Page 34 - An account of the Lodge of Nine Muses No. 235. 1777 to 2012UGLE

34 An Account of the

But Sir William was re-elected at the next opportunity, and was W.M. in 1820
and 1821. In 1824 he was elected Treasurer, and held that office for twelve years;
during the period of his life covered by the minutes he hardly missed a meeting.
He died in March 1838, aged 85, and was buried in the Churchyard of St Botolph,
Bishopsgate, where his imposing monument can still be seen.
It is strange that his death was allowed to pass without comment in the minutes,
but this is the case with other prominent members in the early days; may this have
been in accordance with some now-forgotten convention?

The inscription on the tomb runs thus:

IN MEMORY OF
SIR WILLIAM RAWLINS, KNIGHT
WHO WAS BORN JULY 24TH, 1752
AND DIED MARCH 28TH, 1838.
SEVENTY YEARS AN INHABITANT OF THIS PARISH.
FIFTY YEARS A COMMON COUNCILMAN,
AND MANY YEARS DEPUTY OF THE WARD.
TREASURER OF THE CITY OF LONDON WORKHOUSE
AND OF THE WARD SCHOOLS.

Sir William showed an almost Egyptian anxiety for the security of his
sepulchre. He left a sum of money in trust, calculated to bring in an income of
£15 a year, out of which “on the 24th July in every second year after his decease
to provide a respectable dinner to be held in the ... Ward of Bishopsgate Without,
for the Alderman, Deputy and Common Councilmen of the Ward of Bishopsgate
Without, and for the Treasurer of the Bishopsgate Ward City Schools for the time
being, or their successors for ever”; the tomb to be inspected by the diners before
the dinner, each one so doing to have £1. 1s.
The tomb is still inspected every two years by some of the persons named in
Sir William’s will.
Sir William was one of those men who inevitably come to the top wherever
they are. He was the son of a farmer at Bridgecombe, Berkshire, a place which