< Previous | Contents | Next >
We have mentioned the sale of the estate with the advowson of the parish by Sir Robert Sutton to Sir Matthew Lamb in 1753. From the latter descended the Lords Melbourne, of whom there were three. Peniston the First, Viscount Melbourne, was born June 29th, 1748, and died on the 22nd of July, 1828. His eldest son, Peniston, died unmarried on the 24th of June, 1805; and he was therefore succeeded by his second son, William Lamb, second Viscount Melbourne, who became Prime Minister of England, and died in 1848. The third son of the first Viscount was Frederick James Lord Melbourne, who was born on the 17th of April, 1782, and died in 1853. The two last named have memorials in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. The eldest daughter of the first Viscount Melbourne was the Hon. Emily Mary, born on the 21st of April, 1787, and died on Sept. 11th, 1869. This lady married first Peter-Leopold-Louis-Francis Cowper, 5th Earl of that title, and after that Earl’s demise, the Lord Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of England. After the Viscountess Palmerston’s demise the estates came to the present Earl Cowper, who has done so much for the churches and parishes of Greasley and Selston.
There are, to the best of our knowledge and belief, no vaults now existing in Greasley Church except that of the Rev. John Mansell and his wife, in nearly the centre of the chancel, and the large vault, now sealed up, of the Rolleston family at the east end of the south aisle.
The monumental remains in the church are: On the north side of the chancel a brass shield with an obliterated coat of arms and a brass label, in memory of Helena the wife of Richard Bingham-mil; and one of a Gilbert Millington, who died very young, a descendent of the Millingtons of Felley.
On the south wall of the chancel are:
1st.—A tablet inscribed
To the Memory of
Ann,
The wife of the Rev. Wm. Wright,
Vicar of this Parish,
Who died April 19th, 1762,
AE 41.
Also of five infants, their children.
A little family in heaven we hope they make,
In bliss and happiness for Jesus sake.
Here also lies the body of John, son
of the Rev. W. Wright, and Ann his
wife, who died Feb. 4th, 1767, aged 23 years.
And also the body
of the above
Rev. William Wright,
who died
May the 3rd, 1776,
in the 60th year of his age.
2.—A marble tablet inscribed:
Sacred to the Memory of
The Rev. John Mansell, A.M., Vicar of
Greasley, who died,
August 27th, 1797, aged LXXII years.
Also to Mary his wife,
who died May 12th, 1797, aged LXV years.
3.—A small brass plate, which cannot be the original one, since in Throsby’s time the plate of which he wrote was heart-shaped while the present one is a square, with the engraving:
John Cooper, Rector of Thorp,
and Vicar of Greasley, departed
this life
March 10th, MDCCXLVI.
The late Revd. John Hides, vicar of Greasley
4.—A brass plate inscribed:
Sacred to the Memory of the
Rev. John Hides, Vicar of Greasley,
and 51 years Minister of this Parish,
who departed this life August 2 1St, 1865,
Aged 77 years.
Also to Mary his wife, who died
Feb. 27th, 1859,
In her 75th year.
Psalm XXXIX, 8: And now, Lord, what
is my hope, truly my hope is in Thee.
In the south aisle of the church are the Rolleston series:
1.—A marble monument, with a large niche containing a bust. The monument is surmounted with a crest and coat of arms. The Inscription is:
In Memory of Lancelot Rolleston,
of Watnall in ye County of Nottingham,
Esq., who was one of ye
Branches of ye Family of the Rollestons of Staffordshire.
He
married one of the daughters of Geo. Poole of Hege, in the
County of
Derby, Esq., with whom Hee liv’d very haypily many
year until his death.
And for his Knowne and Steddy loyalty to
his Prince, he was made
High
Sheriff of this County in the year 1682.
A Gentleman Generally belov’d in this Country, but especially by
his
particular acquaintance.
He was a great lover of the Person y once Contracted
friendship with,
And not given to change,
His carriage was Affable and his Conversation
Ingenious and
Pleasant, very courteous and Friendly to his Neighbours,
and
Charitable to all he knew in want.
He died in the year 1685, in the 35th year of his age,
Making his loving
Cousin, Edw. Rolleston of Toynton, in the
County of Lincoln, Esq., His
Executor, who erected this monument.
The small head of an angel with outspread wings is under the Monument, as though supporting it.
2.
Near this Place Remains
The body of Christopher Rolleston
Of Watnall, Esq., and Hannah his wife,
Daughter of Samuel Holden of Aston,
in the County of Derby, Esq.
She departed this life on the 29th of Ap…
In the 49th year of her . . .
He died on the 21st March of . .
in the 67th year of his age.
They had issue, Lancelot, Mary . . .
Christopher, Frances, Edward, Robert,
Elizabeth and Thomas.
This monument was erected in 1749.
Here Lie also the bodies of
Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall, Esq.
3.
Sacred to the Memory
of Revd. John Rolleston, M.A.,
LI. years the worthy and consciencious minister of Aston,
in the County of Derby.
The fourth and last surviving son of
Christopher Rolleston, Esq., of Watnall,
in the County of Nottingham,
and of Hannah his wife,
The daughter of Samuel Holden, Esqr., of Aston.
He married
Dorothy, the youngest Daughter
of Robert Burdett, Esqr., of Foremarke,
in the County of Derby,
and had issue by her
Six sons and one daughter.
He died June 13th, 1770,
aged 65 years.
This small tribute to his Memory and worth
Is paid by his truly affectionate
and sorrowful widow.
Also to the Memory of Dorothy Rolleston, Widow of
the Revd. John Rolleston,
M.A.,
who died the 20th Octr., 1794,
in the . . . . year
of her age.
4.
Sacred to the Memory of
Christopher Rolleston,
of Watnall, Esqr.,
second son of
the Revd. John Rolleston
and Dorothy his wife.
He died April 3rd, 1807,
Aged 67.
Also to the Memory of
Ann Rolleston,
Relict of Christopher Rolleston, Esq.
She died Feb. 4th, 1809,
aged 60.
5.
Also to the Memory of
Ann Rolleston,
Daughter of Christopher and Ann Rolleston,
who died Feb. 16th, 1813,
aged 30 years.
Sacred to the Memory
of Lancelot Rolleston, Esqr.,
of Watnall,
in the County of Nottingham,
eldest son of
The Revd. John Rolleston, A.M.,
and Dorothy his wife.
He departed this life the 25th April, 1802,
Aged 65
6.
Sacred
To the Memory of
Caroline,
Wife of Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall, Esqr.,
and Daughter of
Sir Christopher Chatwynd, Bart., of Granden Hall,
in the County of Warwick.
She died March 10th, 1844,
aged 57 years.
Also in Memory of
Lancelot,
Son of Lancelot and Caroline Rolleston.
He died March 20th, 1826,
aged 14 years.
6. Under the east window of the south aisle:—
Sacred to the Memory of
Lancelot Rolleston, of Watnall, Esqr., son of Christopher
Rolleston and
Ann his wife,
Daughter of Captain Nicholas, R.N., Colonel of the Nottingham
shire (Sherwood
Foresters) Militia, Chairman of Quarter Sessions.
and from 1837 to 1849
member in three successive parliaments
for the Southern Division of this County.
He died 18th May, 1862, aged 76.
Also to the Memory of his Wife Eleanor Charlotte, Daughter of
Robert
Fraser, Esqr., of Torbrek, Invernesse, and the Lady Ann
his Wife, Daughter
of James the 8th Earl of Lauderdale,
who died 2nd June, 1894.
At the west end of the south aisle in the Baptistry over the venerable old Font are the Tables of the Law, together with the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, presented to the church by Francis Barber in 1764. These incidentally show that the indifferent east window of the chancel, which was taken out in 1897, must have been erected during the restoration of 1832, because the tables, from their height, had then room there without obscuring the light, and were therefore buried behind the Lord’s table, where we found them in 1866. and have at the last restoration in 1896-7 transferred them to the Baptistry.
At the west end of the north aisle, with an obliterated coat of arms, is a monument inscribed :—
Near this Place are deposited the Remains of
Gilbert Millington, of
Felley Abbey, Esqr., and Sarah
his wife. He died the 2nd April, 1703,
and
she departed this life the 22nd August, 1741.
She had issue Gilbert,
who died the 14th of
May, 1694, aged 14. Elizabeth married
Thomas Holden,
M.A., Rector of Aston in the County of
Derby, and Alathea, their only
surviving daughter,
Relict of Charles Savile of Methley, in the
County
of York, Esq., by whom this monument
was erected to their memory out of
Filial
regard and Gratitude in the year 1744.
On the north wall of this aisle is a marble monument :—
In Memory of Anne,
The wife of
George Robinson, Esq.,
and eldest daughter of
Thomas Barber, Esqr.,
Who died March 5th. 1824,
Aged 21.
Under the east window of the same aisle is a brass plate inscribed
Sacred to the memory of
Thomas Francis Philip
Hutchinson Barber, of Lambclose House.
He died at Wurtenberg in Germany
3rd April, 1857, aged 79 years.
Near the pulpit in the same aisle is an alabaster tablet commemorating the last Church restoration, bearing the inscription :—
To the Glory of
God.
Earl Cowper, the Duke of Rutland, and
Messrs. Barber, Walker & Co. defrayed
the costs of the restoration of this Church
A.D. 1896.
The Rev. Rodolph Baron von Hube, Vicar.
M.E. Wild, Wm. George Churchwardens.,
Finally, on the south wall under the tower are two tablets the upper one of which reads
The
Reverend
John Mansell
and Mary his
wife Bequeath’d
the charities
as specified on
the Tablet below,
and which was erected
by L. Rolleston, Esqr.
The Revd. C. Nixon
and A. Jackson Gent.
Trustees.
Underneath this is the tablet containing the founder’s directions how his bequests should be applied:—
A Schoolmaster or Mistress for teaching Eight poor Children, Boys or Girls, whose Parents belong to the Parish of Greasley the Yearly Salary of |
5 |
0 |
0 |
Also Two Shillings and Six-pence on Christmas Day to each of the said poor Children, provided that they shall have regularly attended Church on Sundays and Christmas Day, unless prevented by sickness or lameness |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Ten Shillings each to Eight poor Women, parishioners of and resident in Greasley aforesaid, at the time of their Lying In |
4 |
0 |
0 |
One Shilling per week to Five poor Women, parishioners of and resident in one of the hamlets of Watnall, Moorgreen, Beggarlee, and Newthorpe |
13 |
0 |
0 |
Two Shillings and Six-pence to each of the said poor Women on Christmas Day, provided they shall have been regular attendants at Greasley Church, unless prevented by sickness or other reasonable excuse |
0 |
12 |
6 |
Fifty Shillings to be distributed in Wheaten Bread, on Candlemas Day, to the poor of Greasley aforesaid |
2 |
10 |
0 |
|
£26 |
2 |
6 |
Lastly, underneath the tablet containing the Mansell bequests is a brass plate, which years ago we recovered from some rubbish, and which refers to one who is said to have been buried under the tower, but whose remains were probably removed when the earlier large heating chamber, which is now filled up, was constructed. It is: “In Memory of Samuel Potter, son of Samuel Potter and Elizabeth his wife, who departed this life the gist day of May 1712, in the 22nd year of his age.”