THE
MILLICENT MEMORIAL IN LINTON CHURCH
Hidden behind the massive organ in the Millicent Chapel is an
exquisite Monument dedicated to Squire John Millicent’s
parents and grandmother. Fresh from his
triumph over the vindictive Lone family the Squire was determined
to consolidate his victory by means of a beautiful monumental
structure which would remind future congregations of the importance
of the Millicent family in Linton affairs.
John and Alice Millicent
- Main Panel of the Millicent Memorial
We do not know the precise year of its construction but it
is most likely to have been completed after the marriage of
the Squire to Dorothy Wright in 1705. John Millicent had been
a traditional country landowner with a greater interest in
horses, hunting , gambling and drinking than in marriage and
the provision of a male heir. The death of his strong willed
mother Alice in 1699, taken together with the recent bitter
struggle for local dominance with the Lones, must have persuaded
him that he needed to safeguard the family name and consolidate
his influence in the village.
John was 48 years old in 1705 and his bride, Elizabeth 35
years of age. She was John’s cousin and came from North
Runcton where her father, Charles Wright was the Rector. He
was a prominent Trinity College scholar and held the post
of Professor of Arabic in the University.
The Millicent Memorial was probably so magnificent because
the Squire wanted to build a structure which would dwarf the
existing Flack and Lone Monuments which were then fixed to
the walls of the Chancel, close to the Millicent Chapel. The
photographs give you an idea of the size of the figures and
the words of the latin inscriptions. John and Elizabeth decided
to praise the dedication and loyalty of the two previous generations
and only provided a small inscribed plaque to commemorate
the founder of the Millicent family fortunes.
 At
the top right hand side is the full sized bust of a well dressed
woman, John’s grandmother Duglas Wright, the wife of
his grandfather Robert Millicent. Robert died in 1631 and
left his wife and 8 year old son John (father of Squire John)
with huge debts totalling over £1600. The total income
of the Estate at that time was under £200 per annum.
Duglas, who was only 31 years of age, was likely to re-marry
and then the Estate would almost certainly have be broken
up or sold. Instead, she sacrificed her own future to the
preservation of the Millicent lands so that her young son
would inherit his birthright. She negotiated a long term low
interest loan to pay off the debts and deliberately chose
to remain a widow until her death in 1655.
When young John joined King Charles 1st at Oxford in 1642
his mother administered the Estate in his absence. On his
surrender to the Parliamentary army in 1646, John’s
fine of £162 “as a Royalist delinquent”
was paid by his mother Duglas since his sole income was reported
to the Parliamentary Commission as being a paltry £6
a year. Duglas then negotiated a marriage alliance with the
wealthy Chester family of Chicheley in Buckinghamshire. John
married Alice Chester in June 1647 and received a £1,000
marriage settlement which finally resolved the monetary problems
of the Estate. The Monument was a tribute to his grandmother’s
sacrifice.
Beneath Duglas are two full sized figures with their hands
meeting on a large skull, her son John and his wife Alice
Chester. Hour glasses hang by their sides. John was regarded
as a Civil War hero and went on to play a prominent role in
Restoration politics. He was a local J.P. and became the dominant
social and political figure in Linton for almost forty years
until his death in 1686.
The Millicent family were pre-eminent during this period because
the Linton Manorial lords, the
Paris family, were Roman Catholic recusants and resided
in Norfolk. John and Alice Millicent produced eleven children
and the six girls and five boys are shown in shallow relief
beneath their parents. John is praised in the latin inscription
as a good husband, a fair and impartial administrator of justice
and an excellent leader. There is a reference to their ninth
child , William who showed great promise but died young. All
the children save for John Millicent junior (1657 to 1716)
died before their father’s death in 1686. Squire John
revered his parents and grandmother and this explains why
he ordered such a large Memorial to be built.
 At
the bottom of the Monument is a coat of arms and a small plaque
with an inscription “under cold marble are buried here
the bones of John Millicent gent and his wife Elizabeth (Gulle).”
This John was the founder of the Millicent family fortune
and he built the Millicent Chapel shortly before his death
in 1577. He had served Thomas Cromwell during the dissolution
of the monasteries and acted as a government spy at the time
of the Pilgrimage of Grace. Some of his ill-gotten gains were
used to purchase Barham Priory in 1551 and to construct a
substantial mansion at Barham, which Queen Elizabeth 1st visited
on her Progress in 1578.
Squire John probably left the original small plaque intact
and constructed his magnificent Memorial above it.
In 1890 the Rev. John Longe proposed that the Memorial be
removed to a new position between the two windows in the North
aisle since the new organ (1878) blocked out “the large
and magnificent mural monument raised to the Millicent family.“
I look forward to its re-emergence once the present organ
is deemed to be no longer fit for service.
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