In the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey is a wall
monument with a full length coloured effigy of Sir Thomas Heskett
or Hesketh (1548-1605), reclining on his left elbow. The Latin
inscription can be translated:
"Sacred to the memory of Thomas Heskett, Knight, descended
of the ancient and honourable family of the Hesketts in the
County of Lancashire. Attorney of the Court of Wards and
Liveries, and one of the Council appointed for the north; a man
of deep acquaintance with the law, so of singular integrity of
life. Julian his most afflicted wife, out of her love and duty to
her most dear husband, erected this monument. He died 15 October
1605"
His coat of arms (argent, on a bend sable three garbs or, a
crescent gules for difference) is also shown. Originally a
kneeling figure of his widow stood in front of the tomb but this
disappeared in the early 19th century. The Court of Wards and
Liveries handled matters of inheritance relating to lands,
estates and under-age heirs.
Thomas was the second son of Gabriel Hesketh of Aughton in the
county of Lancashire, and Jane, daughter of Sir Henry Halsall. He
was educated at Cambridge and became a lawyer and Member of
Parliament. He married Julian or Juliana daughter of Edward or
Edmund Fusey of London and they had one son Thomas. Hesketh was
said to be "sound in religion" with "wisdom and ability" and did
good service for Elizabeth I in the north of England, being
knighted in 1603. He lived at Heslington, Yorkshire, towards the
end of his life and left lands there to his brother Cuthbert. He
also had another brother Bartholomew. His widow married secondly
Sir Ranulphe Crewe and she was buried in the Abbey on 12 August
1629.
A photograph of the monument can be purchased from Westminster
Abbey Library
Family papers for the Heskeths of Heslington can be found at
the Borthwick Institute, York University
www.york.ac.uk/inst/bihr