Description: Thomas Sanders of Ireton, (1610-1695), colonel in the Parliamentary army of the Civil War, in armour, set in oval as if part of monument.
About the middle of the seventeenth century Thomas Sanders owned the manor of Little-Ireton, along with the old seat (Ireton Hall) of the Iretons. Previously it had been the property of a younger branch of the Shirley family, who took the name of Ireton, and were ancestors of General Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law.
This image is one of a collection by the famous local antiquarian, Thomas Bateman, of Middleton by Youlgreave. (1821-1861). Bateman organized his collection by inserting them into a 4 volume copy of Lysons Magna Britannia, Derbyshire, creating a fascinating and unique illustrated record of the county. The purchase of the collection for Derbyshire Libraries was made possible by the generous bequest of Miss Frances Webb of Whaley Bridge, well known local historian, who died in December 2006.