Abbot Edward Millbank by Tony Treble

Abbot Edward Millbank 1705 – 1768

Here lie the mortal remains of Abbott Edward Millbank. My mortal remains, born 1705, died 1768. I was my father’s second son, younger brother to George and older brother of William. Our father was Mr George Millbank, squire of Upper Hetherington Hall in the county of Worcestershire.

I also had two sisters, Martha and Emily who both married well and left home to live with their husbands in London and Manchester respectively. They didn’t matter in the scheme of building the families generational wealth, power and respectability, so important in our time. I saw each of them only very occasionally once they had left home to become wives linked to the fortunes of another family.

Now that I reflect on our lives, I realise that our futures were pre-ordained and followed a strict code to conform to social and moral customs. My brothers and I, and our sisters too, had no thought or say in our own hopes or aspirations in how we wanted to live our lives. We were expected, NO CONDITIONED, to meekly follow the route that our father and our forefathers and all those before us had naively adhered to.

My elder brother George, dear pampered, entitled George, he never doubted his future and place in the world. He would inherit the family estate and succeed my Father as squire of Hetherington and enjoy all of the social niceties that went with that role. Indeed he did inherit the estate and fulfilled his contract with God and polite society. He modernised Hetherington, and made a good marriage with Mistress Bentley of nearby Bentley Park, the sole child of Lord & Lady Bentley. Their marriage union produced two fine sons and twin daughters, thus consolidating and securing the family fortune for those generations that follow. I have no earthly knowledge of how George fared in later life, as he was still living when I passed away to eternity.

My younger Brother William was 22 years younger than I and a sweet and thoughtful fellow always eager to please those around him. Despite the difference in our ages, I probably had more in common with William than I did with George and we had many a conversation about what he saw for his future. He was wise beyond his years and recognised from early on in his young life that society sought to subjugate the common man, its greatest asset, to the role of beast of burden. William had a deep seated desire to improve social equality and to harness the benefits, the power of innovation, hard work and creativity that the ordinary man could provide for everyone, not just the privileged and powerful.

Alas, social etiquette dictated that poor William would live the life AND THE DEATH of a soldier. He obediently went off to join the army at the age of 21, eager to do his duty and make his family proud. Father bought him a commission but he quickly demonstrated his leadership skills and steadily rose through the ranks gaining the respect of both his superiors and the men he led. In 1756 England was caught up in yet another war with France, Austria and Russia being the principal protagonists. The war only lasted 7 years but poor William became one of a number of early causalities whose body was never found. He was only 29 years old.

So, what of me I hear you ask. How did I, Abbott Edward Millbank, end up here, under this life-size recumbent effigy? Sadly, I too, was a victim of my class and breeding, never having sought to serve God and King. I will admit in my younger days to being a wayward fellow enjoying pleasures of ale and flesh with those willing to engage, be they women, OR MEN. If they were men………the younger the better! I had concluded at a reasonably young age, that if I were to follow a path into holy orders, I’d better experience as much enjoyment into my early years, as possible, as “enjoyment” might be sorely lacking once I became one with the Church.

I entered the Clergy voluntarily, but reluctantly, recognising that one life was ending and another beginning. With hindsight I realised I preferred the old way of life. In the eyes of God, I don’t think I was a very good priest but my peers begged to differ. I travelled along the hierarchy, much like the military, but accepting “holy orders” fighting the devil, an invisible, but ever present enemy.

I delayed my entry into theological college for as long as social mores would accept and when I had completed my training I had reached the age of 29 years. Time passed slowly once I had entered holy orders and I worked hard at convincing myself that I was a force for good using my position to influence and guide my congregations, whenever and wherever I could. I gained a reputation for being a solid fellow, one who gave generously and took frugally.

At the end of my life, when I took stock of my contribution, I was satisfied that I had made a valuable contribution to those around me and didn’t feel it had been without purpose. My fellow brothers in the clergy canvassed for my interment in the Abbey where I had served God. My Brother George, demanded that I should be laid to rest inside the Abbey walls beneath a fine effigy so that future churchgoers would know the name of Edward Millbank.

I of course, was in no position to object, but I suspect he was still reinforcing his social standing and saw payment as a way of ensuring his place in heaven.