Here lyeth the body of Grace Lane, daughter of, Colonel John Lane, of Bentley,
in the county of Stafford; spinster. She died the 16th day of July, 1721, aged about 80.
Fol 32b. page 91 "Parish Registers of Knightwick and Doddenham A.D. 1538 to A.d. 1812.
Funera [Funerals, or Deaths]
Anno Ærae Praedictæ 1721 [In the year of the aforesaid era]
XVI Kal: Augusti. -
Gratia (vulgo Grace) Lane, in Ecclesia septula est annmeratis Rectori decem solidis. [Grace Lane, was buried at the Church, on 16th of August 1721, at a cost of ten solids to the
Rector]
'solidis' would have been shillings, with twenty shillings to the pound, at that time.
Here lyeth the body of Dorothy Lane, daughter of, Colonel John Lane, of Bentley,
in the county of Stafford; spinster. She died November the 22nd, 1726, aged about 82.
Fol 32b. page 91 "Parish Registers of Knightwick and Doddenham A.D. 1538 to A.d. 1812.
Funera [Funerals, or Deaths]
Anno Domini MDCCXXVI. [In the year of our Lord, 1726]
November 24th. Domina Dorothea Lane Sepulta est. [Mrs Dorothy Lane was buried at the Church, on November the 24th, 1726]
How interesting to have the nieces (buried at Knightwick Chapel) of the famous Jane Lane.
Their father, Colonel John Lane was Jane's brother, and their parents were,
Thomas Lane and Anne Bagot of Bentley & Hyde (near Walsall).
Jane Lane was famous for helping King Charles II to escape after the failed
Battle of Worcester on the 3rd of September 1651
Jane Lane, b. 1626 - d. 9th September, 1689.
Portrait of Jane Lane, Lady Fisher, which
depicts her holding a crown over which
she has partially drawn her lace veil.
Perhaps her niece's would have shown
some resemblance to her.
Apart from helping Charles II escape, she
is also renowned for being his mistress!
After his flight from Worcester and concealment at White Ladies, the King appeared as "Will Jones,"
attired in a leather doublet, with pewter buttons, a pair of old green breeches, a green "jump coat,"
a pair of stockings with the tops cut off, a pair of stirrup stockings, a pair of shoes cut and slashed
to give ease to his feet, an old grey greasy hat without a lining, a "noggen shirt" of the coarsest
linen, his hands and face made of a "reechy complexion" with the aid of walnut leaves.
He attempted to reach Wales, but got no further than Madeley, being obliged to return, as there
were no means of crossing the Severn, without danger. He returned to his shelter in Staffordshire,
and quitted his suit for a new grey one, as the holiday attire of a farmer's son, and thus as "Will Jackson" he rode before Mrs. Jane Lane, and ultimately effected his escape.
In Martley church is still, I believe, an inscription to Lettice Lane, sister to the above Mrs. Jane Lane,
who rode with Charles II, disguised as her servant, on his retreat to the south-west coast.
On the floor of the old church of Knightwick (recently closed) was also a plain stone to Grace Lane,
another of the same family. It is said that his Majesty halted at Knightwick, and was glad to turn
shoeblack at the Talbot inn, to avoid the suspicion of pursuers. Colonel Lane,
of Bentley, Staffordshire, had property at Knightwick, and the young lady, with her royal master,
probably rested here on thataccount. The gold pouncet box given by the King to Mrs. Jane Lane
during their journey from Bentley to Bristol, after the battle of Worcester, and a beautiful portrait
(a miniature) of Colonel Lane, were exhibited by Miss Yonge,
at the Archæological Institute
Meeting at Shrewsbury, October,1855. On the former are engraved, on a lozenge, the arms of the
Lane family, with the canton of England granted as an honourable augmentation. These interesting
relics were in the possession of Dr. Arden, who married a lady of the Lane family, and they were
presented by Miss Arden to their present possessor.
©peh
