Giles Strangways (died 1546)

He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Strangways (c.1465–1504) of Melbury Sampford, Dorset by his first wife Dorothy Arundell, a daughter of Sir John Arundell (born 1418) of Lanherne in Cornwall,[3] Sheriff of Cornwall in 1443, Vice-Admiral of Cornwall, by his second wife Catherine Chiddocke, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Chiddocke of Dorset and widow of William Stafford of Frome.

[4] Sir Henry Strangways survived his first wife and remarried to the widow of William Browning (or Brouning), lord of the manor of Melbury Sampford, which manor thereby became a possession and the principal seat of his descendants from his first marriage.

Surviving in Melbury Sampford Church under the south arch is his monument, a chest tomb with canopy beneath which lies a recumbent effigy of a fully armed knight with his hands together in prayer.

It was made about a century before to commemorate a member of the Brouning family but has been altered to form the monument of Sir Giles Strangways.

[1] Around the side of the top edge of the chest tomb is a brass fillet (replacing the former one) inscribed in Latin as follows:[7] Which may be translated as: ("Here lie Giles Strangeways, Knight, the son and heir of Henry Strangeways, Esquire, and of Dorothy his wife, the daughter of John Arundel, Knight; and also Johanna, the wife of the foresaid Giles, and daughter of John Mordaunt, Knight.

Anachronistic alabaster effigy of Sir Giles Strangways (1486-1546), Melbury Sampford Church (Chapel of St Mary), Dorset. Made for a member of the Brouning family who died in the mid 15th c., but appropriated by the Strangways. [ 1 ]
Arms of Strangways: Sable, two lions passant paly of six argent and gules
Ornamental plaster barrel vault in St Nicholas's Church, Abbotsbury, installed by Sir John Strangways in 1638. The decoration is of angels, cherubs and the Strangways' family arms. Foreground: Strangways impaling Mordaunt ( Argent, a chevron between three estoiles sable ), for Sir Giles Strangways (1486–1546), of Melbury Sampford, and his wife Joan Mordaunt. Background: Strangways impaling Manners, for Sir Henry Strangways (d. 1544) (son of Sir Giles Strangways and Joan Mordaunt), died at the Siege of Boulogne, and his wife Margaret Manners, a daughter of George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros by his wife Anne St. Leger