Photo focus
Stanley Monument
Sir Robert Stanley (died 1632) aged 24 and his two infant children Ferdinando and Henrietta Maria. Located in Lawrence chapel, east wall. Born at Hackney in 1608, he was the second son of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby (c1561-1642), and Lady Elizabeth de Vere. and by her line was a direct descendant of Henry VII and was married to Elizabeth Gorges (d.1675), daughter of Sir Arthur Gorges (monument in north west corner of More chapel) and Lady Elizabeth Clinton.
Ferdinando
The Stanley badge, an eagle preying upon a child, had its origins in the story of an ancestor supposedly childless and an elderly father who arranged for the child to be placed in the eagle’s nest and “discovered” by a faithful retainer, allowing him to adopt the child without having to acknowledge paternity.
Henrietta Maria
Sir Robert Stanley
Cheyne Monument
Lady Jane Cavendish was brought up at Wellbeck that housed a Royalist garrison during the Civil War, her father and brothers were driven out by the Parliamentarian troops and Jane and her sister were left in charge during the siege of Wellbeck before being captured and held prisoner and roughly treated, despite this Jane begged for the life of her gaoler when he was later condemned to death
Before the Reformation, it was generally assumed that after death time was spent in Purgatory so that the wording on monuments tended to be intercessory and ask for prayers to release the soul. After the Reformation the fashion was to celebrate the life of the individual in words and sculpture and display the wealth and culture of the family, to use artists rather than artisans to fashion the object. A prime example of this is the monument to Lady Jane Cheyne on the north wall of the Nave at Chelsea Old Church
