[Printed keepsake, with two illustrations.] In thankful Commemoration of the 90th Birthday of The Dowager Lady Barrow, January 5th, 1900. Printed by one who owes much to her loving spiritual help and letters when he was an Eton Boy in 1845.
4pp., ,4to. Bifolium. Printed in gold on shiny art paper, with the two illustrations in black. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The recto of the first leaf carries a memoir of Lady Barrow, 'Reproduced, by permission, from "The Surrey Comet," Dec. 25, 1899.': 'LADY BARROW - nee Rosamond Hester Elizabeth, daughter of the late William Pennell, Esq., Consul-General in Brazil - was born January 5th, 1810, and was the twenty-first child of her parents. Six weeks after her birth she became the adopted daughter of the Right Hon. John Wilson Croker, who had married her eldest sister. [...] While at Kensington Palace, when she was about nine, she was twice sent for to play with the Queen (then Princess Victoria), but on both occasions she could not be found. As a girl, Misss Croker was celebrated for her beauty, and of her portrait, at the age of 17, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, it was said by Allen [sic] Cunningham, that "men stood before it in a half-circle admiring its loveliness in the exhibition: it was all airiness and grace." [...] A further entry recalls an interesting reminiscence of the Duke of Wellington: "Twelve Days before the Duke of Wellington's death, he had gone over from Walmer to Folkestone, for the special purpose of seeing Mr. and Mrs. Croker and Lady Barrow. The Duke won the hearts of her five little daughters by writing his name in their albums. On his return to the station, the Duke handed the ladies in, and insisted on taking the front seat, saying, I must sit opposite to Nony (Lady Barrow)." One of Lady Barrow's great friends was the late Bishop Wilberforce, who was also godfather to some of her children. [...]' The central pages carry facing reproductions of miniatures of Lady Barrow, the first by Sir Thomas Lawrence, executed in 1827, the second, by G. F. Zink, made from a photograph taken in 1899. The last page carries two poems, the first, by 'R. N. B. [i.e. Lady Barrow herself]. titled 'Written on having passed my Ninetieth Birthday'; the second, 'taken from an American Magazine'. A final religious sentiment is followed by: 'W[illiam]. B[ramley].-M[oore]., 26 R[ussell]. Sq[uare]., Jan. 6th, 1900.' Scarce: no copy on COPAC or OCLC WorldCat.