There is a plaque inscribed in Latin in the chancel of our church in Denton. It was inscribed in 1619 and installed by David Owen the then Rector of Yardley Hastings with the permission of the Earl of Northampton and the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. (Our church was then  looked after in alternate years by the rectors of Yardley Hastings and Whiston)

The plaque says that because William Andrew, gentleman, endowed  a pension to six widows annually, presented the church with a clock, decorated the chancel and conferred other benefits  on the  parishioners at his own cost, he and his heirs had the right to be buried in that part of the chancel north of the stone plaque.

William Andrew was in fact Sir William and was born in Harlestone in about 1577, the son of Robert Andrew and Elizabeth (nee Gent). He was the second son and had two younger brothers and two sisters.  The Andrew’s family arms and pedigree can be traced back to at least the thirteenth century.  William married Francis, the daughter of John Famstead of Denton. They had five children  two sons, John and William and a daughter, Francis survived beyond childhood. William remarried (Elanor)when his wife Francis died in 1627.

John Famstead, Sir William’s father-in-law  appears to have been  quite a wealthy man. He owned property and parcels of pasture and land in many villages, including  Walgrave, Hannington,  Brafield and Cokkenho(sic). Rent collected from these amounted to a substantial sum. He had  also purchased the right to collect tithes (a tenth part of the produce) in Weston Underwood and Olney.

John made an extensive will in August 1629, dividing his estate mainly between his daughters and grandchildren.  His wife was left well provided for, but his grandson, John Andrew was the major beneficiary.

John Famstead  left five shillings each for the maintenance of the church bells and the bridge in Denton and sixteen shillings for the poor of Denton. Also he left eight Angels of gold, to King Charles’ wife, Henrietta Maria. An Angel was worth about 10 shillings at the time  -  roughly £50 in today’s money. (A farm labourer earned about 8d a day) The Angels were to be delivered  to the Queen in John’s lifetime by his grandson John Andrew, “hoping that the king highnesse and his wife and Queen will accept thereof and receive the same angels accordinglie as of my good will”

John Famstead died in 1632

Sir William Andrew died in 1649,  the year in which Charles  I  was beheaded.  Near the end of  William’s will are these poignant words “what goods after my plunder and sequestration for my religion are left to me, which are very few or none I give them to my son John”  We can perhaps assume that most of the  goods left to Sir William and his children by John Famstead may have been similarly lost. William’s wife, however was well provided for financially by a “jointure” This was money and/or property set aside during William’s life, which came to her on his death. He appears  to have retained some land and property and leaves some of the rent from this to his wife for two years together with “seven score pounds”