William Horneck

The frontispiece of this book was given to me by Maggs Rare Books. Do take a walk round this very special bookshop.

"In this sacred building William Horneck Esquire desired his ashes to rest next to those of his father being Commander in Chief of Engineers in the Artillery.
Throughout his life he was a true military man inasmuch as from his first youth he was on active service under the greatest and most skilfil of generals the Duke of Marlborough. After long experience of military work he emerged not only skilful in all aspects of warfare but also without rival in the arts ( to which he had particularly as applied himself) of fortification and bombardment, as a result he was constantly chosen to undertake the greatest responsibilities of this kind.
Among his other skilful and succesful exlploits he consolidated with adequate fortifications Gibralter and Minorca both extremely valuable colonies of Great Britain.
Thereafter greatly serving his country he returned home and in his constant desire to make further progress he devoted himself to military engineering and by his intellectual powers his technical knowledge and his long experience greatly advanced it but ,alas, for tooshort a time for a sudden illness beconming rapidly more serious brought an end to his life the course of life that had given so much such useful service to the great grief of those close to him He died on 22nd April in the year of our Lord 1746 aged 62".

Mary Gwyn refers to a portrait of her grandfather in her will. It was last in the possession of the Bunbury family. I wonder if it has survived somewhere?