The Thursby Memorial

 

The Thursby Memorial

The Thursbys were Lords of the Manor of Abington for over 200 years.  The large memorial is to Sir  William Thursby.  The astute lawyer, later a judge and an MP for Northampton, made many improvements to the Manor House and then to the Church. These included the rebuilding of the house and provision of a new water supply. He also appointed a surveyor to produce the earliest known map of Abington in 1671.

 

Beneath this chapel is a vault in which 9 coffins were placed, all holding members of the Thursby family.

 

 

 

 

John Bernard

Also  commemorated is Sir John Bernard .  The Latin translates as follows: - Here rest the remains of a man of most noble race, illustrious through his father, grand-father, great-grandfather and other ancestors, having been Lords of this town of Abington for more than 200 years: - he yielded to fate in the 69th year of his age, on the 5th day before the Nones of March in the year of the Nativity 1673. Mors Est Janua Vitae.

Sir John’s second wife, Elizabeth was Shakespeare’s granddaughter.