The short life of Penelope Boothby

I have read a lot about Penelope Boothby over the week; many of you haven't even heard the name before. I hadn't until I saw a small article in a free newspaper. Never has a little girl been the inspiration for so much art in such a short life as Penelope Boothby.

Born at Ashbourne Hall in 1785, she was painted three years later by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who it is said, was entranced by her.

Sir Joshua Reynolds captured Penelope spirit and the overall painting is a delightful portrait of a winsome little girl wearing a white dress and a dark sash. She sits demurely, her mittened hands folded in her lap wearing a mob cap that belonged to her grandmother. It is said that she had loved wearing it, much as children today love to dress up.

This painting led to another, executed almost a hundred years later and this became even more famous. A Miss Talmage attended a fancy dress ball in London 1879, dressed as Penelope Boothby. Sir John Millais painted her in this costume and called his picture "Cherry Ripe" Alas, in March 1791 this lovely sweet natured little girl became very ill. A silence fell on the Hall during those days as she lay fighting for her life, but the doctor was unable to save her and she died peacefully a few days before her sixth birthday.

Penelope tomb is in St. Oswald's Church at Ashbourne, and it has drawn many visitors over the years. It is a beautiful and moving sight, carved in white marble in the form of a little girl who lies with her head resting on a pillow; her hands curled under her chin, her dress falling in deep folds over the curve of her legs.

It is difficult to imagine how a material as cold and hard as marble could be worked to give such a feeling of warmth and life to the onlooker, but Banks' skill has achieved this. As I gazed at her effigy, one feels that this child is only sleeping and will indeed awaken once more.

The inscription is thought to have been composed by Edmund Burke, the eminent eighteenth-century politician and writer, and is written in four languages; English, Latin, French, and Italian. It is said that Penelope could speak a little of each of these.

'I was not in safety, neither had I rest and the trouble came' The dedication which follows it reads:

"To Penelope

Only child of Sir Brooke Boothby and Dame Sussanah Boothby

Born April 11th 1785 died March 13th 1791

She was in form and intellect most exquisite

The unfortunate parents ventured their all in this Frail bark,

And the wreck was total".

It is said that Queen Charlotte wept when she saw the sketches for this monument.

Some years after Penelope's death Sir Brooke wrote a book of verses entitled Sorrows Sacred to the Memory of Penelope.

There is nothing in it to tell of Penelope herself, for it is dedicated to her father's sorrow. The only mention of her is in a poem dedicated to the sculptor of her tomb:

Well has thy classic chisel, Bank, expressed,

The graceful lineaments of that fine form Which late with conscious beauty warm,

Now here beneath does in dread silence rest.

That form, as fair as fancy ever drew, The marble cold inanimate retains,

But of the radiant smile that round her threw

Joys that beguiled my soul of mortal pains, And each divine expression's varying hue

A little senseless clay alone remains.

A sad end to this story lies behind the final lines of the inscription on the tomb, for it is said that when Penelope lay so ill, her parents disagreed over which doctor should attend to her. So desolate was her mother that she left Ashbourne and her husband never to return.