Smith Family Memorial

Description:
Wall memorial.  White marble monument in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Merton Park, southwest London.
Between the inscriptions is a Grecian relief in the form of a kneeling figure, classically draped, and indicating an anchor behind.

History:
Commissioned by Elizabeth Cook from the sculptor Richard James Wyatt (1795-1850), who was the brother of Caroline Cragg Smith.   It is thought the sculptor modelled the kneeling figure on his sister, who died in childbirth.
The memorial was sculpted in Rome in 1832.
Isaac Smith, had accompanied Captain Cook on two of his voyages, and went on to become a Rear Admiral.  His brother Charles is also commemorated, as well as their nephew Isaac Cragg Smith and his wife Caroline.
Isaac Smith was a cousin of Mrs Elizabeth Cook.

Inscription:
At the top of the memorial, four garlands surrounding the inscriptions:

REAR ADMᴸ ISAAC SMITH Obt 2 July 1831 Æt 78
ISAAC CRAGG SMITH Obt 7 Dec 1831 Æt 38
CAROLINE CRAGG SMITH Obt 4 Dec 1823 Æt 30
CHAS SMITH Obt 6 Sep 1827 Æt 72

At the bottom of the memorial:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE HERE RECORDED
AND WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE FAMILY VAULT
ADJOINING THE CHANCEL OF THIS CHURCH.

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY
MRS ELIZABETH COOK
WIDOW OF CAPTAIN JAMES COOK THE CIRCUMNAVIGATOR 
IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE
 OF THE MANY ESTIMABLE QUALITIES OF HER DEPARTED RELATIVES.

GPS Coordinates:  51.411406,  -0.208017

References:
Cook’s Log, page 32, vol. 34, no. 1 (2011)
Cook’s Log, page 31, vol. 41, no. 4 (2018)
Website:  http://memorials.rmg.co.uk/m5554/
Website:  http://www.speel.me.uk/chlondon/mertonch.htm
Website:  http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/wyattrj/2.html

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