Mary Shelley is buried in the resort town of Bournemouth, England, about 75 miles southwest of London. Bournemouth is directly on the English Channel. Mary's grave is located in St. Peter's churchyard which is in the heart of what is now a tourist area, filled with shops and hotels.
Above is a picture of the graveyard next to St. Peter's Church in Bournemouth, England. The white sepulcher in the center of the picture holds the remains of Mary Shelley, her parents, her son, Percy, and his wife.
The picture above shows the writing on the tomb. Mary Wollstonecraft
Shelley was born on August 30, 1797 and died on February 1, 1861.
Mary had 4 children, but only one survived to adulthood. That son,
Percy, and his wife Jane, are buried with Mary.
This is another picture of the same side of the sepulcher. The contrast is somewhat different, and some parts are easier to read in this picture than in the first one.
This picture shows the opposite side of the sepulcher. Mary's mother, Mary Wollstonecraft and her father, John Godwin are buried in the same grave. As you can see from the inscription, Mary Wollstonecraft died on September 10, 1791, only 11 days after Mary Shelley was born. She died from complications from the birth.
Photos taken by F. Roger Hickey, 1999.
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