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Exploring North Stoneham Park
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The Willis Fleming family
Sir Thomas Fleming (1544-1613), Lord Chief Justice of England, helped try the Gunpowder Plotters in 1606. He made North Stoneham Park his country seat, and died there in 1613. His elaborate tomb is in North Stoneham church. His eldest son, Thomas, married Dorothy Cromwell, aunt of Oliver Cromwell. As Roundheads during the Civil War, the Flemings were unpopular in the local area, and were absent for some years. When the male line of the Fleming family died out in 1766, the estate passed to the descendants of Sir Thomas's great-granddaughter, Katherine Fleming, whose daughter had married the antiquary Browne Willis (1682-1760), grandson of the physician and natural philosopher Dr Thomas Willis (1621-1675). The Willis family adopted the additional name and arms of the Flemings. The last 'Squire' of North Stoneham was John E. A. Willis Fleming (1871-1949), who married Violet Phillimore in 1893. It is their son Richard who is commemorated at the Shrine.
Copyright © 2008-2009 Project Steering Group / Trustees of the Willis Fleming Historical Trust. All rights reserved. Sitemap.
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