Church of St Gregory, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Monument to Lady Elizabeth †1651 and Sir Francis †1657 Bacon. Alabaster. Commissioned by their son, Francis Bacon.
The wall monument at the east end of the south nave, in the chapel of St Thomas, is above a tomb chest, now invisible under the contents of a very dull attic. Black Ionic columns support a cornice with coats of arms surmounted by a skull above a grave digger’s spade crossed with a sceptre, balanced beneath by the winged head of an angel. The roundel with the inscription is framed by strapwork, with festoons besides the columns.
Sir Francis Bacon (c.1587–1657), born in King’s Lynn, commenced his legal studies at Barnard's Inn, moved to Gray's Inn in February 1607, and was called to the bar in 1615. About 1621 he married Elizabeth (1595–1651) Robinson of Norwich and the family was firmly settled in the parish of St Gregory. In 1634 Bacon was appointed autumn reader at Gray’s Inn, steward of Norwich in 1639 and recorder in 1642, the year that he was appointed to the king's bench and knighted by the king at Bridgnorth. He was known for his impartiality but refused to continue after the the king's execution, retiring to Norwich, where his wife died in 1651, aged fifty-six.
ODNB: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009, G. V. Benson, rev. J. M. Blatchly
Church of St Gregory, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
Monument to Lady Elizabeth †1651 and Sir Francis †1657 Bacon. Alabaster. Commissioned by their son, Francis Bacon.
The wall monument at the east end of the south nave, in the chapel of St Thomas, is above a tomb chest, now invisible under the contents of a very dull attic. Black Ionic columns support a cornice with coats of arms surmounted by a skull above a grave digger’s spade crossed with a sceptre, balanced beneath by the winged head of an angel. The roundel with the inscription is framed by strapwork, with festoons besides the columns.
Sir Francis Bacon (c.1587–1657), born in King’s Lynn, commenced his legal studies at Barnard's Inn, moved to Gray's Inn in February 1607, and was called to the bar in 1615. About 1621 he married Elizabeth (1595–1651) Robinson of Norwich and the family was firmly settled in the parish of St Gregory. In 1634 Bacon was appointed autumn reader at Gray’s Inn, steward of Norwich in 1639 and recorder in 1642, the year that he was appointed to the king's bench and knighted by the king at Bridgnorth. He was known for his impartiality but refused to continue after the the king's execution, retiring to Norwich, where his wife died in 1651, aged fifty-six.
ODNB: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2009, G. V. Benson, rev. J. M. Blatchly