Gravestone for Martha and William Fatt and sons-in-law Thomas Angell and Thomas Freeman
Name/Title
Gravestone for Martha and William Fatt and sons-in-law Thomas Angell and Thomas Freeman
Date Made
1770
Medium and Materials
Stone
Public Description (About this object)
Gravestone dating from 1770 for Martha and William Fatt and two of their sons-in-law, Thomas Angell and Thomas Freeman. Thomas Angell and Thomas Freeman were the first and second husbands of their daughter Mary Fatt. The stone is affixed to the floor of the café in the crypt of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Inscription and Marks
Engraved on the memorial: 'Mrs. MARTHA FATT Died December ye 22d, 1770 Aged 42 Mr. WILLIAM FATT Died April ye 9th 1776 Aged 48 Also THOMAS ANGELL Son in Law to the above WILLIAM & MARTHA FATT Died May the 5th 1780 aged 24 Years Also THOMAS FREEMAN Son in Law to the above WILLIAM + MARTHA FATT Who died [April/August] the 22nd 17[unintelligible]'
Subject and Association Description
The Fatt family were chimney sweeps to the Royal Palaces and the Admiralty buildings in the 18th century and records suggest they were also some of the earliest Black voters in Britain. William Fatt (the father of the William named on the tombstone) was recorded as voting in the 1749 bi-election for Westminster. William Fatt, whose name appears on the tombstone in St Martin’s Crypt, continued the family chimney sweep business, holding the contract for the Admiralty and Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The younger William also voted, in the 1774 general election, along with his younger brother, George Fatt, who also continued the family tradition of sweeping the royal palaces. Also appearing on the tombstone are the names ‘Thomas Angell’ and ‘Thomas Freeman’, husbands from the two marriages of the younger William’s daughter, Mary, who carried on the role sweeping the Royal Hospital and the Admiralty previously undertaken by her father, trading as Mary Angell and Mary Freeman.
Object number
SMITF.H.469