Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Sir Richard Burton (explorer), pictures of 2 memorials in Mortlake

Sir Richard Burton, who died in 1890, was an English explorer whose better-known achievements were translating the Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra and entering the holy city of Mecca in disguise. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

After his death, the great explorer was not buried in Westminster Abbey as his wife Isabel reportedly wanted. Instead, both the Burtons now lie in a mausoleum in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalene, Mortlake, Surrey. What's unusual is that this structure is a stone version of a Bedouin tent, designed by Lady Burton.

There is a memorial window for the Burton family inside the church.