This article written by Glenda Moore. This article may not be copied or redistributed. The cat Citizen
lived
in the Tower of London and is buried on the grounds at Beauchamp Tower.
John Augustus Bonney, who was incarcerated at the tower on May 19, 1794, for his
political views (charged with high treason), dedicated a poem to the
cat and recorded its
death in his diary on Aug. 22, 1794: "Citizen died at 6 o'clock; ill
all day; buried in the Tower Wall."
Bonney (1763-1813), is recorded as the 8th of 9 children of Rev. Thomas Bonney and Grace Kaye of Westminster ENG, was a lawyer and poet, was married to a woman named Elizabeth (maiden surname Taylor) who gave birth to at least one child (a son named Thomas). He was a member of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) and the Society for Constitutional Information (SCI). He was committed to the Tower in 1794, together with John Home Toole, John Thelwall, and several others. He was acquitted in December that year, when the Attorney-General declared he had no intention to offer evidence against them. (Note that the Tower of London is seen behind Bonney in the above portrait; it was done in November, while he was still incarcerated.)
Tower of London cats: - Henry Wriothesley and his cat Trixie - Sir Henry Wyatt and the Caterer Cat - John Augustus Bonney and Citizen |
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