George I
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We all know about the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, but it certainly isn’t the first such race on the Thames. We also have the “Doggett’s Coat and Badge”, which still boasts an unbroken record since 1715. It takes place on 31 July every year. I confess I had never heard of this race, but if…
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The Royals: A History of Scandals
adultery trials, Albert Victor Duke of Clarence, Amy Robsart, animal bones, annulments, Brighton Pavillion, Caroline of Brunswick, Catherine of Aragon, Charles V, Cleveland Street, coronations, corruption, Count Konigsmarck, disappearance, divorce, DNA evidence, Edward VII, Elizabeth I, Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland, extravagance, Frederick Duke of York, George I, George III, George IV, Germany, Group Captain Townsend, Hanoverians, Henry VIII, human remains, imprisonment, John Ashdown-Hill, Leine Castle, male brothels, Maria Smythe, More 4, Princess Margaret, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, Royal Marriage Secrets, Royal Marriages Act, royal mistresses, royal murder mysteries, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Suzannah Lipscomb, Sweden, The Royals: A History of Scandals, valets, Victoria, William CecilThis is a four-part series on More4, presented by Suzannah Lipscomb and with a focus on the Hanoverian era. It started with financial scandals, such as George IV’s extravagance and his brother‘s mistress who sold army commissions. The second episode was about sexual scandals and rumours, such as Edward VII’s mistresses and the male brothel…
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Blood of the Clans
BBC1 Scotland, Blood of the Clans, Charles “III”, Charles I, Clan Campbell, Clan Graham, Clan MacDonald, Clan MacGregor, clans, Culloden, Derby, Earls of Argyll, Earls of Montrose, executions, Flora MacDonald, George I, George II, Jacobite rebellions, James “VIII/III”, Killiecrankie, Neil Oliver, Prestonpans, Rise of the Clans, Rob Roy MacGregor, siege of Aberdeen, Simon Fraser Lord Lovat, Viscount Claverhouse, War of the Three KingdomsNeil Oliver has been back on our screens, BBC1 Scotland at least, with another short series. Following on from his 2018 Rise of the Clans, which detailed tribal influence over events such as the ascent of Robert I and subsequently the Stewarts to Mary’s troublesome reign and deposition, Blood of the Clans deals with Scottish…
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Plantagenet Ireland and Poynings’ Law
“Lambert Simnel”, anecdotes, Anglesey, Art MacMurrough, Beaumaris, Charles I, coronations, Crown in Ireland Act, Drogheda Castle, Dublin Cathedral, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward Bruce, Edward II, Edward of Warwick, English Privy Seal Letters, executions, finance, France, George I, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Ireland, Irish Parliament, James VI/I, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, justiciar of Ireland, Leinster, Lieutenant of Ireland, London, Ludford Bridge, Nigel Saul, numismatics, O’Neills, Parliament, Poynings’ Law, Ralph Griffiths, repeal, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir Edward Poynings, Sir William de la Pole, Spain, St. James’ Park, Stoke Field, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, turnips, Ulster, Ulster plantation, Wales, War of the Three KingdomsIt is fair to say that most medieval English kings had little interest in Ireland except as a source of revenue. (The same was probably true about England and Wales but it seems too cynical to say it, and at least they did live there.) Prior to the Bruce invasion, Ireland yielded between £5000 and…
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The real life of the last Stuart
Act of Settlement, Acts of Union, Anne, Anne Hyde, Battle of Sedgemoor, BBC2, Catherine of Braganza, Channel Four, Charles II, Charlotte of Wales, childbirth, Clare Jackson, Emma Stone, George I, George of Denmark, Glorious Revolution, Hanoverians, historical drama, illegitimacy, James “VIII/III”, James VII/II, Jeremiah Clarke, Mary II, Mary of Modena, Monmouth Rebellion, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Restoration, Royal Deaths and Diseases, Sophie Electress of Hanover, Stuarts, The Favourite, Trumpet Voluntary, William Duke of Gloucester, William IIITelevision history is rarely focused upon Anne (left), except as the final act of the Stuart drama like this or her unfortunate reproductive history in this series. Discussion is, therefore, reduced to the cliches of her fragile family, her weight and her fondness for brandy. She is also omitted from most dramatisations of the time, such…
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Echoes of Minster Lovell?
Act of Settlement, Anne Bronte, Count Konigsmarck, Francis Viscount Lovell, George I, James Francis Edward, James IV, Jasper “Tudor”, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Leine Castle, Mary II, Minster Lovell Hall, mystery, New York Times, safe conduct, Sauchieburn, Scotland, skeletons, Smithsonian Institution, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Sophie Electress of Hanover, Stoke Field, William III, William of GloucesterIn 1708, a skeleton is supposed to have been found in a secret chamber of the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall. The legend is that this pertains to Francis, Viscount Lovell, who was known to have fought at Stoke Field in 1487, suggesting that he may have fled back to his home to hide and…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 