Tomb Of Harriet Long And Jacob Walker In The Churchyard Of The Old Parish Church Of St Mary

Tomb of Harriet Long and Jacob Walker in the churchyard of the Old Parish Church of St Mary

This is a slate ledger tomb dated 1841, rectangular in form with a moulded edge and slightly raised. The inscription covers just over half the stone and is written in crisp Roman capital letters.

The inscription reads: "Harriet Long / a native of Virginia / the widow of Joseph Selden / Lieutenant Colonel in the army / of the United States / and the wife of George Long / died at Highgate / on the 18th day of June 1841 / in the 40th year of her age. // Lux oculis ridens majestas fronte serena / fulgebat toto suavis ab ore decor / par animus formae grandes in pectore vires / casta fides pietas ingeniumque simul. // Jacob Walker / a native of Virginia / in America the faithful slave / in England the faithful servant / of / Harriet and George Long / and an honest man / died at Highgate on the 12th of August 1841 / in the 40th year of his age." The Latin quotation is lettered in smaller capitals than the remainder of the inscription.

Jacob Walker (c.1802–1841) was a slave in Virginia and later a domestic servant in England. He was owned by George Long (1800–1879), a distinguished classicist, and his wife Harriet (c.1802–1841). George Long was professor of ancient languages at the University of Virginia from 1824 to 1828, where he was a frequent guest of Thomas Jefferson, the rector. He married Harriet Seldon, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Selden, a judge of the Supreme Court of Arkansas. Jacob Walker likely came to England as part of the household of either Harriet or her mother-in-law. Upon arriving in England, where slavery was illegal, Walker ceased to be a slave. In the 1841 census he appears as a male servant.

In 1828, George Long was appointed professor of Greek at the new University of London, and the family settled in Jacksons Lane, Highgate. Long was called to the bar in 1837. The household included six children, three female servants, a coachman, and a gardener.

In 1841, Harriet died of cancer, followed by Jacob two months later. Jacob's death certificate records smallpox after vaccination as the cause. George Long was present at both deaths. A later account that Jacob was found dead on Harriet's grave and reburied with her appears to be fabrication.

The inscription appears to accord the two commemorated figures equal importance. The Latin verse, almost certainly composed by George Long, translates as "A smiling light shone in the eyes, majesty on the serene brow, / sweet beauty from the whole face / spirit equal to beauty, great strength in the heart / chaste loyalty, duty, and intelligence all together." The style follows the tradition of epigraphs composed by mourning husbands in ancient Rome, though the gender is neutral. The layout suggests Long may have intended the verse to apply to both. Both names are followed by "A native of Virginia" and both epitaphs conclude with death at Highgate in the 40th year of age. This symmetry reflects the symmetry of the two lives and emphasises Jacob Walker's different status in Virginia as a slave and in England as a servant, highlighting the disparity in law between the two nations regarding slavery.

George Long's father was a West India merchant based in Poulton, Lancashire, with likely connections to slavery and the slave trade. Long himself supported the slave-owning South during the American Civil War of 1861–1865, though this does not necessarily indicate opposition to abolition. His position may have reflected regret at the transformation of the South he knew, or disappointment in the American republic as a classicist. The role of slavery in the ancient world was a subject of anxious debate in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Whether Long's long association with Jacob Walker influenced his later political views remains unknown.

The tomb lies in the churchyard of the old parish church of St Mary, Hornsey. Only the medieval tower remains; this stands to the north of the churchyard where a number of interesting graves are found, including the monument to Samuel Rogers, the Romantic poet, and his family. The tomb of Harriet Long and Jacob Walker lies in a less frequented part of the churchyard, in a row of horizontal graves, many of which are damaged or illegible. The churchyard retains an atmosphere of the old village of Hornsey, otherwise difficult to find in the High Street. Two listed houses of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries stand opposite the entrance to the churchyard.