Lady Catherine Dyer

Lady Catherine Dyer’s loving epitaph for her husband is carved on their tomb in St. Denys Church, Colmworth, Bedfordshire. The second stanza begins with the lines “My dearest dust, could not thy hasty day / Afford thy drowsy patience leave to stay / One hour longer …”

The monument was erected in 1641 and has carved figures of Lady Catherine and Sir William, as well as figures of their seven children and one grandchild. Lady Catherine survived Sir William by three decades, but she never remarried.