We are grateful to the author for kindly sharing with us the fruits of her research into this memorial window at St Andrew's Church, Medstead, Hampshire, originally undertaken for the Ropley History website. See bibliography for a link to the whole of this interesting entry. — Jacqueline Banerjee
Left: Whole window, with Elizabeth of Hungary and Joan of Arc. Right: Closer view of Joan of Arc.
Elizabeth of Hungary and Joan of Arc, by Archibald Keightley Nicholson (1871-1937). The window is in the south wall of the nave of St Andrew's Church, Medstead, Hampshire, with the inscription, "In loving memory of Ethel Agnes Zambra 15th Dec 1911 and her baby daughter Ethel Joyce Margaret 14th April 1912." Nicholson's monogram can be seen in the lower right corner of the window.
The window is very much in the Arts and Crafts style of that time. The left-hand side of the window depicts Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth was the wife of Ludwig of Thuringia. The couple were generous to the poor and sick. Elizabeth, dressed in humble clothing, was taking food to the poor when she met her husband who was a member of a hunting party. To avoid suspicion that she was carrying stolen items, her husband asked Elizabeth to reveal what was under her cloak. Her cloak fell open to reveal white and red roses, proof that God’s hand was protecting her.
The roses can be seen in the window. At the top of the window is an image of the Holy Heart which is a symbol of Jesus’s love for humanity and of his suffering. Below St Elizabeth is the word Amor, Latin for love, and under that [see below], another scene from her life. Elizabeth laid a leper in the bed she shared with her husband. Her mother-in-law was horrified and informed Elizabeth’s husband when he returned home. The husband removed the bedclothes and found, instead of a leper, the figure of Christ. In this case, Christ is represented as a baby.
The right-hand part of the window shows the coat of arms of Saint Jeanne D’Arc below which stands Jeanne herself. There are several stages on the path to becoming a saint. Interestingly, although she had been beatified and would have been known as the Blessed Jeanne D’Arc at the time the window was made, she wasn’t canonized and didn’t become St Jeanne until 1920, after the window was erected.
In the border on the left is a sword around which is a banner bearing the words De par le roy du ciel. This is Jeanne’s motto which can be translated as "the king of heaven commands it." Below Jeanne is the word Fides which means "reliability," a sense of trust between two parties between whom a relationship exists.
The lower panels. Left: The infant Christ is revealed to Elizabeth of Hungary's husband, instead of the leper. Right: Joan of Arc kneeling before St Catherine, with her instrument of torture — the famous wheel.
In the lower portion of the window, as shown on the right above, Saint Jeanne is depicted kneeling before St Catherine and St Margaret of Antioch. St Catherine and St Margaret are said to have appeared to St Joan in a vision. St Margaret is the patron saint of pregnant women.
St Jeanne D’Arc can be described as a strong woman who challenged patriarchal traditions. That her image was chosen for a memorial to a woman who died at a time when women’s suffrage was a national issue perhaps reflects the views of Ethel Zambra, to whose memory the window is dedicated, and her husband Nelson.
The Zambras
Nelson was the son of Joseph Warren Zambra, a maker of optical and scientific instruments. He was born in 1886 and in the summer of 1905 he married Ethel Agnes Laughland of Highgate, London. In February 1910 their son Warren was born. Warren was baptized in Bramshott later that year. The 1911 census finds the family living at Osborn House, Liphook.
In December 1911 there was a birth announcement in the Hants and Sussex News:
Zambra – on 9th December at Highgate, the wife of Nelson Zambra of Hattingley House, Medstead, Hants of a daughter.
The child was baptised Ethel Joyce Margaret at St Michael’s Church, Highgate on 16 March 1912. The baptism register recorded their address as Hattingley House, Medstead, Hants. However, the child’s mother, Ethel Agnes Zambra had died on 15 December 1911, less than a week after the birth of her daughter. Her death certificate mentions scarlet fever and childbirth. The baby daughter was brought to Hattingley House where she too sadly died on 14 April 1912. The death certificate states that she died of intussusception and intestinal obstruction. Both mother and daughter are buried in Highgate Cemetery.
Although Nelson Zambra remarried, his story still has an unhappy ending: both of his other children (Warren by his first wife and Roger by his second) died in World War II.
Photographs by the author. You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit Hilary Oldham and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. Click on the images to enlarge them.
Bibliography
Eberhard, Robert. "Stained Glass Windows at St Andrew Church in Medstead, Hampshire." Church Stained Glass Records. Web. 6 July 2025.
Oldham, Hilary. "St Andrew's Church Medstead - Memorial Windows." Web. 6 July 2025/
Created 7 July 2025