea
Artist Biography
Daniel Lysons (1762–1834) An English antiquarian and topographer, Daniel Lysons is best known for The Environs of London (1792–96), a four-volume survey of towns and villages surrounding the capital. Born in Gloucestershire and educated at Oxford, Lysons served as a curate in Putney, where he began documenting London’s outskirts with encouragement from Horace Walpole. His work, often produced in collaboration with his brother Samuel, remains a vital resource for understanding the historical geography of London and its surrounding counties.
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