Hannah Courtoy

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 mausoleum, Brompton Cemetery.
Courtoy Mausoleum.
14 Wilton Crescent is to the right of the post box in the picture.

Life

Hannah Courtoy was born Hannah Peters[1] in 1784.[2] She never married but had three daughters, Mary Ann (1801),[3] Elizabeth (1804-1876),[4] and Susannah (1807-1895). In 1830, Susannah married Septimus Holmes Godson,[5] a barrister of Gray's Inn.[6]

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.

Death

Courtoy died on 26 January 1849,[7] at 14 Wilton Crescent, Belgrave Square, one of the most expensive areas of London. Her Will is held in the British National Archives.[1][8]

Tomb

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 because of rumours that it might be or contain a working time machine, a speculation that has been fuelled by various articles and recordings made by the musician Stephen Coates of the band The Real Tuesday Weld[10][11][12]

The Egyptologist Joseph Bonomi the Younger is buried nearby.

See also

References
  1. Will of Hannah Courtoy otherwise Hannah Peters, Single Woman of No 14 Wilton Crescent... National Archives. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  2. FIFTY NOTABLE PERSONALITIES. Archived 2016-10-13 at the Wayback Machine The Friends of Brompton Cemetery. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  3. Westminster Baptisms Transcription. findmypast. Retrieved 25 December 2015. (subscription required)
  4. England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 Transcription. findmypast. Retrieved 25 December 2015. (subscription required)
  5. Westminster Marriages Transcription. findmypast. Retrieved 25 December 2015. (subscription required)
  6. "Barristers Called. Michaelmas Term, 1837." The Legal Observer, Vol. XV, No. 438, p. 170.
  7. "Deaths" Bell's Weekly Messenger, 19 February 1849, p. 63. British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 25 December 2015. (subscription required)
  8. Index to Death Duty Registers Transcription. findmypast. Retrieved 25 December 2015. (subscription required)
  9. Meller, Hugh, & Brian Parsons (2013). London cemeteries: An illustrated guide and gazetteer. Stroud: History Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-7524-9690-0.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Brompton Cemetery: The sealed mausoleum believed to be a fully-functioning time machine. Richard Jinman, The Independent, 12 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  11. Is the secret of time travel lurking in an old London cemetery? Helen Smith, Daily News, 29 October 1998, p. 4A. Google News. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  12. The Brompton Time Machine
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