The New Murrey and Blue blog

Richard III

Antony Woodville and his daughter, Margaret.

Apr 29, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Anne ferch John, Anthony Woodville, Battle of Bosworth, Bristol, Buckingham rebellion, Forest of Dean, Glamorgan, Gwenllian Stradling, Henry VII, illegitimacy, John of Gaunt, Lord Mayor’s Chapel, Margaret Wydeville, Norman knights, Richard III, Sir Robert Poyntz, Thomas of woodstock, Wales

Antony Woodville, quite early in his career, had an affair with Gwenllian Stradling which led to the birth of a daughter, Margaret Woodville. As it turned out, although he subsequently married twice, this was his only child. Or certainly, his only child who grew up. The Stradlings were a long-standing Glamorgan gentry family, based at…
Oliver Cromwell’s posthumous peregrinations

Apr 25, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, genealogy, law

Allan Barton, burials, Cambridge, Charles I, Commonwealth, evidence, executions, Exhumation, London, Lord Protector of the Realm, Oliver Cromwell, posthumous execution, Restoration, Richard III, Sidney Sussex College, Thomas Cromwell, Westminster Abbey

Much has been written about Cromwell’s life including his descent from Thomas Cromwell‘s sister, his childhood, his rise and service as Lord Protector, after Charles I‘s execution, whilst refusing the crown. Here, as part of his afterlife, Allan Barton, on YouTube, discusses the fate of his corpse. This includes his beheading, alongside the other deceased…
The de la Pole history of a Hull pub….

Apr 22, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy

de la Poles, Dukes of Suffolk, East Riding, Elizabeth of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hull, JD Wetherspoon, John Earl of Lincoln, mayor of Hull, Michael de la Pole, pubs, Richard II, Richard III, statues, Suffolk Palace, William de la Pole

It seems that a Hull pub stands on a historically important site because many centuries ago, the building on the corner of Lowgate and Alfred Gelder Street in the city centre replaced a certain Suffolk Palace, which once belonged to King Henry VIII. However, of much more interest to us than the Tudor monarch is…
Vlad the Impaler and Richard III….?

Apr 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, culture, genealogy, religion

Ambras Castle, Black Death, Bram Stoker, Caragea’s Plague, Charles “III”, Dracula, epigenetics, executions, impaling, mediaeval curses, Richard III, Romania, Vlad the Impaler, Wallachia, witchcraft

There I was on the road to Damascus when there was a great roll of thunder and suddenly I was confronted by Vlad the Impaler. I jest of course, but I did see a TV documentary about Vlad’s curse and did have a flash of inspiration for an article for the blog. Except….right now I…
Pinpointing the Battle of Barnet….

Apr 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, heraldry

badges, Barnet, Barnet Battlefield Project, battlefield archaelogy, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, fog, George Duke of Clarence, Hadley Green, Hertfordshire, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, Nevilles, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Wars of the Roses, weather

On 14th April 1471, Easter Sunday, in thick fog, was fought one of the pivotal battles of the Wars of the Roses, when the Yorkist Edward IV took on and defeated the by-then-Lancastrian Earl of Warwick, who was killed in the aftermath while trying to escape. His brother Montagu was killed as well. The…
Picking the Bones….

Apr 8, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, religion

Anne Neville, artillery, Barnet, bells, bigamy, cavalry, Charles Dickens, coronations, Coventry, Easter, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, emblems, fog, George Duke of Clarence, Henry VI, Holy Saturday, Isobel Neville, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, Lent, Middleham Castle, murder, poison, pre-contract, Richard III, Richard Woodville, rivers, Robert Stillington, supernatural, Thames Valley, Westminster Abbey, Wydevilles

This ghost story was inspired after reading this post by my good friend sparkypus. And the Battle of Barnet just happened to take place at an earlier Easter. Oh, and there’s a nod toward Dickens, but the facts don’t cooperate with Christmas! The eve of the Battle of Barnet, Holy Saturday, 13 April, 1471 It was…
The quiet Woodville….

Apr 6, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources

Abbey of St. James, books, Duston, Edward IV, Elizabeth I, executions, illegitimate children, Jacquette, Katherine Wydeville, Knights of the Bath, Lord Mayors of London, Northampton, Richard Earl Rivers, Richard III, Richard Woodville, secret marriage, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Victoria History of Northamptonshire, William Caxton

Whenever we hear the name Woodville (various spellings) we’re inclined to think of Elizabeth Woodville and her grasping relatives. We’re told they had goodies thrust upon them by Edward IV, and that they were foisted in marriage onto almost all the leading families of the realm. One couldn’t go anywhere without encountering Woodvilles in…
Another genealogical investigation

Apr 5, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, genealogy, Uncategorized

Ancient Egypt, Earls of Carnarvon, Earls of Huntingdon, Herberts, Howard Carter, noble families, patronymics, Richard III, surnames, Tutankhamun, Wales, William Herbert Earl of Huntingdon

Today a hundred years ago, George Herbert, fifth Earl of Carnarvon, died, about five months after the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which he funded. Herbert was also, of course, the surname of the Earls of Huntingdon/ Pembroke, who included Richard III’s son-in-law William. The earlier of these families dates from the fifteenth century,…
Born back Ceaselessly into the Past: the History of the Fitzgeralds

Apr 3, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, The play’s the thing

“Stepping out with Scott and Zelda”, Abraham Lincoln, Alabama, American War of Independence, Anglo-Irish relations, assassination, Baltimore, Drew-Barrymore stock company, Earl of Kildare, executions, F Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgeralds, flappers, Francis Scott Key, Gallowglass, Ghiraldinis, Henry VIII, House of York, Ireland, Italy, Jazz Age, John Wilkes Booth, judges, Kentucky, Kildare Rebellion, Lincoln conspiracy, Lord Baltimore, Mary Surratt, Maryland, Minerva Machen Sayre, Munster, Norman-French, Philadelphia, renaissance, Richard III, Scotts, Senators, Susquehanna River, The Spar Spangled Banner, Thomas Cresap, Trinity College, Tyburn, United Kingdom, USA, Willis B. Machen, Yorkshire, Zelda Sayre

When most people think of the beautiful Scott and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, they tend to think of the Jazz Age. That is the epithet coined by Scott to explain the wild ride of the 1920s – the drinking, the music, the partying, the real estate and stock market boom. And let’s not forget literary genius.…
Ranulph Lord Dacre of Gilsland – The Lord who was buried with his horse.

Mar 29, 2023

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion, sources

All Saints Saxby, arrows, AW Boardman, burials, churches, Cicely Neville, Cumberland, Dacres of Gilsland, Edward IV, Eleanor Fitzhugh, Exhumation, Gascoignes, George Duke of Clarence, George Goodwin, Georgian era, horses, Isabel Neville, Lady Margaret Stafford, Lady Philippe Neville, Lancastrian commanders, Leicester, letters, Mortimer’s Cross, MPs, Palm Sunday, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Ranulph Lord Dacre, Richard III, Second Battle of St. Albans, Soar, Stoke Field, Towton, Wakefield, Wars of the Roses, WE Hampton

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com The monument in All Saints Church, Saxton over the grave of Ranulph Lord Dacre and his horse. Photo Mary Emma1@Flkir Ranulph/Ranulf/Randolph/Ralph, Lord Dacre of Gilsland’s precise date of birth is lost to us – as is his exact Christian name it would seem -but has been suggested as c.1412 although…