Article
Lost Brass to William Ayloffe and His Wife Audrey at Stanford Rivers
Memorial Inscription to William Ayloffe and Audrey His Wife, 1517
Source: Some Interesting Essex Brasses, by Miller Christy, W. W. Porteous and E. Bertram Smith, published in Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, New Series, Volume 11 (1910), p. 327.
XI. Inscription to William Ayloffe, Gentleman, and Audrey His Wife
Date: 1517
Status: Inscription now lost.
This inscription appears to have been let into and run round the chamfered edge of the polished marble top-slab of an altar-tomb of freestone.
This tomb still remains in the church and has been figured and fully described by Mr. Chancellor.
Weever noticed the inscription in 1631.
Salmon, writing in 1740, says that it was "on a plate of brass, broke from a stone and lately in the custody of Mr. Ayloff, rector of Stanford Rivers," and that it read:
Original Memorial Inscription
Of yor Charite p'y for the Soule of Willm Ayloffe, Gentylman, owner of the Mannor of Brytensse, yn the Countye of Essex, wt in the Lordshippe of Havering of the Bower;
And also ownr of grete Braxted, wt divrsse other to hym belongyng; which Willm weddyd Audrey, dowghtr to Sr John Shawe, Knight, Alderman of London, and had 3 Children by the said Audrey, William, Thomas, and Agnes;
which [William] decessed 10 Aug. 1517, and [in the] 9 year of the rayn of Kyng Henry 8, and lyeth buried under this Stone;
On whos Soule and all xpen Soulls Jhu have mercy, and for your Charite say a Pater and Ave.
Historical Notes
William Ayloffe was a gentleman and landowner associated with the Manor of Brytensse, within the Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, and Great Braxted in Essex.
His wife, Audrey, was the daughter of Sir John Shawe, Knight and Alderman of London. The couple had three children: William, Thomas and Agnes.
William Ayloffe died on 10 August 1517, during the reign of Henry VIII, and was buried beneath the memorial stone described in the inscription.
Although the brass inscription had disappeared by the time of the 1910 publication, the original altar-tomb was reported as still surviving in the church.
References
- Christy, Miller; Porteous, W. W.; and Smith, E. Bertram, Some Interesting Essex Brasses, in Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, New Series, Vol. 11 (1910), p. 327.
- Weever (1631), early record of the memorial inscription.
- Salmon (1740), transcription of the brass inscription and its later custody.
- Mr. Chancellor, description and illustration of the surviving altar-tomb.
Lost Brass Inscription to William Ayloffe and Audrey His Wife, 1517
Source: Some Interesting Essex Brasses, by Miller Christy, W. W. Porteous and E. Bertram Smith, published in Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, New Series, Volume 11 (1910), p. 327.
XI. Inscription to William Ayloffe, Gentleman, and Audrey His Wife
Date: 1517
Status: Brass inscription now lost.
This inscription appears to have been let into and run round the chamfered edge of the polished marble top-slab of an altar-tomb of freestone.
This tomb still remains in the church and has been figured and fully described by Mr. Chancellor.145
Weever noticed the inscription in 1631.146
Salmon, writing in 1740,147 says that it was "on a plate of brass, broke from a stone and lately in the custody of Mr. Ayloff, rector of Stanford Rivers,"148 and that it read:
Original Memorial Inscription
Of yor Charite p'y for the Soule of Willm Ayloffe, Gentylman, owner of the Mannor of Brytensse, yn the Countye of Essex, wt in the Lordshippe of Havering of the Bower;
And also ownr of grete Braxted, wt divrsse other to hym belongyng; which Willm weddyd Audrey, dowghtr to Sr John Shawe, Knight, Alderman of London, and had 3 Children by the said Audrey, William, Thomas, and Agnes;
which [William] decessed 10 Aug. 1517, and [in the] 9 year of the rayn of Kyng Henry 8, and lyeth buried under this Stone;
On whos Soule and all xpen Soulls Jhu have mercy, and for your Charite say a Pater and Ave.
Historical Notes
William Ayloffe was a gentleman and landowner associated with the Manor of Brytensse, within the Lordship of Havering of the Bower, and Great Braxted in Essex.
His wife, Audrey, was the daughter of Sir John Shawe, Knight and Alderman of London. The couple had three children: William, Thomas and Agnes.
William Ayloffe died on 10 August 1517, during the reign of Henry VIII, and was buried beneath the memorial stone described in the inscription.
Although the brass inscription had disappeared by the time of the 1910 publication, the original altar-tomb was reported as still surviving in the church.
Footnotes
- Sepulchral Monuments of Essex, pp. 327–328 and plate CXVIII (1890). ↩
- Ancient Funeral Monuments, p. 647 (1631). ↩
- History of Essex, p. 253 (1740). ↩
- The Rev. John Ayloffe, M.A., became Rector of Stanford Rivers on 2 February 1707–8, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1722, and died unmarried, while still rector, on 10 December 1730.
See also: High Country History Group, Journal No. 45, "The Revd. Sir John Ayloffe Bt., Rector of Stanford Rivers (Baronetcy created 1612 – extinct 1781)."
↩
Principal Source
Christy, Miller; Porteous, W. W.; and Smith, E. Bertram, "Some Interesting Essex Brasses," Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, New Series, Vol. 11 (1910), p. 327.
