Prisoners of War in Britain 1756 to 1815 / A record of their lives, their romance and their sufferings

by Francis Abell

In Monmouthshire

Abergavenny

There were some two hundred officers on parole here, but the only memory of them extant is associated with the Masonic Lodge, ‘Enfants de Mars et de Neptune’, which was worked by them about 1813–14. Tradition says that the officers’ mess room, an apartment in Monk Street, remarkable for a handsome arched ceiling, also served for Lodge meetings. De Grasse Tilly, son of Admiral De Grasse, who was defeated by Rodney in the West Indies, was a prominent member of this Lodge. At the present ‘Philanthropic’ Lodge, No. 818, Abergavenny, are preserved some collars, swords, and other articles which belonged to members of the old French prisoners’ Lodge.