The New Murrey and Blue blog

Mortimers

Usurpers? ALL of them…?

Dec 17, 2016

Book Reviews, genealogy

“Beauforts”, “Tudors”, Anthony Steel, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Lancastrians, Mortimers, Richard II, Richard III, usurpation, Yorkists

Well, all of them except Richard II. The following are extracts from the Introduction to Anthony Steel’s 1941 biography of Richard II. I think it is a very succinct and interesting description of the right to the throne of all the kings of England from Richard II to Henry VII. However… (see my comments at…
As it turned out …

Dec 3, 2016

buildings, genealogy, television reviews

Bartholomew Gosnold, Cromwells, Danny Dyer, Edward III, executions, Frank Gardner, Gosnolds, Helmingham Hall, Ipswich, Jane Seymour, John Gosnold, Lionel of Antwerp, MacCullough, Michael Stanhope, Mortimers, Otley Hall, Percies, Robert Gosnold V, Seymours, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Wolsey, Tollemaches, Who do you think you are?

Last week, just hours before the actor Danny Dyer appeared on “Who do you think you are?” to reveal his descent from Thomas Cromwell and Edward III – in the latter case, via the Mortimer, Percy, Seymour (Jane’s sister), Cromwell (Thomas’ grandson Henry), Tollemache (of Helmingham hall) and Gosnold (Robert Gosnold V, 1611-58) of Otley…
Bewdley’s King Edward IV Charter

Jun 16, 2016

travel

archers, Arthur “Tudor”, Barnet, Bewdley, Bewdley Bridge, boar, Catherine of Aragon, Charters, Edward IV, Geoffrey Wheeler, Gloucester Cathedral, Leland, Ludlow, Michael K Jones, Mortimers, Queens’ College Cambridge, Quincentenary, Richard III, St. Anthony, Tewkesbury, Tickenhill

Bewdley Edward IV Charter I lived in Bewdley from 1976 to 2011 and discovered that there was a charter given to the town by King Edward IV in 1472 and that in 1972 the town had held some very successful Quincentenary celebrations. I found a book called “Bewdley: A Sanctuary Town” in the town library.…
Those le Despensers

Jan 24, 2016

genealogy

Anne Neville, Edward II, Edward of Middleham, Hugh le Despenser, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Mortimers, Nevilles, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Roger Mortimer, tombs

We all know that the principal protagonists of Edward II’s reign – the King himself and Roger Mortimer, later Earl of March – were among Richard III’s ancestors. However, this table shows that Anne Neville, his Queen Consort, was descended from Hugh le Despenser the Elder (and also from the Younger) through the Beauchamps of…
12 surprising facts about the Wars of the Roses

Oct 11, 2015

battles

1475 invasion of France, Anne of Exeter, Bamburgh, Barnet, Battle of Bosworth, Blore Heath, Burgundy, Caister Castle, Calais, cannon, Cecily Duchess of York, Earl of Ormond, Earl of Oxford, Edward of Lancaster, executions, Francesco Coppini, Francesco Sforza, George Duke of Clarence, George Neville, Gregory, Hammes, Hedgeley Moor, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Henry VI, Henry VII, Hexham, Hornby Castle, Jack Cade, John of Gaunt, John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, Lancastrians, legates, Lionel of Antwerp, Lord High Constable, Ludford Bridge, Ludlow, Margaret of Anjou, Matt Lewis, Mortimer’s Cross, Mortimers, Nibley Green, Pius II, private battles, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, Roxburgh, Sandal Castle, Sir Andrew Trollope, Sir Henry Bodrugan, Sir John Fortescu, Sir Ralph Grey, Sir William Stanley, St. Albans, St. michael’s Mount, Stoke Field, Thomas Lord Stanley, Thomas Talbot Viscount Lisle, Tower Hill, Towton, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, William Lord Berkeley, Windsor

Thanks to Matt Lewis: http://www.historyextra.com/article/military-history/12-facts-wars-roses?utm_source=Facebook+referral&utm_medium=Facebook.com&utm_campaign=Bitly
Another little boy who went into the Tower and never came out. (As far as we know.)

Sep 11, 2015

battles, buildings

Catrin ferch Owain, Earls of March, Gwladys Dhu, Gwynedd, Harlech Castle, Henry IV, Henry Pole the Younger, Henry V, Lionel Mortimer, Llewellyn Fawr, Mortimers, Owain Glyndwr, Princes of Wales, Sir Edmund Mortimer, St. Swithin’s Church, Tower of London

After the fall of Harlech Castle in February 1409, various members of Owain Glyndwr’s family were taken to the Tower. Among them was his grandson, Lionel ap Edmund (or Lionel Mortimer) the young son of Sir Edmund Mortimer and his wife Catrin ferch Owain. This boy cannot have been older than six at the uttermost,…
The Black Prince’s White Rose?….

Mar 10, 2015

heraldry

Edward the Black Prince, Mortimers, white rose

I do not actually know all the badges used by Edward, the Black Prince, but the ‘flowers’ depicted on his crown in this illustration look as if they might be the White Rose of York, although I do know that the White Rose was also a Mortimer badge. But is either likely to be adopted…
A palace belonging to one of Richard’s ancestors

Dec 21, 2014

archaeology, buildings

Battle of Bosworth, Gwladys Dhu, Llewellyn Fawr, Mortimers, Wales

The palace was at Garth Celyn (Clwyd) and the ancestor in question was Llewellyn (Fawr) ab Iorweth, whose daughter Gwladys Dhu married Ralph de Mortimer of Wigmore. So, despite the recently highlighted doubts about the other contender at Bosworth, Richard at least was of royal Welsh descent. Here is Paul Martin Remfry’s article in full:…
On fairy tales …

Nov 15, 2014

genealogy, law, sources

Carmarthen, Catherine de Valois, Edmund Duke of Somerset, fairy tales, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gwladys Dhu, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Hereford, Jane Austen, Llewellyn Fawr, Mortimers, ODNB, Owen Tudor, Reformation, royal marriages

I am sure we have all read the story of a bathing servant, Owain Tudor, who then emerged from the water in even fewer clothes than Fitzwilliam Darcy, watched by the widowed and besotted Queen, Catherine de Valois. The story goes on to relate that they married, had two sons and possibly more children. He…
The succession to Richard II

Feb 28, 2014

genealogy, law

Henry IV, Lancastrians, Mortimers, precedent, Richard II, succession

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…