Hannah Courtoy's tomb | Brompton Cemetery | June 2019-21
"Hannah Courtoy (1784 - 26 January 1849), born Hannah Peters, was a London society woman who inherited a fortune from the merchant John Courtoy in 1815. Her distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum in London's Brompton Cemetery has been the subject of considerable curiosity and speculation ever since a report by Reuters in 1998 repeated claims that it contained a working time machine.
"Hannah Courtoy was born Hannah Peters in 1784. She never married but had three daughters, Mary Ann (1801), Elizabeth (1804-1876), and Susannah (1807-1895). In 1830, Susannah married Septimus Holmes Godson, a barrister of Gray's Inn.
"In 1815, Courtoy inherited a fortune from the elderly merchant John Courtoy (born Nicholas Jacquinet in France, 1709) through a Will that was disputed in court.
"Courtoy's distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum of 1854[9] in Brompton Cemetery, where her unmarried daughters Elizabeth and Mary Ann are also interred, has been the subject of considerable curiosity ever since a report by Reuters in 1998[10] reported on rumours that it might be or contain a working time machine, a speculation that has been fuelled by various articles written by the musician Stephen Coates of the band The Real Tuesday Weld."
Source: Wikipedia
More on the story of Hannah Courtoy's mausoleum
Independent article on the time machine theory
"Brompton Cemetery is a London cemetery in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is managed by The Royal Parks, and is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Established by Act of Parliament and erected in 1839, it opened in 1840 and was originally known as the West of London and Westminster Cemetery.
"Consecrated by Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London in June 1840, it is one of Britain's oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. Some 35,000 monuments, from simple headstones to substantial mausolea, mark the resting place of more than 205,000 burials. The site includes large plots for family mausolea, and common graves where coffins are piled deep into the earth, as well as a small columbarium. There is also a secluded Garden of Remembrance at the northern end, for cremated remains. It is also an urban haven for nature.
"By the early years of the 19th century, inner city burial grounds, mostly churchyards, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead. In 1837 a decision was made to lay out a new burial ground in Brompton, London. The moving spirit behind the project was the engineer, Stephen Geary, and it was necessary to form a company in order to get parliamentary permission to raise capital for the purpose. Securing the land – some 40 acres – from local landowner, Lord Kensington and the Equitable Gas Light Company, as well as raising the money proved an extended challenge. The cemetery became one of seven large, new cemeteries founded by private companies in the mid-19th century (sometimes called the 'Magnificent Seven') forming a ring around the edge of London."
Source: Wikipedia
Hannah Courtoy's tomb | Brompton Cemetery | June 2019-21
"Hannah Courtoy (1784 - 26 January 1849), born Hannah Peters, was a London society woman who inherited a fortune from the merchant John Courtoy in 1815. Her distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum in London's Brompton Cemetery has been the subject of considerable curiosity and speculation ever since a report by Reuters in 1998 repeated claims that it contained a working time machine.
"Hannah Courtoy was born Hannah Peters in 1784. She never married but had three daughters, Mary Ann (1801), Elizabeth (1804-1876), and Susannah (1807-1895). In 1830, Susannah married Septimus Holmes Godson, a barrister of Gray's Inn.
"In 1815, Courtoy inherited a fortune from the elderly merchant John Courtoy (born Nicholas Jacquinet in France, 1709) through a Will that was disputed in court.
"Courtoy's distinctive Egyptian-style mausoleum of 1854[9] in Brompton Cemetery, where her unmarried daughters Elizabeth and Mary Ann are also interred, has been the subject of considerable curiosity ever since a report by Reuters in 1998[10] reported on rumours that it might be or contain a working time machine, a speculation that has been fuelled by various articles written by the musician Stephen Coates of the band The Real Tuesday Weld."
Source: Wikipedia
More on the story of Hannah Courtoy's mausoleum
Independent article on the time machine theory
"Brompton Cemetery is a London cemetery in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is managed by The Royal Parks, and is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Established by Act of Parliament and erected in 1839, it opened in 1840 and was originally known as the West of London and Westminster Cemetery.
"Consecrated by Charles James Blomfield, the Bishop of London in June 1840, it is one of Britain's oldest and most distinguished garden cemeteries. Some 35,000 monuments, from simple headstones to substantial mausolea, mark the resting place of more than 205,000 burials. The site includes large plots for family mausolea, and common graves where coffins are piled deep into the earth, as well as a small columbarium. There is also a secluded Garden of Remembrance at the northern end, for cremated remains. It is also an urban haven for nature.
"By the early years of the 19th century, inner city burial grounds, mostly churchyards, had long been unable to cope with the number of burials and were seen as a hazard to health and an undignified way to treat the dead. In 1837 a decision was made to lay out a new burial ground in Brompton, London. The moving spirit behind the project was the engineer, Stephen Geary, and it was necessary to form a company in order to get parliamentary permission to raise capital for the purpose. Securing the land – some 40 acres – from local landowner, Lord Kensington and the Equitable Gas Light Company, as well as raising the money proved an extended challenge. The cemetery became one of seven large, new cemeteries founded by private companies in the mid-19th century (sometimes called the 'Magnificent Seven') forming a ring around the edge of London."
Source: Wikipedia