Monumental Inscriptions 2 Sir Giles and Lady Katherine Mompesson by Frank Smallwood

A biography of Sir Giles Mompesson (c1583-1663) and translation of the inscription on the monument he erected to himself and his wife Katherine (St.John) in St. Mary's Lydiard Tregoze.

Mompesson had benefited from holding two controversial monopolies, one for gold and silver thread and the other for licencing of inns. The taxes he derived from these were deeply unpopular in the country and he became a figure of hate. The article includes the proceedings of the House of Commons against him, his flight to France and the contemporary engraving which satirized the scandal that engulfed him.