We had a family staying with us last weekend who were direct descendants of Arthur Dillon one of the Wild Geese who fled Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne.
They were still very proud of the Dillon connection. The Dillon’s had become prominent in France both in the army- they had created a Dillon regiment- and the church and this family had a great, great etc uncle; Arthur Richard Dillon, who had been the Archbishop of Narbonne (only down the road) from the 1750’s to 1790’s.
Now this fellow had been a bit of a lad by all accounts, lived with his wealthy niece in very smart hunting lodge outside Narbonne where he also kept hounds for the hunt.
He refused to accept the laicisation of the clergy after the revolution so he and his niece fled to England where he died in 1807 and was buried in St. Pancras graveyard.
He did however hit the headlines again just a few years ago, a story with which his family told with much relish.
Below is the story as told by Wikipedia.
In October 2006, the St Pancras graveyard was excavated in preparation for the London terminus of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Dillon’s coffin was opened and his porcelain dentures were discovered. It is believed that he purchased them from a Parisian dentist named Nicholas De Chemant.
The body of Archbishop Dillon was returned to France in March 2007 and now lies in Narbonne Cathedral.
His false teeth remain in the Museum of London.
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