What really happened with Princess Cecily’s first two marriages….?

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…

Richard II was an avunculicide….!

I had to check the dictionary for the precise meaning of avunculicide! I knew the word avuncular, of course. Apparently avunculicide refers to the killing of an uncle by a nephew or niece. I’m now told that “an avunculus is a maternal uncle and a patruus is a paternal one”. We learn something new every…

Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019

via Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019

Maldon

Following an unsuccesful Viking raid in 924, the battle of Maldon took place in August 991 and the result was a victory for the Norse invaders. Byrthnoth, the Essex earldorman who led the Saxons that day, was among those killed and Ethelred II instituted payment of the “Danegeld” to pacify the Vikings. This Byrthnoth statue…

The Bishop, the MP, the scientist, the historian and the brewer

The preacher at St. Paul’s stated that the late King’s surviving issue were illegitimate. On this occasion, it wasn’t Dr. Ralph Shaa on 22nd June 1483 about Edward IV’s sons but Rt. Rev. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London and Westminster, on 9 July 1553 about Henry VIII’s daughters, at which time Jane was proclaimed. As…

RAM RAIDERS REVEAL TUDOR/MEDIEVAL HOUSE

A group of ram-raiders in Dedham, Essex drove their vehicle into the facade of a plain, old Co-Op, causing considerable damage–and revealing behind the 1950’s front a timbered-framed merchant’s house built around 1520, with earlier medieval features such as a hearth and a large cauldron blocking the doorway, possibly as a talisman to ward off…

Haunted Essex

Some of the venues in this article are surprising and the nocturnal visits sound very expensive but they include some classic historical venues. In Colchester, the Castle and (Howard) Red Lion are included, as is the Redoubt at Harwich, although the Kelvedon Nuclear Bunker and North Weald Station are much newer. In the north of…

A constitutionally important “Tudor” servant

We tend to have rather a negative view of Sir Richard Rich, or Baron Rich of Leez as he became in February 1547, nowadays. In this, we are somewhat influenced by Robert Bolt’s portrayal of him, as a “betrayer” of More, together with the history of Trevor-Roper. One Bolt line, memorably delivered by Paul Scofield…

So where exactly is “Orwell”?

Harwich Town station is the end of the line, a twenty-five minute ride from Manningtree and the north-eastern extremity of Essex. As you cross the main road from the station car park, turning left takes you past a series of old buildings with Harwich Society plaques amid a modern setting. Some of these commemorate people such…

George Washington’s England, especially Sulgrave Manor….

  I had never looked into the English origins of George Washington’s family, although I did know that his ancestors were associated with Washington Old Hall, Washington, Tyne & Wear. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/washington-old-hall So I am surprised to discover that the family was also associated with other places, including Purleigh in Essex  (http://www.kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html)  and Sulgrave Manor in…