Church Monuments Society

The church of St Peter’s contains a wonderful collection of monuments, of which those connected to the Selby family of Ightham Mote form an interesting 17^th century group.  There are two to successive Sir Williams, and an outstanding one by the London sculptor Edward Marshall to Lady Dorothy the seamstress ‘whose curious Needle turned th’ stage / Of this leud World into the golden Age’.  The fourth, situated in the Mote chapel and a generation later, is by contrast quite plain and overlooked (not least in the Buildings of England volume for ‘West Kent and the Weald’); a black stone inscription tablet set in an alabaster frame, topped by a swan’s neck pediment framing a small urn.  Below, simple decorative foliage and matching skulls are separated by a repainted heraldic shield; two smaller shields further up give the tablet an ‘eared’ appearance. While by far the least imposing pre-Victorian monument in the church, it illustrates the connections of the Selby family of Ightham Mote to the legal profession through the commemorated, Sir John Howell, whose aptitude had been recognised by the Selbys in the 1630s and was to eventually eclipse their own legal abilities and honours.  As often with these business connections, the Howell and Selby families were further bound together when two Howell daughters married two Selby brothers in the next generation.

John Howell was born about 1607, the second son of Richard Howell of Longford, Gloucestershire.  The Howell family origins are somewhat obscure, their heraldry displayed on his monument – Gules three towers Argent, two and one, a plate between of the second, Argent (the towers have a hint of gold, but they are actually silver – perhaps decayed varnish with the passing of time) – suggests they claimed descent from Hywel or Howel,  the medieval Lord of Caerleon, Monmouthshire, in South Wales. However, Welsh heraldry is a particularly murky area until the mid 16^th century and Thomas Lloyd, Wales Herald of Arms Extraordinary, suggests that the Howells were using heraldry to link themselves geographically with the Monmouthshire area where they historically originated, rather than claiming descent from a particular family. In 1678, when John Howell was knighted on appointment as Recorder of London, there was no official enquiry into his heraldry, so his right to display it was accepted although it was never registered at the College of Arms.  The same heraldic display is found on the fine ledger stone commemorating Charles Burton (died 1661) of Carshalton, Surrey, husband of John’s sister Elizabeth, who died in 1685. That there was affection between John and his sister there can be no doubt; in his will of 1680 he made it ‘my very earnest desire that my wife and children and my sister Burton will live altogether in one family as now they do in love and unity and I doubt not but the God of Peace will multiply his blessings upon them’ [Members of the society will be able to view the Burton ledger stone at the CMS AGM at Carshalton next year].

Howell was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn, along with members of the Selby family, in 1633, and married Elizabeth Cradock the same year.  Elizabeth was probably living in Ightham during her childhood, when the first Sir William Selby purchased the Mote in 1611.  Howell had acted as a trustee for a land transaction involving the second Sir William, who died in 1637, and was appointed by his widow, Lady Dorothy (died 1641) as a supervisor of her will.  Later appointed Sargeant at Law, one of the highest offices in the legal profession, Howell was also elevated to the post of Recorder of London when created a Knight Batchelor in July 1678 at Whitehall.

The Mote estate passed to Sir William’s cousin George Selby who, before his death in May 1667, had seen his younger son Henry marry Jane, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Howell. Soon after, George’s elder son and successor William married Jane’s sister Elizabeth. Their descendants would reign at the Mote into the late 18^th century.

While the monument is dedicated to the deceased parents who are buried in the vault beneath, these two unions – cementing the connections between the Howell and Selby families – are also celebrated on the monument and are represented in the small ear-shaped shields.  There is a problem here, as one would expect both shields to represent a union between a Selby man (whose arms would be displayed on the dexter side of the shield), to a Howell woman (on the sinister side), but the shield on the left-hand side of the monument shows that heraldry in reverse – why, is not clear, as there is no record of a male Howell marrying a Selby female.  If not in error, could this be a deliberate device to represent the Christian idea of the husband and wife being of one flesh, or is it a repainting in error?  It is an intriguing question!

Monuments are erected for many reasons, and not only to commemorate the deceased.  In this case, the commemoration of Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Howell is allied to the recognition of the union of their deceased daughters with the Selbys. The connection was so strong that the Howells opted for and were allowed burial in a Selby vault next to their daughters.  While Selby monuments dominate the church, this monument provides an interesting link between them and their friends and relatives – with a mysterious Welsh ancestry!

Andrew Skelton

With help from; Thomas Lloyd, Welsh Herald of Arms Extraordinary, OBE, DL, FSA; Joy Reynard, the Rector and Administrators of the Parish of All Saints, Carshalton, Surrey for permission to publish images of Charles Burton’s monument, and of the Administrator of the Parish of Ightham, Kent, for permission to publish images of the Howell monument.

For further reading, see G C R Morris, ‘Cradock, Amherst and Howell: a link between the Selbys of Ightham and Dr Thomas Browne of Norwich’ Kent Archaeological Collections 102 (1986), 11-17.

Gallery

• Image 1 – general view of the monument to Sir John Howell and his wife Elizabeth Cradock, c.1690. St Peter’s Parish Church, Ightham.
• The repainted arms of Howell impaling Cradock from the monument to Sir John and Elizabeth Howell, c.1690. The colour of the towers and plate appear as gold but are in fact likely to be decomposed varnish over the silver paint.
• The heraldic achievement on the ledger stone to Charles Burton, c.1661-5, All Saints, Carshalton, Surrey. Detail of heraldry; Burton impaling Howell. The white areas are a fragmented inlay to emphasise the incised decoration.