genealogy

Tyrants – Part 1

Dec 18, 2023

genealogy, law, The play’s the thing

“Tudors”, double standards, Edmund of Langley, Edward III, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, executions, expenditure, France, Henry IV, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Hundred Years War, John of Gaunt, Lords Appellant, Mary I, Richard II, Stalin comparison, The Hollow Crown, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, tyranny

I am heartily sick of certain historians – or ‘historians’ in some cases – who use the ‘tyrant’ word as a badge to stick on the rulers they dislike as a sort of badge of disgrace. These people invariably gloss over the similar – no, let’s be plain, worse, far worse! – deeds of the…
The royal and noble descent of Jane Birkin

Dec 15, 2023

anniversaries, genealogy, The play’s the thing

actresses, bastardy, Charles II, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dukes of Bedford, Earls of Bedford, Edward I, Edward III, France, George II, Henry Earl of Surrey, Henry III, House of Hanover, Howards, James IV, Jane Birkin, Joan “Beaufort”, Lady Elizabeth Grey, Lancastrians, Mowbrays, poets, Prince William Henry, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Serge Gainsbourg, Seymour-Conways, singers, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, van Keppels

The late actress and singer Jane Birkin, who would have been 77 today, had some interesting ancestors. As this first table shows, these were all through her father David, a naval Lieutenant Commander with a Russell mother, through whom Jane was descended from the Dukes of Bedford, along with several other peers: the van Keppels,…
The treasures of the West Riding

Dec 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, culture, genealogy, religion

armour, Charles “III”, Chatsworth, Claire Cross, Colonel Blood, Earls of Harewood, Edward Duke of Kent, Edward IV, Gawthorpe Hall, Harewood House, Harrogate, Headingley, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Leeds, Leeds Dock, Lumleys, main roads, motorways, Pennines, Powderham Castle, Reformation, Royal Armouries, weapons, Yorkshire

While I have visited Yorkshire reasonably frequently in the past, there is one patch with which I was unfamiliar. The Leeds sub-region is south and a little west of York, where a significant branch line bifurcates at Doncaster and goes through Wakefield, whilst a suburban line from Leeds passes through Harrogate and returns to York.…
Here is Richard Maudelyn, um, Richard of Conisbrough, um….or someone….

Dec 13, 2023

Alternative History, anniversaries, genealogy, law

Anne Mortimer, Anne of Bohemia, Catherine de Roet, Constanza of Castile, doubles, executions, Henry IV, John of Gaunt, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Richard Maudelyn

Well, if ever a computer compiled a dog’s breakfast of information, it’s this one. Or, of course, I shouldn’t blame a computer because the culprit was some dumbcluck human. Or maybe it was the cat, which strolled to and fro over the keyboard. Whatever, here goes: “….Richard MAUDELYN, 1385 – 1415Richard MAUDELYN was born on…
When, oh when, did Henry Percy fight the “battle” of Duns….?

Dec 12, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, religion, sources

Alnwick, Barons Percy, Battle of Duns, Bordeaux, Duchy of Aquitaine, Duns Castle, Earls of Northumberland, Edward III, Feast of St. Laurence, Good Parliament, Helen Carr, Henry Earl of Northumberland, horses, Hotspur, Joan of Kent, John Holand, Richard II, Robert II, Roxburgh Fair, Scotland, subterfuge, Westminster

If, like me, you had never heard of the Battle of Duns, here’s a brief outline. Late in the 14th century Henry Percy, 4th Baron Percy (created 1st Earl of Northumberland in 1377) led an army of 7,000 over the border into Berwickshire and made camp at Duns to await reinforcements. One night the sleeping…
The last Hugh Mortimer of Richard’s Castle.

Dec 10, 2023

buildings, genealogy

Complete Peerage, Edward II letter, Eleanor of Castile, Elizabeth Countess of Hereford, Hugh Mortimer, Maud Mortimer, Mortimers, Normans, pardons, poisoning, Richard Scrob, Richard’s castle, Simon de Montfort, Talbots, William Marshall

Richard’s Castle, on the border of Shropshire and Herefordshire, was founded by a Norman knight called Richard Scrob or FitzScrob. This is how it received its name. The manor eventually passed from Richard’s line and was owned by a junior branch of the Mortimers, the Mortimers of Attleborough. In 1264, Hugh Mortimer was forced to…
The Granddaughters of Edward III

Dec 5, 2023

anniversaries, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Catherine of Aragon, Edward II, Edward IV, Henri IV, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Mary Stuart, Maximilian I, Minories, Percies, Philippa of Ulster, Phillip II, Poles, Richard III, Staffords

So here is the latest of Kathryn Warner‘s series about Edward II’s family. As the title suggests, it is focussed on the lives of Edward III’s eleven grandaughters, nine of whom were paternally descended including four by John of Gaunt. The first, Philippa of Clarence, was born in 1355 and the last to die was…
An Abbey in Dublin Unearthed

Dec 4, 2023

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Archbishop of Dublin, bigamy, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Dublin, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Earls of Wiltshire, Edward Bruce, Edward IV, executions, Henry VIII, Ireland, James Butler, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Mael Sechnaill mac Maele Ruanaid, pre-contract, Richard Talbot, Robert de Nottingham, St. Mary’s Abbey, Towton, Walter Champfleur

Excavations in Dublin city centre have uncovered the remains of what was once one of Ireland’s most important medieval monasteries. St Mary’s was a House of Benedictines, followed by Savignac monks and then Cistercians, and it was exceedingly wealthy, with the added bonus of being permitted to claim goods from shipwrecks. At times, it was…
Blanche Bradestone – Another Obscure Lady of the Garter.

Dec 3, 2023

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources

Blanche Bradestone, Calendar of Close Rolls, Church of St. Michael the Archangel, Earls of Gloucester, executions, Gloucester, Henry IV, Isabelle de Valois, Ladies of the Garter, pardons, Sir Andrew Hake, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Lord Berkeley, usurpation, Winterbourne

Information about Blanche Bradestone (or Bradstone) is hard to find, despite the fact that she was recognised as ‘the King’s kinswoman’ by Richard II and became a Lady of the Garter in 1399. Her brass is to be found at Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, which appears to have been her principal manor. It is located in the…
The Lordship of Powys (Part 2)

Dec 2, 2023

battles, buildings, genealogy

abeyance, Adam of Usk, Alice Fitzalan, Alionore Holland, Anne Mortimer, Caerleon, Earls of Arundel, Edmund Earl of March, Edward Charlton, Edward I, Edward II, Glyn Dwr rebellion, Hawise Gadarn, Isabelle de Valois, John Charlton, Lady Despencer, Lords of Powys, Marcher Lords, Owain de la Pole, Philippa de Coucy, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Shropshire, Sir John Berkeley, sir john grey of seton, Sir John Oldcastle, Thomas Lord Berkeley, Usk, widows

Owain de la Pole‘s daughter, Hawise (1290-1349), eventually inherited the Lordship, her brother having died. She was known as Hawise Gadarn, which means in English ‘the Hardy’. Hawise married John Charlton (or Cherleton) a knight from a relatively minor Shropshire family who had acquired the favour of Edward I. In 1313 Edward II sent John…