File:St Margaret of Antioch, Norfolk - Wall monument - geograph.org.uk - 1500864.jpg

English: St Margaret's Church, Felbrigg, Norfolk, mural monument to Thomas Windham (1585-1653/4) made in 1669 by a Norwich stonemason named Martin Morley who charged £45 (Ketton-Cremer, R W, Felbrigg, The Story of a House, 1986 edition (first published 1962), p.53). He died aged 69, but the monument states his age at death incorrectly as 82 (Ketton-Cremer, p.53). He married twice:

• Firstly to Elizabeth Litton, a daughter of Sir Rowland Litton, Knight Bachelor, of w:Knebworth House in Hertfordshire, by whom he had a daughter Anne Windham, died young, and an only son, John Windham (d.1655) of Felbrigg, who married firstly Jane Godfrey (d.1652), a daughter of Richard Godfrey of Hindringham in Norfolk, by whom he had an only son John Windham (born 1648) who died in infancy. He married three more times, but all without issue. (Ketton-Cremer, R W, Felbrigg, The Story of a House, 1986 edition (first published 1962), pp.43-4).
• Secondly he married Elizabeth Mede/Meade, a daughter of Sir John Mede, Knight Bachelor, of Lofts Hall in the parish of Wenden Lofts, Essex. She survived him and remarried to Richard Chamberlaine.
  

On top of the broken pediment are two cherubs, one blowing the Last Trump of the Final Judgement, the other brandishing Death's scythe, both supporting up a laurel crown in the centre, signifying victory over death. Inscribed in Latin (transcribed in Farrer, Edmund, Church Heraldry of Norfolk, Vol.2, Norwich, 1889, pp.422-3 [1]):

M(emoriae) S(acrum) Thomae Windham de Felbrigg in agro Norfolcienai Armigeri, filii Johannis Windham de Orchard in comitatu Somersetensi, Equitis Aurati, qui bino conjugis felix, uxorem primam habuit Elizabetham filiam Rowlandi Litton, Equitis Aurati, in comitatu Hertfordiae, et ex susceptum filium unicum Johannem nuper defunctum ; alteram Elizabetham Johannis Mede de Loffts in Essexia Equitis item Aurati filiam numerosa prole ob eodem Thoma faecundam quatuor masculis Thoma, Gulielmo, Georgio, et Johanne, et faeminis duabus Elizabetha et Johanna maritoq. mortuo extructo hoc monumento piam ; obiit (annorum ac opum satur) aetatis suae octogesimo secundo, 1^o Martii 1653

Which may be translated:

Sacred to the memory of Thomas Windham of Felbrigg in the County of Norfolk, Esquire, the son of John Windham of Orchard (i.e. w:Orchard Wyndham) in the County of Somerset, Knight Bachelor, who was twice happy with wives: as his first wife he had Elizabeth, a daughter of Rowland Litton, Knight Bachelor, in the County of Hertford, (i.e. of w:Knebworth House) and from whom he had an only son, John, recently deceased; the second was Elizabeth, a daughter of John Mede of Lofts in Essex, also Knight Bachelor, fruitful with numerous issue on account of the same Thomas: with four males: Thomas, William, George and John; and with two females: Elizabeth and Joan; and pious to her deceased husband with this monument having been built. He died (full of years and of works) in the year of his age the eighty second, (sic, should be 69th) on the 1^st of March 1653.

The Mede or Meade family was seated at Lofts Hall in the parish of Wenden Lofts, 5 miles west of Saffron Walden. In the Parish Church of St. Dunstan, Wenden Lofts, are ledger stones to Thomas Meade, son of Sir John Meade, 1678 and to Thomas Windham, 1661 (Source: 'Wenden Lofts', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 1, North West (London, 1916), pp. 328-329 [2]). Three of his children died of smallpox. See also mural monuments in same church to two of his children who died of smallpox: Joan Windham (1651/2-1669), died aged 18 at Norwich, and his youngest child John Windham (1653-1676), died aged 23 at Lincoln's Inn in London, which also mentions that his eldest brother Thomas Windham (1646-1661) also died of smallpox, aged 15, and was buried at his mother's home church at Wenden Lofts, Essex (where survives his ledger stone). (Source: Farrer, Edmund, Church Heraldry of Norfolk, Vol 2, 1889, p.424[3]).

Heraldry: 3 shields:

• Top: Azure, a chevron between three lion's heads erased or (Windham)
• Dexter/left: Sable, a chevron between three pelicans or vulning themselves gules (Mead of Lofts Hall, Wenden Lofts, Essex) (Burke, Sir Bernard, The General Armory, London, 1884, p.675 "Meade of Essex"), for his second wife. This is one of a group of similar arms (featuring a chevron between three pelicans vulning) for the families of Meade, Meadows and Culme, all of which surnames signify agricultural land used for grazing. The reason is unclear, not apparently canting arms; possibly all of common descent, possibly Culme was the original family, and various cadet branches differenced both arms and surname. Usually the arms of the first wife are placed at dexter, the position of greatest honour, but it seems that Elizabeth Mede, who erected the monument, and was the mother of his heir, relegated the arms of Elizabeth Litton to the secondary sinister position.
• Sinister/right: Ermine, on a chief indented azure three ducal coronets or (Litton/Lytton), for his first wife.

• Thomas Windham (1585-1653), who married as his second wife Elizabeth Mede/Meade, a daughter of Sir John Mede, Knight Bachelor, of Lofts Hall in the parish of Wenden Lofts, Essex. By Elizabeth Mede he had issue including:
  • Thomas Windham (1646-1661), eldest son and heir apparent, died of smallpox, aged 15, and was buried at his mother's home church at Wenden Lofts, Essex (where survives his ledger stone). (per monument Felbrigg Church);
  • William Windham (1647-1689) of Felbrigg, 2nd son, heir to his elder half-brother John Windham (d.1655) of Felbrigg. He married Katherine Ashe, eldest daughter of Sir Joseph Ashe, 1st Baronet, of Twickenham, Middlesex, and had issue eight sons, Ashe, William, Thomas, John, Thomas, John, Joseph, and James and three daughters, Katherine, Mary, and Elizabeth. The eldest Thomas and two Johns died infants; all the rest survived him.
  • George Windham, died in infancy; (Ketton-Cremer, R W, Felbrigg, The Story of a House, 1986 edition (first published 1962), p.44)
  • Elizabeth Windham (Ketton-Cremer, R W, Felbrigg, The Story of a House, 1986 edition (first published 1962), p.44)
  • Joan Windham (1651/2-1669), died of smallpox aged 18 at Norwich, per monument Felbrigg Church
  • John Windham (1653-1676), youngest child, who died of smallpox aged 23 at Lincoln's Inn in London (per monument Felbrigg Church).