genealogy
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The first of these was Welsh, a potential descendant of the princes of Powys who died in c. 1479 (1). He married Edith St. John, half-sister of the younger Margaret Beaufort and they had one son (Richard) and possibly a daughter (Eleanor), although the latter could have been his daughter by Bona Danvers. Richard was…
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Alfred John Monson was born in 1862. His parents were Rev. Thomas Monson and Hon. Caroline Monckton, putting the first two Barons Monson and the Viscounts Galway among his close ancestors. Both of his parents were descended from Anne of Exeter through the Earls of Rutland. Monson was a confidence trickster with three small children,…
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As many of you are aware, Bisham Abbey has been a sports centre of sorts for many years now but the Priory was the burial place of the Earls of Salisbury (and later also of Warwick). There is a mystery on it’s website:http://www.bishamabbeynsc.co.uk/bisham_abbey/ABOUT_Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Pole_%281502%E2%80%931535%29 (Sir) Arthur Pole was another of Richard III’s great-nephews and managed to…
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I am not sure that every Ricardian will have survived watching the first two series of BBC2’s “The Tudors”, as first mentioned here, with its historical anachronisms, miscasting in some roles, confused chronology and obsession with bedroom scenes. Nevertheless, the third series is showing signs of improvement, particularly with its focus on the Pole family.…
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There was no ‘constitutional’ arrangement in place in the 14thcentury. For many years, father had been succeeded by son, and there had been no need to set out any arrangements for any other contingency. Late in Edward III’s reign, the king, who was losing his faculties and very much under the influence of Gaunt, produced…
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I have seen it asserted recently that Henry VII ruled ‘by right of conquest.’ This may be the de facto position, but it is not the de jure one. Parliament would never have allowed him to claim by conquest – it would have destroyed everyone’s – and I mean everyone’s – title to their lands. (This…
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It was the new film, Into the Storm that started me thinking. Brendan Gleeson plays Winston Churchill and has commented widely on how ironic it is that an Irish actor is in the role. I recalled the rumours that Churchill fathered Brendan Bracken (a red-haired Irish-born MP and wartime Minister) and the fact that he…
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It isn’t even clear with the living, let alone those who have been dead for five hundred years: The current method adopted for verifying the age of cricketers has come under scrutiny from the ICC’s medical council, which met in Dubai recently to discuss a variety of issues that impact the performance of an athlete.…
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Those who have watched this series (http://www.cranfordchronicles.com/ ), based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novels, may have been intrigued by Imelda Staunton’s character, Miss Pole. Could she be, albeit fictionally, a Plantagenet descendant? Unfortunately not. Whilst descendants of the Countess of Salisbury through the female line abound (the principal surnames having been Hastings, Barrington* and Stafford*),…
