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Laurence Sterne

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Laurence Sterne

Birth
Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland
Death
18 Mar 1768 (aged 54)
London, City of London, Greater London, England
Burial
Coxwold, Hambleton District, North Yorkshire, England
Memorial ID
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Writer. In 1737, he was ordained a deacon and in 1738 he was invested into the priesthood and named vicar of Suton-on-the-Forest, near of York. He is best remembered for his book "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy," that endures today as an innovative masterpiece that anticipated the work of modern writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Beckett. He also wrote "A Sentimental Journey" and "Journal to Eliza." Many conflicting rumors surrounded the details of Sterne's burial. Some said he was interred at St. George's Hanover Square cemetery in Paddington. Others maintained his body was dug up only days after the funeral and sold to a professor of anatomy at Cambridge; recognizing Sterne midway through dissection, the physician supposedly returned the stolen corpse to its grave. In 1969 skeletal remains generally acknowledged after scientific examination as Sterne's were reburied in Coxwold.
Writer. In 1737, he was ordained a deacon and in 1738 he was invested into the priesthood and named vicar of Suton-on-the-Forest, near of York. He is best remembered for his book "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy," that endures today as an innovative masterpiece that anticipated the work of modern writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Beckett. He also wrote "A Sentimental Journey" and "Journal to Eliza." Many conflicting rumors surrounded the details of Sterne's burial. Some said he was interred at St. George's Hanover Square cemetery in Paddington. Others maintained his body was dug up only days after the funeral and sold to a professor of anatomy at Cambridge; recognizing Sterne midway through dissection, the physician supposedly returned the stolen corpse to its grave. In 1969 skeletal remains generally acknowledged after scientific examination as Sterne's were reburied in Coxwold.

Bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni

Inscription

ALAS POOR YORICK
NEAR TO THIS PLACE LYES THE BODY
OF
THE REVEREND LAURENCE STERNE M.A.
DYED SEPTEMBER 13TH 1768
AGED 55 YEARS
AH! MOLLITER OFFA QUIESCANT
IF A SOUND HEAD WARM HEART AND BREAST HUMANE
UNSULLIED WORTH AND SOUL WITHOUT A STAIN
IF MENTAL POWERS COULD EVER JUSTLY CLAIM
THE WELL WON TRIBUTE OF IMMORTAL FAME
STERNE WAS THE MAIN WHO WITH GIGANTIC STRIDE
MOW'D DOWN LUXURIANT FOLLIES FAR AND WIDE
YET WHAT THOUGH KEENEST KNOWLEDGE OF MANKIND
UNSEALED TO HIM THE SPRINGS THAT MOVE THE MIND
WHAT DID IT BOOT HIM? RIDICUL'D ABUS'D
BY FOOLS INSULTED AND BY PRUDES ACCUS'D
IN THIS MILD READER VIEW THY FUTURE FATE
LIKE HIM DESPISE WHAT WERE A SIN TO HATE
This Monumental Stone was Erected to the Memory of the Deceased by two brother masons for although he did not live to be a member of their society yet all his incomparable performances evidently prove him to have lived by rule and square, they rejoice in this opportunity of perpetuating his high and irreproachable character to after ages.

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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Originally Created by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni
  • Added: Oct 31, 2004
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9732070/laurence-sterne: accessed ), memorial page for Laurence Sterne (24 Nov 1713–18 Mar 1768), Find a Grave Memorial ID 9732070, citing St. Michael's Churchyard, Coxwold, Hambleton District, North Yorkshire, England; Maintained by Find a Grave.