Emily Tennyson Smith

In the west cloister of Westminster Abbey is a memorial stone to Emily Tennyson Bradley, a daughter of George Bradley, Dean of Westminster, and his wife Marian (Philpot) and her husband Alexander Murray Smith. She was a godchild of Lord Tennyson the poet. By her books and devotion to the Abbey she did much to make its history more widely known. She and her sister Mabel (later Lady Birchenough) were the original compilers of the long running Westminster Abbey Official Guide (which continued with revisions for over a hundred years). On 22nd April 1893 in the Abbey she married Alexander Murray Smith, son of George Murray Smith and Elizabeth (Blakeway) publisher in the house of Smith & Elder. He was educated at Cambridge university and became a partner in the family firm. Both had memorial services in St Faith's chapel at the Abbey.

Neither are buried at the Abbey. The funerals were held at Ashurst in Kent. The inscription reads:

In memory of Emily Tennyson Bradley historian of the Abbey 1862-1946 and of her husband Alexander Murray Smith 1866-1939.

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