Lightfoot Family
Coat of Arms
(courtesy Mary Edd Morton)
The Stoke Bruerne church organ is apparently difficult to keep in playable condition. In Mary Morton's book
Calling All Lightfoots: A Lightfoot Family History, a 1964 visitor to the church (John Lewis Beckham) tells of searching for the graves of Richard Lightfoot and his wife Jane (Aske): "I never could find them but I think I know where they are. They are either under the organ or under the choir stalls. In 1901 someone . . . redecorated the church, with awful consequences . . . A huge, very bad organ, now unplayable, was installed . . . and tiny edges of tombstones are visible at the front. The plaque is right next to the organ. The new choir seats are over a bunch of other tombs, and these are right under the monument. In all other cases I could find, monuments on the walls announced people whose tombs were immediately below, which would mean that the choir seats are over the tomb, or the organ is."
When Gene and I were there, the organ was in pieces, apparently undergoing repairs once again.
. . . and there probably is; else you wouldn't be visiting my Family History page:
Mary Edd Morton's 2003 book,
Calling All Lightfoots: A Lightfoot Family History, will surely fascinate you as it has me. My first reaction, when a cousin told me about the book, was: "Gee! I wish I'd written that!" But then I bought a copy, and I knew at a glance I
couldn't have written this massive book. Edith Ellen Williams spent more than 50 years researching the material, which Mary Morton then compiled into book form after Edith's death at age 92. The book is an amazing achievement for both women. I'm proud to call them my relatives.
—Deborah J. Lightfoot
