Cambridgeshire, Linton - "a cripple in mind and body" but grateful
“Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Bacon, late of Catley Park in this County, Esquire and her brother Peter Standly, late of Paxton Place in the County of Hunt. Esq. who by his last Will ordered this Monument to be erected that he might perpetuate his affection for a beloved Sister and his gratitude to his benefactress. She died December 16th 1726. He died January 29th 1780 and both were buried in the same grave near this place."
1782 Monument to Elizabeth 1726 wife of Thomas Sclater Bacon with statues of Hope and Faith. by Joseph Wilton under a bequest of £1000 from her half brother Peter Standly d1780, whose bust appears on the obelisk, www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/4792374617/
Husband Thomas Sclater Bacon was the great nephew of Sir Thomas Sclater dsp 1684, a wealthy royalist physician who bought the estate of Catley Park here from the Paris family. In 1706 he bought Linton House from the Lone trustees. A prominent Tory and bitter enemy of Sir Robert Walpole. Sclater sat as MP for Cambridge 1722-1736
He became a close friend of London merchant Josiah Bacon d1703, one of the richest men in England, and was made sole trustee of his vast fortune. The 2 surviving Bacon children Josias and Elizabeth were minors, and since Josias would inherit almost everything Josiah Bacon had added a clause to his Will. Elizabeth was to receive a generous income from the age of 12 until she was 21. On her marriage any husband would be given an income of £2,500 pa if he agreed to adopt the surname of Bacon. Thomas Sclater married Elizabeth in 1716 when she was 21 and he was 51 ! To conform with the Will and get the income he changed his name to Thomas Sclater-Bacon.
However Elizabeth’s brother Josias Bacon died in 1717 and she then inherited the whole Bacon fortune in her own right.
Meanwhile Elizabeth’s mother Mary Bacon had received very little from her husband’s will in 1703 and m2 George Standley, having 3 sons George, John and Peter. Dying childless in 1726 Elizabeth’s Will stipulated that her fortune was left to her husband only "for the duration of his life" and then would pass to these Standly half brothers.
When he died in August 1736 husband Thomas Sclater Bacon is reputed to have left an estate worth £200,000 which he left for life to Sarah wife of his coachman Edward King, (described as his kinswoman in his will, but probably his mistress) with the remainder to her sons. Sarah died c1738. Of her sons Robert King dsp 1749 and Thomas Sclater King having run through his fortune, to pay his debts the Catley Park estate was sold in 1764 to Thomas Bromley, Lord Montfort who resold it in 1772 to Edmund Keene, Bishop of Ely.
The Standly brothers, of which George dsp1737, and John now a drunkard living with Peter at of Paxton Place in Hunts a Bacon estate, was dead by 1761. Peter Standley described by antiquarian William Cole as “a cripple, deformed in mind and body…he was low, ill bred, and vulgar in his manner.” was left the sole Bacon heir; all thanks to the generosity of his half sister Elizabeth. At his death in 1780 Peter devised all his estates which included Waterbeach to his protégé Henry Poynter, later Standley, who in 1781 settled Waterbeach as the jointure of his intended wife Persis Lens d1823 having a son Henry Peter Standley who dsp 1844.
Cambridgeshire, Linton - "a cripple in mind and body" but grateful
“Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Bacon, late of Catley Park in this County, Esquire and her brother Peter Standly, late of Paxton Place in the County of Hunt. Esq. who by his last Will ordered this Monument to be erected that he might perpetuate his affection for a beloved Sister and his gratitude to his benefactress. She died December 16th 1726. He died January 29th 1780 and both were buried in the same grave near this place."
1782 Monument to Elizabeth 1726 wife of Thomas Sclater Bacon with statues of Hope and Faith. by Joseph Wilton under a bequest of £1000 from her half brother Peter Standly d1780, whose bust appears on the obelisk, www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/4792374617/
Husband Thomas Sclater Bacon was the great nephew of Sir Thomas Sclater dsp 1684, a wealthy royalist physician who bought the estate of Catley Park here from the Paris family. In 1706 he bought Linton House from the Lone trustees. A prominent Tory and bitter enemy of Sir Robert Walpole. Sclater sat as MP for Cambridge 1722-1736
He became a close friend of London merchant Josiah Bacon d1703, one of the richest men in England, and was made sole trustee of his vast fortune. The 2 surviving Bacon children Josias and Elizabeth were minors, and since Josias would inherit almost everything Josiah Bacon had added a clause to his Will. Elizabeth was to receive a generous income from the age of 12 until she was 21. On her marriage any husband would be given an income of £2,500 pa if he agreed to adopt the surname of Bacon. Thomas Sclater married Elizabeth in 1716 when she was 21 and he was 51 ! To conform with the Will and get the income he changed his name to Thomas Sclater-Bacon.
However Elizabeth’s brother Josias Bacon died in 1717 and she then inherited the whole Bacon fortune in her own right.
Meanwhile Elizabeth’s mother Mary Bacon had received very little from her husband’s will in 1703 and m2 George Standley, having 3 sons George, John and Peter. Dying childless in 1726 Elizabeth’s Will stipulated that her fortune was left to her husband only "for the duration of his life" and then would pass to these Standly half brothers.
When he died in August 1736 husband Thomas Sclater Bacon is reputed to have left an estate worth £200,000 which he left for life to Sarah wife of his coachman Edward King, (described as his kinswoman in his will, but probably his mistress) with the remainder to her sons. Sarah died c1738. Of her sons Robert King dsp 1749 and Thomas Sclater King having run through his fortune, to pay his debts the Catley Park estate was sold in 1764 to Thomas Bromley, Lord Montfort who resold it in 1772 to Edmund Keene, Bishop of Ely.
The Standly brothers, of which George dsp1737, and John now a drunkard living with Peter at of Paxton Place in Hunts a Bacon estate, was dead by 1761. Peter Standley described by antiquarian William Cole as “a cripple, deformed in mind and body…he was low, ill bred, and vulgar in his manner.” was left the sole Bacon heir; all thanks to the generosity of his half sister Elizabeth. At his death in 1780 Peter devised all his estates which included Waterbeach to his protégé Henry Poynter, later Standley, who in 1781 settled Waterbeach as the jointure of his intended wife Persis Lens d1823 having a son Henry Peter Standley who dsp 1844.