This canopied ten poster tomb of Sir Anthony Irby,
(1577-1610), built circa 1625, would not look out of place in a Cathedral. Within this magnificent tomb are the remains of Sir Anthony and Lady Elizabeth Irby. Surrounding their effigies, on either side are the five children of their marriage, three boys beside their father on his left, and two girls alongside their mother, on her right.
Sir Anthony and his wife have their heads resting on pillows and their feet braced against their respective family mementoes, a collared hound for him and a griffin for her, which are incorporated in their family crests. Their eldest son, also Sir Anthony (b.
17.01.1605: d. 2.01.1682), is depicted as the largest of the children on the north side of the tomb.
A fact of historical coincidence is that in the Church of St. Peter at Ashby-cum-Fenby, in the division of Lindsey (about 6 miles south of Grimsby), Lincolnshire, can be found a tomb dedicated to Sir William Wray MP, 1st Baronet of Glentworth, (1560-
1617) and his wife, Lady Frances Wray (1576-1642) which, it would appear, is a copy of the Irby Tomb in Whaplode. Sir William Wray’s daughter – Francis – married Sir Antony Irby ( eldest son of Sir Anthony Irby) highlighted by the inscription around the canopy of the Tomb.
