Location
On the west wall of the former foyer at the west end of the nave.
West Window
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN CHARLES SELBY
LATE OF HIGH STREET PORTSMOUTH
AND OF NORTH GROVE HOUSE ?????
SOUTHSEA
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE JUNE 14TH 1854
AGED 60 YEARS
HIS MORTAL REMAINS
ARE DEPOSITED BENEATH A TOMB
IN PORTSMOUTH NEW CEMETERY
AS A PERPETUAL MEMORIAL
TO HIS UNCEASING LOVE AND DEVOTED AFFECTION
AS A SON AND A BROTHER
AS A TRIBUTE TO HIS WORTH
AS A NEVER-FAILING FRIEND
AND TO HIS NOBLENESS OF HEART
TO THE POOR AND AFFLICTED
ALSO AS A TESTIMONY
OF WELL MERITED ESTEEM AND RESPECT
FOR HIS UNDEVIATING INTEGRITY
AS AN HONOURABLE MAN AND A GOOD CITIZEN
THIS WINDOW AND TABLET
ARE ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY
BY HIS DISCONSOLATE SISTER
Further Information
The west window is a vast work, dominating that end of the church. Unfortunately, some 20 years after the church was consecrated it became necessary to install additional seating and this was achieved by the erection of a balcony which now almost completely obscures the lower half of the window. Some of it however can still be seen in the foyer adjacent to the Selby memorial.
On the High Street of the 1840s there was a high class Naval and Military outfitters operating at No. 49 under the name of Selby. It is known that by the 1861 census the business was run by Jane Selby who was then aged 64. As the plaque inscription above makes no mention of spouse or children it seems that John Selby was unmarried and that on his death the only person available to take over the reins of the business may have been his sister Jane, who was of a comparable age. This is perhaps made more likely by the fact that the plaque was erected by Selby's "disconsolate sister".
North Grove House is a large well appointed house on Grove Road North which would in the 1850s have made an ideal retirement place for a wealthy and successful Portsmouth businessman.