ABSTRACT
On 4 May 1893 Newson Garrett died at Aldeburgh. Two days earlier he had gone for a long carriage drive, and on the previous day had been in excellent humour. As he was getting into bed in the evening his heart suddenly ceased to beat; he left life swiftly enough even for his impatient spirit. He was buried in the family vault which he had built in Aldeburgh churchyard. Bunting flew at half-mast all along the beach; the mayor and corporation, the freemasons, the Volunteer Artillery, the lifeboat and coastguard-men followed him to his grave. Old Mrs Garrett survived her husband by ten years, continuing to pray for him serenely every day as she had in his lifetime. Her mind remained clear and her handwriting firm. She continued to order the affairs of Alde House and subscribe to her favourite charities, among them Elizabeth’s hospital and the London School of Medicine for Women. She made her way to church on the bitterest winter Sundays and took a cold bath daily until her death. Steadily writing and receiving letters, she followed the careers of seventy-five children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, recording every birth and death with appropriate moral sentiments. Elizabeth had once found her mother’s pieties exasperating; now she regarded them with affection and respect.
