A Final Armorial Memorial in Temple Church, London

For our last look at some of the armorial memorials in Temple Church, London, we come to that of Sir John Witham, Baronet, of the Inner Temple, who was buried in the Temple Church vault November 28, 1689.

The long Latin inscription reads:

Memoriæ Sacrum

Johannes Witham, Baronetti

Qui prosapia in Agro Eboracensi ortus 

Inclyta & antiqua

Cuin res domi animo impar Esset 

Patriæ reliquit fines, 

et Majora Meditatus In Novum Virtute duce, orbem 

Provectus est 

ubi per varios casus suæ faber fortunæ 

Anglorum Nobilissimæ in Barbados Insula Coloniæ præpositus 

Summo Magistratu Maxima cum Laude 

Defunctus est. 

Ubi opes ibi honores bene promeritos 

Ob rrem feliciter gestam adeptus, 

In Angliam reversus est 

Semel Matrimonium Experto 

Soboles una Superstes nulla 

quod reliquum 

In votis erat inter suos in Templo Interiori Socios 

Vivus versari. 

Mortuus sepeliri 

Obijt XV die Novembris Anno gratiæ MDCLXXXIX Ætatis Suæ XLV 

Hoc Sepulcrale Marmor 

Amicitiæ pignus 

Posuit 

Robertus Chaplin Mercator Londinensis.

(Sacred Memory. John Witham, Baronet, Whose lineage was born in the Yorkshire Country Illustrious and ancient When things were not at home in his mind He left the borders of his country, and, having meditated on greater things, as a leader in a new Virtue, He advanced where, through various accidents, the architect of his fortune He was appointed to the colony of the most noble Englishmen in Barbados Island He died with the highest Magistracy with great honors. Where, having obtained wealth and well-deserved honors For his successful deeds, He returned to England Having once experienced marriage One issue, none surviving what remained He wished to spend his remaining times among his companions in the Inner Temple Alive. The deceased was buried Obituary on the 15th day of November in the year of his grace 1689, aged 45 This marble tomb was laid as a pledge of friendship

by Robert Chaplin, a merchant of London.)

But of course it's the heraldry, and the unusual crest, on the monument that caught my attention:

Burke’s General Armory cites: Witham (Cliffe, co. York). Or a bend gules between three pewits sable. Crest: Issuant from a ducal coronet or, a demi-woman hair dishevelled proper holding in her dexter hand a gem-ring or.

Here, we see Witham in the first and fourth, quartering: 2, Per fess argent and gules (Wawton); and 3, Argent on a fess gules between three birds close [sable] three escallops [argent] (Thweng); overall the badge of a baronet (Argent a dexter hand couped appaumy gules).

Burke notes that “this family, originally of co. Lincoln, acquired the lands of Cliffe by the marriage of George Witham, temp. Henry V., with Margaret, daughter and co-heir of John Wawton, of that place.” Which thus totally explains Wawton in the second quarter.

The Dictionary of British Arms, Vol. 3, notes the arms of Thweng (where it states that the birds are "very indistinct poss[ibly] popinjays"), on a brass to Thomas Wytham, d. 1481, and his wife Agnes, daughter of William Thweng of Comburgh, d. 1495, Sheriff Hutton, Yorkshire. And thus we find the explanation of the arms in the third quarter of the shield.

It's always kind of fun to find out where the various quarters on a multiply divided shield have come from. It's not always easy to track them all down, but I am glad that I was able to do so here, giving us a greater look at the family history and connections over the years than the inscription on the monument gave us on its own.