The Family Left
Spencer Wood In 1828, To Spend A Year In Italy, At Florence, Intending
To Return, But The Hon.
M. H. Perceval, died at sea on the 12th Oct.,
1829, and the family never returned.
The daughters married as follows: the eldest, Eliza, was wedded to Sir
George Denys, Bart.; the second, Caroline, to Col. Alexander Houstoun,
of Clerkington; the third, Isabella, to a wealthy French nobleman,
Baron de Veauce; the fourth, Mary Jane, to Sir James Matheson, Bart.;
the fifth died at the age of 18. The eldest son [229] "Spencer" is a
General officer. There were several other sons; George Ramsay, who
entered the army, Michael Henry and Col. Charles Perceval.
I can recall the time also when Lady Dalhousie and Mrs. Sheppard, of
Woodfield, would come to Spencer Wood, in their botanizing excursions.
Spencer Wood, later on, was also a favorite resort of Lady Aylmer, in
1832, whilst at an earlier period, the Duke of Richmond's family, in
1818, used to come and ramble about the grounds, lunching there with
all the junior folks.
This charming and beloved lady, my old friend, Ann Perceval, died at
Lewes Castle, Stornaway. Scotland, the seat of her son in law, Sir
James Matheson, on the 23rd Nov., 1876, most deservedly regretted, at
the very advanced age of eighty-seven years." - 24 January, 1877.
Spencer Wood garden is described in London's Encyclopedia of Gardening,
page 341, and also in the Gardener's Magazine for 1837, at page 467. Its
ornate style of culture, which made it a show-place for all strangers
visiting Quebec, was mainly due to the scientific and tasty arrangements
of an eminent landscape gardener, M. P. Lowe, [230] now in charge of the
Cataraqui conservatories.
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