Published in Windlesora 33 (2016)
© WLHG 2018
On 11 June 2016, the Burney Society (UK) in celebration of Frances Burney’s birthday on 13 June, unveiled the restored stone memorial to Sarah Harriet (also known as Sarah Harriotte) Burney, Frances’s novelist half-sister. The stone memorials to Frances and Sarah Harriet, originally installed side-by-side in St Swithin’s Church, Walcot, Bath, were removed and lost during the installation of a church organ in the early 20th Century.
The restored plaques have been dedicated to the memory of Hester Davenport, who as well as being Chairman of the Windsor Local History Group, was also Chairman of the Burney Society (UK). The memorials were unveiled by her husband Tony assisted by their daughter Imogen.
The memorials to the novelists Frances (Fanny) Burney (Madame d’Arblay) and her sister Sarah Harriet Burney are replacements of the original lost plaques which were removed when an organ was installed against this wall in the 20th century. The exact wording was reproduced from photographs, and the memorials were installed in June 2013 and June 2016, respectively, funded by Burney Societies of the UK and North America.
They are dedicated to the memory of Hester Davenport,
Windsor Local History Group 