Memorial

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A Neo-classical memorial urn erected c.1820. Located in the Clandeboye Estate approximately 300m south- east of Clandeboye House.

Limestone panelled pedestal with inscriptions; surmounted by half-reeded vase and egg finial on replacement stem.

East face inscription; “In memory of a loved and lamented nephew Robert Temple-Blackwood who fell at the Battle of Waterloo Sunday 18th June 1815, this urn is placed here by Anna Dorothea Dufferin”

South face inscription; “What days, what hours, but knocks at human hearts, to wake the soul to sense of future scenes.”

North and west panels blank.

Setting

Sited on the edge of Tomb Wood, the memorial is situated in a small landscaped clearing; embraced by dense vegetation to the west and north sides with further mature trees surrounding the site.

Material: Limestone

Historical information

The Memorial tomb is not marked on any of the historic ordnance survey map editions. However, the wood in which it is situated is captioned ‘Tomb Wood’ from the third edition (1901) onwards.

The memorial is thought to date from c.1820 and bears an inscription “In memory of a loved and lamented nephew Robert Temple-Blackwood who fell at the Battle of Waterloo Sunday 18th June 1815, this urn is placed here by Anna Dorothea Dufferin” (First survey information) A further and apparently much later, memorial to Robert Blackwood appears in the private chapel at Clandeboye (HB23/10/002D), indicating the significance of the young man’s death within the Dufferin family.

Captain Robert Temple Blackwood was born on 13 July 1788, the eldest son of Hans Blackwood, the third Baron Dufferin and Claneboye and his wife, Mehetabel Hester Temple and heir to the title and estates. He died on 18 June 1815 at the age of 26, killed in action fighting at Waterloo with the 69th Foot. Blackwood had gained the rank of officer in the service of the 52nd Regiment and fought in the Siege of Badajoz in 1811, where he was severely wounded. (Mosley, Vol, 1, p.1195)

The memorial was erected by Blackwood’s aunt, Anne-Dorothea Foster, Dowager Lady Dufferin and Claneboye [sic] who had married the second Lord Dufferin in 1801. Their marriage being childless, the title of Baron Dufferin and Claneboye had passed to her husband’s brother, Hans. (Lodge, p.182)

Some lines of poetry also appear on the memorial,
“What day, what hour but knocks at human hearts
To wake the soul to sense of future scenes”.

These lines were written by Edward Young (1683-1765), poet and dramatist, in his epic poem, “The Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality”. The work, written in 1742-6, has been called ‘arguably the [eighteenth] century’s greatest long poem” and remained popular well into the 1800s. Young composed the poem while seeking consolation for the deaths of his stepdaughter, wife and son-in-law within a short space of time. (www.oxforddnb.com)

References:

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/2/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901
2.PRONI OS/6/3/2/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-26
3.PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939

Secondary Sources

1.First Survey information
2.Mosley, Charles ed., “Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes” Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
3.Lodge, E “The Peerage of the British Empire” London: Saunders and Otley, 1840
4.www.oxforddnb.com – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A Neo-classical memorial urn erected c.1820. A good example of a memorial of this period exemplified by its style and proportions. Also of interest due to its connections with the Dufferin family and Clandeboye Estate.

General comments

This record has been renumbered as part of the Clandeboye Estate group. It was previously HB23/10/016.