Will the sequencing of Richard’s genome prove he was good or bad….?

On Tuesday 2nd March a new series commences on BBC2 (9 pm) about what may or may not be revealed by the in-depth study of DNA and sequencing genomes. Of course, this will include Richard. How can it not? Especially when Professor Turi King is involved. Richard is surely the most important and prominent historical…

Combining genetics with genealogy to identify the dead in unmarked graves….

  Can you imagine swarms of investigators milling around unmarked graves (and known graves) across the UK, taking samples of DNA in the hope of locating someone of historic interest? After all, it’s how Michael Ibsen’s descent from Richard’s sister was discovered. Well, the nature of events in Quebec, Canada, described in this article, raise…

Another prominent Talbot

Last year, we brought you the news that the developers of the Stanley knife were descended from Thomas, Baron Stanley, subsequently Earl of Derby. Now we can announce that a great scientist and inventor was a Talbot, authentically descended from John “Old Talbot”, Earl of Shrewsbury and posthumous father-in-law to Edward IV. William Henry Fox…

The Sitwells

I have recently come across this photo, showing a similarity between Margaret Countess of Salisbury and her descendant, Dame Edith Sitwell, of the Renishaw literary family of baronets. The Sitwell’s ancestry is through the early Dukes of Beaufort – the family who are theoretically descended in the male line from Edward III, but not necessarily.…

If Edward IV didn’t dispose of Henry Holand, 3rd Duke of Exeter, who did….?

I must state from the outset that I could not find any contemporary likenesses of Henry Holand, so the above is of him as played by an actor unknown to me. The life of Henry Holand, 3rd Duke of Exeter—*actually 4th Duke, by my calculations, see below—has never been of particular interest to me, but…

What happened to Coldharbour on Richard III’s death. . . .?

Yes, another post about Coldharbour (above) which stood  in Upper Thames Street, London. But this time it concerns an apparent omission in ownership. It is a known fact that after Bosworth, Henry VII turfed the College of Heralds out of Coldharbour and handed the property over to his mother, Margaret Beaufort. Isn’t it? I mean, there’s…

Just what is Richard III’s DNA telling us….?

The following link arrived in my box this morning.https://figshare.com/…/Richard_III_The_Livingstons_…/4764886 I quote: “18.03.2017, 07:26 by John Smith “A skeleton excavated at the presumed site of the Grey Friars friary in Leicester in 2012 is almost certainly that of the English king, Richard III (1452 -1485), and mtDNA (which is passed from mother to child) extracted from…

The Holand Dukes rose against Richard III? Wrong!….

For those of you who do not know, I am very fond of Dartington Hall. I read all I can about it, and its history, originally because of an intention to write about its creator, the first Holand Duke of Exeter, but now because I just plain love the place as well. These Holand Dukes…

Tales of a Ricardian Traveler – Debunking a Myth at Dartington Hall

Originally posted on RICARDIAN LOONS:
Lady on Horseback, mid-15th c., British Museum Dartington Hall, near Totnes in Devon and just southeast of Dartmoor National Park, represents a uniquely British form of historical contradiction. It is both medieval, having parts of a Grade I-listed late 14th century manor house, and modern, being the current home of…

The Shakespearean editor who was descended from Richard III’s sister …

… was Sir Edward Capell, son of the vicar of Stanton in Suffolk. He was, as you can see , a cousin of the Earls of Essex through Arthur Capell Baron Hadham, a descendant of Anne Duchess of Exeter.