Nicholas Dering

On the south wall of St Margaret's church Westminster is a cartouche to Nicholas Dering (Dearing or Deering). He was from a Huguenot family. The arms at the top show "sable and argent in chief three crescents of the second, in base a boar's head erased azure, armed and bristled or" impaling "or, a saltire sable".

The first part and last part of the inscription is in Latin and is translated and the rest is in English (spelling has been standardized):

Sacred to his memory. Man is but a shadow and a dream. Here lie the mortal remains of Nicholas Dering, gentleman, of the county of Dorset and one imbued with a genuine piety, lovingkindness and integrity. He died on 31st Jan. 1688 in the 46th year of his age. He had by his wife Eliz[abeth] 8 children, 6 lie here interred. Jane the eldest was wife to James Tooth in the county of Surrey, Gent. She died big of her 2nd child in the 21st year of her age Nov. 15th 1691. She was a true inheritrix of her fathers' virtues and was enriched with two peculiar feminine ones viz. modesty and patience of much she was such an unparalled example that she was admired by all that knew her. I have lived and have run the course which God Himself allotted me; and now my joyful spirit rests in Heaven.

Dering's life

Not much is known of his life. Nicholas and Elizabeth were married in 1668 and occupied a house, leased from William Wardour, which was adjacent to Henry VII's chapel just by St Margaret's church. Elizabeth was buried on 20th February 1689/90 in the church.

The children would appear to have been William (buried in St Margaret's 31st January 1677/78), Katherine (buried 23rd December 1680), Nicholas (baptised 13th March 1683/4), Ann (baptised 16th February 1684/5 and buried 25th June 1685), Jane (as above) died 1691, and possibly another Nicholas (buried 2nd February 1682/3). A daughter Margaret married Peter White.

The memorial may have been put up by James Tooth after his wife's death as the inscription says a lot about her.

Nicholas had a brother Thomas, a grocer in Westminster, who married Elizabeth Buizard (she married secondly Edward French).