The New Murrey and Blue blog

Tower of London

Did Dr Argentine murder the boys in the Tower….?

Sep 12, 2021

Book Reviews, buildings, films, Science

“Princes”, Arthur “Tudor”, Channel Four, Dr. John Argentine, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Harold Shipman, Henry VIII, John Castle, M.J. Trow, poison, Princes in the Tower, royal murder mysteries, Tower of London

There are numerous theories about what happened to the boys in the Tower…and exactly who may have done it. Well, one points the finger at the omnipresent Dr Argentine, under whose dubious care no fewer than three royal patients passed away: the boys in the Tower, and after that Prince Arthur, the Tudor heir. In…
What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

Aug 24, 2021

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Princes”, Alexander Stewart Duke of Albany, annulments, Barons Scrope of Bolton, Battle of Bosworth, Bishop of Durham, british History Online, Cicely Plantagenet, Complete Peerage, consanguinity, dispensations, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edward III, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, Gaynesparc, Hatfield, Isle of Wight, James III, James IV, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Kent, John Scrope of Bolton, Letters and Papers of Henry VIII, Lionel Baron Welles, Margaret Beauchamp, pardons, plots, Ralph Scrope, Richard Fox, Richard III, royal marriages, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, Scropes of Masham, Sharon Champion, Thomas Holland, Thomas Kymbe, Tony Riches, Tower of London, Viscount Welles

The following extract is from Not So Fortunate As Fair’: The Life of Princess Cecily Plantagenet by Sharon Champion:- “….At the age of five, she [Cecily] was betrothed to James, the infant son and heir of James III of Scotland. John 5th Baron Scrope of Bolton was sent as commissioner to negotiate a contract of…
Digging up our monarchs; no, not Richard III this time….!

Aug 17, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion, Science

Anne Boleyn, Anne of Bohemia, Banqueting House, burial, Catherine de Valois, Charles I, childbirth, death, Edward I, Edward IV, Edward V, Edward VI, executions, Exhumation, George IV, Greenwich Palace, Henry II, James VII/II, John, King’s Langley, Leicester, Newark Castle, Old St. Paul’s, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, Samuel Pepys, Society of Antiquaries, St. Edward the Confessor, St. Peter ad Vincula, St. Thomas Becket, Tower of London, Victoria, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, Worcester Cathedral

I’m told that even now, if you purchase a plot of ground in which to put your loved ones to rest, the chances are they’ll only lie in peace for eighty years, at which time they are removed and new occupants move in. Well, for centuries our dead haven’t always been left to enjoy their…
The Wanderings of King Henry VI

Aug 12, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings

Alfred Wainwright, artefacts, Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland, Bracewell Barn, Clitheroe Castle, Henry VI, Hexham, Lake District, Luck of Muncaster, Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, Readeption, Richard of Warwick, royal burials, Sir James Harrington, Sir Ralph Pudsey, Sir Thomas Talbot, Tower of London, Waddington Hall, Wasdale Head Inn

After the Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464) Henry VI very wisely made himself scarce. His first recorded place of refuge was Muncaster Castle in what is now Cumbria. The distance involved is roughly 90 miles, but anyone who has read Wainwright’s Guides to the Lakeland Fells will appreciate that this would include many…
A VINTAGE CARTOON OF EDWARD IV

Aug 11, 2021

anniversaries, art, buildings, humour

barrel, cartoons, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Margaret of Salisbury, Richard III, symbolism, Tower of London

I seem to collect pictures of Edward IV. He’s quite searchable online and has many various portraits come up, ranging from small illuminations in manuscripts to copies of copies of copies. They range from the sublime to ridiculous, as they rather do with Richard, but there are a lot more of them, as one might…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
Elizabeth Vernon, Countess of Southampton.

Jul 16, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy, The play’s the thing

Constance of York, Diana Princess of Wales, Duke of Cambridge, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Vere, Elizabeth Vernon, Essex rebellion, Henry Earl of Southampton, Henry IV, Humphrey of Gloucester, imprisonment, maids of honour, Margaret Audley, marriages, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Tower of London, William Cecil, Winston Churchill

Elizabeth Vernon, who lived from 1572 to 1655, was a maid-of-honour to Queen Elizabeth I. In 1598, while serving in that capacity, she became pregnant by Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) who is perhaps best remembered as a patron of Shakespeare. Queen Elizabeth was not amused, and had the pair of them thrown in…
More Lancastrian propaganda – about an earlier Richard and Henry….

Jul 15, 2021

anniversaries, battles, Book Reviews, buildings, sources

“Tudor” propaganda, executions, Froissart, Henry IV, Henry VII, Hollands, Joan of Kent, John Ball, John Ferrour, Lancastrian propaganda, Marie Louise Bruce, Mile End, Peasants’ Revolt, Richard II, Richard III, Tower of London, usurpation, Wat Tyler

How many of you have books on your shelves that you’ve had for years but have yet to read? I’m guilty of that, I fear. However, today I grabbed a book at random, to read while my car, name of Iggy, underwent his first MOT. When I arrived and was seated, I discovered that the…
The Grafitti of the Tower of London

Jun 24, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, genealogy

Dudleys, Elizabeth I, graffiti, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, Lord Guildford Dudley, Mary I, Philip Howard Earl of Arundel, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, Royal Mint, Thomas Roper, Tower of London

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI sparkypus.com The graffiti commemorating the Dudleys. Beauchamp Tower. Photo Spitalfieldlife I am, to be honest not a fan of graffiti, also known as graffito, neither do I know anyone who is. However, if you are talking historical graffiti, and from no less than the Tower of London, well that is definitely…
What really happened when the monasteries were suppressed….?

Jun 23, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, religion

“Princes”, bias, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Falle of the Religiouse Howses, Haverfordwest, Henry VIII, History Extra, Ixworth, Kenilworth, Langley Abbey, Lewes Priory, Lincolnshire Rising, Michael Sherbrook, Monk Bretton Priory, Netley Abbey, Pilgrimage of Grace, Reading Abbey, religious houses, Rievaulx Abbey, Roche Abbey, spin, Thomas Cromwell, Tower of London, Waltham Abbey

“….Despite being described by many as ‘an eyewitness account’, the Falle [of the Religiouse Howses] is nothing of the sort; in June 1538, when Roche was suppressed, Sherbrook was no more than four years of age. Instead, we must look to the motivation behind Sherbrook’s words, written three decades after the event….” Good heavens, this might almost…