George Alexander Gratton (c.1808-1813)
All Saints Church, The Causeway, Marlow SL7 2AA
George Alexander Gratton was born to slaves in St Vincent in the Caribbean – ‘Gratton’ denotes the owner of the plantation. As a very small child, he was bought by one of the greatest showmen of the age, John Richardson, who it was said paid the considerable sum of 1,000 guineas. Richardson specialised in one of the great entertainments of the age, sideshows with their human “freaks”. The little boy had vitiligo, a disorder that caused his skin to have large patches of unpigmented skin. He was known as “the beautiful spotted Negro boy”. Richardson grew extremely fond of his prize exhibit, treating him like a son, it was said, albeit one that he regularly exhibited, both publicly and privately.
Within just a few years, George succumbed to a “gathering of the jaw”, most likely a tumour or infection. Richardson was said to have been distraught. He was also concerned that this unusual body might be stolen, and so delayed the burial for three months. In the meantime, he commissioned a brick vault to be constructed in the churchyard of All Saints, Marlow. He decreed that this would be his final resting place too, which happened more than 30 years later. He also requested that the two headstones be bolted together.
The age at which he died has been described variously as four and eight, and certainly some of his portraits suggest an older child.
The headstones remain, albeit with the inscriptions largely worn away. It was said that George’s headstone had included a carved portrait of him, but that a souvenir hunter had chiselled it off. However, he can still be seen in the restored painting by the C C Coventry, a fashionable portrait painter of the day, which has been restored and now hangs in the church.
Inscription:
TO THE MEMORY
OF
GEORGE ALEXANDER GRATTON,
THE SPOTTED NEGRO BOY,
A Native of the Carribee Islands, in the West Indies.
Who departed this life February 3d, 1813,
Aged
four years and three quarters.
This Tomb, erected by his only Friend and
Guardian,
Mr. John Richardson, of
London.
Should this plain simple tomb attract thine eyes,
Stranger, as thoughtfully thou passest by,
Know that there lies beneath this humble stone,
A child of colour, haply not thine own.
His parents born of Afric’s sun-burnt race,
Tho’ black and white were blended in his face,
To Britain brought, which made his parents free,
And shew’d the world great Natur’s prodigy.
Depriv’d of kindred that to him were dear,
He found a friendly Guardian’s fost’ring care,
But, scarce had bloom’d, the fragrant flower fades,
And the lov’d infant finds an early grave,
To bury him his lov’d companions came,
And drop’t choice flowers, and lis’d his early fame;
And some that lov’d him most, as if unblest,
Bedwe’d with tears the whice wreath on his breast.
But he is gone, and dwells in the abode,
Where some of every clime must joy in God!
