John Beverley

John Beverley, valet or yeoman to Edward III, was buried in the south ambulatory of Westminster Abbey near the king's tomb. His mother was Matilda. The stone, and the one adjoining for his wife Anna or Amice, were once plated with brass but only the rivets now remain. The brasses had disappeared by 1700. John died on 29th July 1380 and left many charitable bequests in his will. Amice was born in 1353, a daughter of Sir Alan Buxall, Constable of the Tower of London, and her sister was Elizabeth (Lynde). It was Buxall who pursued two fugitives, Hauley and Shakell, into the Abbey and Hauley was murdered. The church had to be closed for several months after this incident. John and Amice had two daughters: Anne (Langford) and Elizabeth (Daundesy). Amice married secondly Sir Robert Bardolf of Mapledurham. Her epitaph (but not John's) was recorded by William Camden in his guidebook of 1600 and can be translated:

Here lies Anne Boxall, daughter of Alan Boxall Knight, sometime wife of John Beverley who died the 2nd day of October in the year of Our Lord 1416. On whose soul may God have mercy, Amen.