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Title
Obelisk
Date
1812
Medium
Bath stone
Measurements
H 2740 x W (?) x D (?) cm
Accession number
HR8_ZM_S002
Acquisition method
commissioned by John Somers Cocks, 2nd Lord Somers
Work type
Obelisk
Owner
Eastnor Castle Estate
Custodian
Eastnor Castle Estate
Work status
extant
Listing status
Grade II* (England and Wales)
Listing date
10/01/86
Access
time restrictions apply
Access note
Park opening times
Inscription description
inscribed on a panel on the north side: inscribed / TO THE MEMORY OF / The Honourable EDWARD CHARLES COCKS / Eldest Son of / JOHN SOMERS LORD SOMERS / And MARGARET LADY SOMERS His Wife: / With strong inducements to apply himself to the safer duties of civil life the energy of his mind determined / him on a military career. Having chosen a profession he devoted himself to it with successful ardour and / perseverance. at the age of twenty six he fell respected, beloved, and regretted. His GREAT Commander / the Marquis of Wellington thus officially announced his death to the Secretary of State Earl Bathurst. / "at three in the morning of the Eighth (October 1812) we had the misfortune to lose the Honorable / "Major Cocks of the 79th who was field Officer of the trenches, and was killed in the act of rallying / "the troops who had been driven in. I have frequently had occasion to draw your Lordship's / "attention to the conduct of Major Cocks, and in one instance very recently in the attack of the / "Horn-work of the Castle of Burgos, and I consider his loss as one of the GREATest importance to / "this Army and to His Majesty's Service." / Lord Wellington had successively recommended him to the brevet rank of Major and Lieutenant / Colonel in the army: the former in acknowledgement of previous good conduct; and the latter as / a reward for his gallant acts in the Siege which proved fatal to him. Both recommendations were / confirmed by Authority, but THAT to be Lieutenant Colonel not till five days after he had bravely fallen / before Burgos. A Father who loved and thought highly of his Son feels himself Justified in inscribing these / truths to his memory, and bound to add THAT he acted on public and religious principles and THAT he / was dutiful to his parents; an affectionate brother; a sincere friend and benevolent man.; inscribed on the east side: LORD CHANCELLOR SOMERS / died a bachelor, and had no brothers, his only sisters were Mary and Elizabeth Somers. Mary, / the elder, was the wife of Charles Cocks, Esq., of Worcester, nephew of Thomas Cocks Esq., / of Castleditch; Elizabeth, the younger, of the Right Honourable Sir Joseph Jekyll Knight, / Master of the Rolls. Lady Jekyll left no issue, consequently, in the descendants of her sister Mary, / must be traced the heir and representative of Lord Chancellor Somers. She had only two children, / who eventually left issue Margaret, Countess of Hardwicke and John Cocks Esq., who by his / wife and cousin Mary Cocks heiress of Castleditch had many children. The eldest son and / heir Charles, was created Lord Somers in 1784, and was succeeded in 1806 by his eldest son, / who erects this obelisk A.D. 1812.; and on the south side: inscribed / TO THE MEMORY OF / JAMES COCKS, ENSIGN IN THE GUARDS; / he was the only surviving issue of James Cocks, Esq., eldest nephew of / Lord Chancellor Somers, and of Ann, sister of the late Lord Berkeley of Stratton. / Possessed of an ample patrimony, he preferred honour to security, and before he had / attained the age of 20 fighting for his country, fell in battle at St Cas, on the coast / of France. A.D. 1758.; and on the west side: TO THE MEMORY OF / JOHN LORD SOMERS, / BARON OF EVESHAM LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND / in the reign of WILLIAM III., and President of the Council in THAT of QUEEN ANNE. / To the uniform ability, and integrity of his public conduct, posterity has done justice by acknowledging / in the most ample manner the wisdom of his councils, and continually appealing, both in and / out of Parliament, to the opinion of Lord Somers, as the standard of political rectitude. / His spirited defence of the seven bishops in a court of justice, and his able speech in Parliament / proving the abdication of King James, are well known. The nation, it is generally admitted / is indebted to him above any other statesman, for the union between England and Scotland / and the establishment of the Protestant succession. When his political enemies of the day / impeached him before his Peers, the House of Commons did not appear at the Bar of the House / of Lords, or attempt to prove a criminal act against him. He was loyal and faithful to / the Sovereign whom he served, a sincere and useful friend to his country and to his / family he bequeathed what they ought to value above earthly possessions or dignities - / a GREAT and good example: in gratitude for which and in general admiration of his character / this Obelisk is erected by his heir and representative JOHN SOMERS, LORD SOMERS, / BARON OF EVESHAM.
