Mail on Sunday

Another Richard III musical?

May 23, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, Music Reviews, The play’s the thing

Anthony Newley, Exhumation, Joan Collins, Leicester, Leicester cathedral, Leicester Greyfriars, Mail on Sunday, musicals, reburial, Richard III, Tara Newley

This one (Digging up Dick) was being written by the late Anthony Newley and is being resumed by Tara, his daughter with Joan Collins. As you will have observed, a lot has happened since Newley’s death in 1999, not least finding Richard’s real grave and reburying him.
Ant and Dec’s DNA Journey

Mar 21, 2021

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, Science, television reviews

Aed Findliath, Alistair Moffat, Anthony McPartlin, Crimean War, Declan Donnelly, Dixie Carter, DNA analysis, Elizabeth Wydeville, Fermoy, First World War, Graves, High Kings of Ireland, Ireland, ITV, Jim Wilson, Kings of Connacht, Leitrim, Londonderry, Mail on Sunday, McGowans, McLauchlins, Military Medal, New York, Philadelphia, Robert Barrett, Rosslare, soldiers, Somme, Texas, Tyneside Irish regiment, Ui Briuin, United Nations, Vikings, wrestling

This programme, which has recently been repeated, began in 2017 with the duo meeting the legendary Borders historian Alistair Moffat, who just happens to be the uncle of a friend of theirs. Following DNA tests, it was revealed that McPartlin’s great-grandfather, Peter, had joined the 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade and fought at the Battle of…
So wrong he could be right?

Feb 25, 2020

anniversaries, genealogy, law, religion, Science

Algernon Sidney, Algernon Swinburne, Anne Boleyn, annulments, Anthony Hoskins, Bishop Ridley, Catherine Carey, Catherine of Aragon, DNA analysis, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth II, execution, Genealogists’ Magazine, Henry Caret Lord Hunsdon, Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII, Horace Round, Horatio Nelson, illegitimacy, Ireland, John Ashdown-Hill, Josiah Wedgwood, Lady Anne Somerset, Lady Antonia Fraser, Mail on Sunday, Marie Barnfield, Mary Boleyn, Mary I, Norman Baker, P.G. Wodehouse, Peter Hammond, Pole family, Princess Daisy, Queen Mother, Ralph Vaughan Williams, rebellions, Robert 2nd Earl of Essex, royal finance, Sabine Baring-Gould, Society of Genealogists, Vita Sackville-West, William Carey, William Cowper

This article, by the former MP Norman Baker, appeared in the Mail on Sunday. Actually, the original version was much longer and referred to Elizabeth II as a descendant of Henry VIII. This is an egregious howler, surely, because all of his actual descendants died by 1603 (or the last day of 1602/3 in the…
A visible difference

Sep 6, 2019

anniversaries, buildings, law, television reviews

“The Tudors”, BBC2, Ely, Food, Hans Holbein, Henry VIII, John Ashdown-Hill, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Mail on Sunday, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Natalie Dormer, pubs, Royal Marriage Secrets, television

This Mail on Sunday interview with Jonathan Rhys Meyers is sadly, mostly about his current personal problems. However, one or two paragraphs towards the end, should be of interest: But it was his lead role in TV drama The Tudors, as the criminally charismatic Henry VIII, that made everyone take note, even though Rhys Meyers…
A familiar name

Dec 27, 2017

genealogy

convent, Earls of Ormond, Edward IV, Ireland, Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Mail on Sunday, marriage, Nicky Haslam, Norwich, Plas Newydd, pre-contract, Sarah Ponsonby, Sir Thomas Butler, Whitefriars, widowhood

So there was I, just casually scanning the Mail on Sunday’s “You” magazine (22 October,p.23, interview with Nicky Haslam), when a familiar name popped up, a close friend of Haslam’s multiple-great-aunt. Unlike her near namesake: 1) She was a Butler by birth, not by (her first) marriage. 2) She didn’t go on to marry a…

Mail on Sunday

Another Richard III musical?

Ant and Dec’s DNA Journey

So wrong he could be right?

A visible difference

A familiar name