Memorial Drinking Fountain, Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, London. The fountain is a mural one, at the back of Clissold House, the principal building in the park. It had been leased by the Crawshay family before the park was acquired for the public in 1887, and the donor of the fountain, Rose Mary Crawshay, must still have felt an attachment to it.
The inscription reads: "In memory of three sweet sisters aged 1 3 4 years Daughters of Wilson Yeates Esq interred at Horton Bucks 1834 erected by their sister Rose Mary Crawshay (widow) 1893." The wording reminds us of the high rates of infant mortality in those early years, even in well-to-do families, but the water-spout comes out of a jolly face with a cap resembling that of a jester. The carving is imaginative, as if suggesting the a story-book figure. Dogs can (and do) drink from the water-trough below. [Click on the photographs to enlarge them.]
Rose Mary Crawshay, née Yeates, had married into the Crawshay dynasty of wealthy Welsh ironmasters. She was a widow by this time, and a very active one: a philanthropist, educationist and suffragette, she spent much of her time in London, where she was one of the prominent women of the day, along with her friends Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Millicent Fawcett.
Photographs, formatting, and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
John, Angela V. "Crawshay [née Yeates], Rose Mary (1828–1907), educationist and feminist." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 18 October 2021.
Created 20 October 2021