I'm hoping a chatter has access to Banbury area burials in book form. I'm interested in the register listings for the church at Wroxton, and the burials for Thomas Morton d. 1704 and his wife Elizabeth Morton d. 1705. There's a teaser quote on Ancestry from the Banbury burials book regarding Thomas Morton, which may be a register reference to Honors dating from Charles II. The Mortons are buried at Wroxton due to Elizabeth's parentage--Sir John Finett and Dame Jane Wentworth Finett. The surveyed church memorials text reads thus:
"The three following epitaphs are to the memory of the descendants of Anne, Countess of Downe, by her first husband, Henry Lord Wentworth.
1. "Here lyeth buried the body of Dame JANE FINET, only daughter of Henry Lord Wentworth, Baron of Nettlested, in the covnty of Suffolke, and widdow of Sir John Finet, master of the ceremonys to King Charles. She departed this life the 18th day of July, 1652, and left behind her one sonn and five daughters."
2. "Here lyeth the body of THOMAS MORTON, esq., who departed this life the 10th day of May, 1704, in the 75th year of his age. Here lyeth the body of ELIZABETH MORTON, the wife of Thomas Morton, esq., who' departed this life the 2d day of Feb. in the year of our Lord 1705, and in the 83 year of her age. She was daughter of Sir John Finet, master of the ceremonys, and grand-daughter to Anne, Countesse of Down. Interred in this place."3. "Here lyeth the body of FINETA FINET, who departed this life the 4th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1709. And in the 84th year of her age. She was daughter of Sir John Finet, master of the ceremonys, and grand-daughter to Ann, Countesse of Down. Interred in this place."
The Mortons' interrment at Wroxton was due to Elizabeth's descendancy from Henry Lord Wentworth's wife Anne, her family seat being Wroxton Abbey. Thomas Morton was the third husband of Elizabeth Finett (second husband John RUSHOUT began a baronetcy and string of Worcester MPs--Elizabeth was his second wife, and no issue by her), and while I know a great deal about her, I know very little about him. I'm still hunting for their marriage in Westminster/London, and believe it to date to ca. 1655. My tie to Elizabeth is via her only child born to first husband James GODSCHALKE (m. 1638-9), son of Flemish cloth merchant Joos Godschalke of London and Essex. The son was John Godschalke, knighted in June 1660 at the age of 20/21, and married to Anne FILMER of East Sutton, Kent, in mid-1659. Young Sir John was murdered at the Golden Fleece Tavern in Covent Garden in November 1660, leaving widow Dame Anne with one 2 month old son, John, and pregnant with daughter Anne Godschalke, born August 1661 and later married to Sir Thomas SAMWELL, from whom descend the Samwell baronetcy of Upton, Northants. It's an interesting hard-to-make-up saga (the murder chronicled by 3 different Restoration diarists, including Pepys), with a couple of loose ends at this point, including finding out just who Thomas Morton was!
Also on the bucket list are wills for both Thomas and Elizabeth, which so far have been elusive; they're not in the PCC, and I don't know what other jurisdiction might have had them, save the appropriate Archdeaconry or Consistory Court for their residence at death. Don't want to be too greedy though---I'd be happy with full quotes from the Banbury burials and the Wroxton interments mentioned above. As an aside, my only blood connection to the above was Anne Filmer Godschalke, d-i-l to Elizabeth Morton. Thanks for any help!
David in Richmond, VA
