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One of
the most commonly remarked upon features of St Mary’s is the fine
Elizabethan memorial to Gregory Lovell. We are lucky to have it since most
such edifices were unceremoniously destroyed during the wilder days of the
Civil War. By contrast, the only visible serious damage to Gregory’s
monument is the carelessly reattached head of one of his decapitated
daughters, a mishap probably rather more recent than the 17th
century.
The
inscription reads, ‘Here lyeth Gregory Lovell of Merton Abbey, Esquyer,
Cofferer of Her Majesty’s household, second son to Sir Francis Lovell of
Harlinge in Norff’c. He had two wyves, Ioanne (Joanna) daughter of ______
Whithead by whom he had issue Thomas, Mildred, Elizabethe and Frances,
And Dorothye, Daughter of Michaell Greene by whom he had issue Sir
Robert Lovell, Henry, Thomas, William and Gregory. He lived to the age of
three score
and XV and dyed the XV of March in the yeare of our Lorde 1597.’
Both his
office – that of treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I – and the splendour of his
monument indicate he was a man of some wealth with a good conceit of
himself. His grandfather, Sir Gregory Lovell, was the eldest son of Sir
Ralf Lovell of Barton Bendish, Norfolk. This Gregory’s younger brother, Sir
Thomas Lovell, fought for Henry VII at Bosworth (1485), became a Knight of
the Garter in 1498 (his stall plate can still be seen on the North side of
St George’s Chapel), and was speaker of the House of Commons from 1485 to
1488. He was the builder of East Harling Manor in Norfolk, and,
incidentally, of the gatehouse at
Lincoln’s
Inn, where his arms can be seen alongside those of Henry VIII.
His nephew,
Sir Francis, father of ‘our’ Gregory Lovell, succeeded Sir Thomas in the
manor of
East Harling. Sir Francis married Anne, daughter of George Ashfield, and died
in 1550. Gregory was their second son.
The arms
displayed on the tomb show the quarterings inherited by Gregory’s family,
which would more properly have descended only to his elder brother Sir
Thomas. The tinctures are now difficult to decipher, but a glance at the
heraldic reference books confirms them to be: First quarter argent a
chevron azure between three squirrels sejant gules, the arms of
Lovell. Second quarter, sable a cross between four lions rampant or,
the arms of Bendish. Third quarter, vert two chevrons argent each
charged with as many cinquefoils gules, the arms of Muswell. Fourth
quarter, barry of ten argent and gules a lion rampant or ducally crowned
per pale gules and argent, the arms of
Brandon.
The crest, above the shield, is a panache of peacock’s feathers proper,
tied with a ribbon gules.
The paternal
arms of Gregory’s two wives also appear on the monument. Those of the first
wife, Joanna Whithead, are azure a chevron or between three hunting horns
of the second. Those of the second wife, Dorothy Greene, are azure
three bucks passant or with a crescent for difference.
Taken
in sum, Gregory’s tomb raises a heraldic/genealogical conundrum which may or
may not be resoluble: was there any connection between the Lovell family
and the Robinsons of Rokeby, at least five of whom are commemorated in the
church? The arms of this family contain several details also seen on
Gregory’s monument, notably the Muswell chevron and cinquefoils between the
three bucks passant of Gregory’s second wife.
It could be
coincidence, but on balance it seems more likely than not that there was a
connection, possibly through one of Gregory’s daughters. I wonder if we
will ever know.
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