Person    | Male  Born 7/2/1478  Died 6/7/1535

Sir Thomas More

Born Milk Street. In conflict with Henry VIII over religion he was imprisoned in the tower, found guilty of treason and beheaded on Tower Hill. Final words: "The King's good servant, but God's First." 

From his marriage in 1505 he lived in Bucklersbury in the City. In 1525 he moved from there to Chelsea. In 1529 he was made Lord Chancellor.

As a traitor, his head was displayed on a pike at London Bridge for a month. His daughter, Margaret, later rescued the severed head and it is believed to rest in the Roper Vault of St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury.  Alternatively it may be buried within the tomb erected for More in Chelsea Old Church. A third, unlikely, story is that John Donne's mother, Elizabeth, who was a great-niece of Thomas More, carried his head around with her.

A very good friend of Erasmus who often stayed with More in Chelsea.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir Thomas More

Commemorated ati

Cheyne Walk heads - More and Erasmus

No inscription remains legible but we believe we've found the painting used a...

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City of London School 0 - More

{On the statue's plinth:} More

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Lindsey House

Lindsey House, built 1674 by Robert Bertie 3rd Earl of Lindsey, incorporates ...

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Margaret Roper - Woolwich Town Hall

{On the stained-glass plaque:} Margaret, a pious & learned woman, the bel...

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Show all 14

Other Subjects

Elizabeth Pepper

Elizabeth Pepper

Burnt at the stake in Bow (or possibly Stratford) for her Protestant beliefs.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Private Farquar Shaw

Private Farquar Shaw

The Highland regiment, the Black Watch, had been marched down from Scotland to Finchley where, hearing rumours that they were to be sent to fight in America, about 100 soldiers went absent without ...

Person, Armed Forces, Execution, Scotland

1 memorial
Corporal Malcolm MacPhearson

Corporal Malcolm MacPhearson

See Farquar Shaw for the story of the Black Watch mutiny.

Person, Armed Forces, Execution, Scotland

1 memorial
Robert Lawrence

Robert Lawrence

Prior of Beauvale.  Executed at Tyburn.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
E. Gordon Brettell

E. Gordon Brettell

Flight Lieutenant Edward Gordon Brettell DFC was born on 19 March 1915, the eldest of the three children of Vivian Brettell (1882-1949) and Eileen Isabella Brettell née Carroll (1887-1979). His bir...

Person, Armed Forces, Execution, Poland

War dead, WW2
1 memorial