Sir John
and Dulcia Trafford, whom he married in 1437, were the parents
of Sir Thomas Ashton (d.1516). Sir John’s widow Isabella
Elland died in 1488; his second wife Margaret is not otherwise
recorded. A man wearing armor and a surcoat kneels facing rightwards
at a reading desk, with three women kneeling in prayer behind
him, each facing rightwards at a reading desk; all figures display
the Ashton mullet and are set on a tiled floor; blackletter inscription:
/Orat/(e pro aiâbus Johanîs A)/shet/on /(militis/
Dulcie Marger/ie et Issab)/ella/ (uxorum eiu/s qui inpredicam)/
edific/acô/ (procedebat/; Pray for the souls of John Ashton,
Knight, Dulcie, Margaret, and Isabel, his wives. He proceeded
with the building as planned. Little restoration, corrosion
on ruby glass and elsewhere, cracks in man, first woman, third
woman’s face and original inscription. Ashton-under-Lyne,
parish church, 1497-1512. © Raguin/MMK
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