Ricardian Bulletin Spring 2005 Contents 2 From the Chairman 3 Reception at the College of Arms for HRH the Duke of Gloucester 7 A Princess is Remembered: The Memorial Service for Princess Alice 8 Society News and Notices 10 Developing the Potential: A Research Proposal 11 £1m Lottery Fund Award to Bosworth Battlefield Centre 13 Media Retrospective 16 Match of the Day 18 News and Reviews 21 Then and Now: Reflections on the First 30 Years of the Ricardian Bulletin 24 Anne Mowbray: In Life and In Death 27 The Man Himself 29 The Debate: Elizabeth of York’s Letter 35 Richard’s Friend Francis 38 Logge Notes and Queries: The Death of Joan Boughton by Lesley Wynne-Davies 40 Richard III’s Easter by John Ashdown-Hill 42 Paul Murray Kendall: A Child’s View by Callie Kendall 44 Correspondence 47 The Barton Library 49 Book Review 50 Booklist 52 Letter from America 54 Report on Society Events 55 Future Society Events 57 Branches and Groups 62 New Members 63 Obituaries 64 Calendar Contributions Contributions are welcomed from all members. Articles and correspondence regarding the Bulletin Debate should be sent to Peter Hammond and all other contributions to Elizabeth Nokes. Bulletin Press Dates 15 January for Spring issue; 15 April for Summer issue; 15 July for Autumn issue; 15 October for Winter issue. Articles should be sent well in advance. Bulletin & Ricardian Back Numbers Back issues of the The Ricardian and The Bulletin are available from Judith Ridley. If you are interested in obtaining any back numbers, please contact Mrs Ridley to establish whether she holds the issue(s) in which you are interested. For contact details see back inside cover of the Bulletin The Ricardian Bulletin is produced by the Bulletin Editorial Committee, General Editor Elizabeth Nokes and printed by St Edmundsbury Press. © Richard III Society, 2005 1 From the Chairman 005 is a year for anniversaries. It is fifty years since the publication of Paul Murray Kendall’s bi- 2 ography of King Richard and the premiere of Laurence Olivier’s classic film of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Forty years ago, the discovery of the remains of Anne Mowbray was announced and, amazingly, it is twenty years since we commemorated the five hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth. Ten years ago in the autumn, we lost one of our much loved and still much missed mem- bers, Joyce Melhuish. I still find it incredible that it can take a dozen people to do the things that Joyce did alone. Most of these will be recalled throughout the year in the Bulletin. Next year, of course, we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the re-founding of the Society. Naturally, we want to celebrate this in style, and in June’s Bulletin we will outline the initial programme for the year. In the meantime, we will be talking to our branches and groups to ensure that the celebrations involve as many mem- bers as possible, in Britain and overseas. So, send me your suggestions for celebrating this milestone. All will be considered. However, it’s not all about anniversaries. The announcement by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Leicestershire County Council of funding for the Bosworth Battlefield Centre is perhaps the most exciting news we have heard for some time. In this issue, the Research Committee is putting forward an exciting new proposal and I would encourage those of you who want to get involved in research to respond to it. Although the idea of a research community sounds quite daunting, if successful, it should greatly help our research pro- gramme, further enhancing the Society’s reputation in historical scholarship. The Research Committee is the oldest of our standing committees, having started its life back in 1979. The annual report gives details about its composition and activities, the most important of which is its responsibilities for over- seeing our research agenda. The Society has another busy year ahead with the regular annual events and outings and I look forward to meeting members at many of these. There are two additional events this year which I would like to mention. In April, Cambridge will host the Society’s triennial conference, and, down under in July, the Australians and New Zealanders will be holding their biennial conference in Syd- ney. I am sure both will be highly successful and I look forward to reading the reports in future issues of the Bulletin. Recently, we learned of the death of Jack Leslau, who believed that Holbein left us clues that the sons of Edward IV lived during the lifetime of Thomas More, and who was prepared to dig up Meche- len Cathedral to prove it! No matter what one thought of Jack’s theories, at least he made us think. I wonder if he now knows the answers. Another notable Ricardian who has died recently is Vera Legg, who will be remembered in the annals of the Society as the original promoter of Fotheringhay. She began the project, which led to the York Chapel window there. The fund raising for the window, with the first craft sale, gave rise to Joyce Melhuish’s long involvement with Fotheringhay, which in turn gave rise to mine, and to regular craft sales. Joyce’s first costume doll, of Queen Anne Neville and christened ‘Queen Dolly’, was won, fittingly, by Vera, at that first sale. Those of you who attended the AGM in Bristol last October will know that we had a talk about the accounts of William Worsley, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral from 1479 to 1497, a key period in Yorkist history. The book about this interesting man who was closely involved with many of the great events of the time is now available from the sales team. Finally, thinking of books brings to mind that one of the best introductions to the Ricardian controversy is that by our former chairman, the late Jeremy Potter. In ‘Good King Richard?’, Jeremy included the question mark to acknowledge that the ‘good’ was still open to debate in some quarters. Last year was a good one for promoting a positive view of the king. Let’s make sure that 2005 is another such for good King Richard. Phil Stone 2 Reception at the College of Arms for HRH The Duke of Gloucester ecently, as the Society prepares to cele- dsor Herald (William Hunt), who told us R brate the golden anniversary of its re- about the day-to-day work. This remains, as founding in 2006 and the whole body of its it was in 1484, the granting of arms and the achievement over those fifty years, smaller heraldic and genealogical research and record anniversaries and aspects of that achievement -keeping that these grants involved. We were have also been marked. In 2003, the publica- shown one of the most recent grants of arms; tion of a Festschrift, and the reception to this was to the Society of International Bank- launch it, celebrated twenty-five years of ers and represented £400 for 100 hours of Anne Sutton’s editorship of The Ricardian. work, the money is crucial as the College is Last November it was the turn of the Society entirely financially self-supporting. We were to record with gratitude the silver anniversary also shown the grant of arms to the late Sir of HRH The Duke of Gloucester’s patronage, Harry Secombe, showing a mermaid combing with a reception at the College of Arms, in her hair and the motto GO ON. Other older the City of London, attended by around forty artefacts were also on display. Windsor members. pointed out to us an armorial from 1510. He The choice of the College of Arms was demonstrated to us how this sort of illustrated highly appropriate, as it received its charter of guide showed how arms were becoming more incorporation from Richard III in March 1484 fussy during Tudor times, the entry for Rich- and so is a living legacy of his life and reign. ard III noted him as having killed the Princes. The College was originally housed at Cold- We also had a chance to view a pedigree of harbour, though at the start of his reign Henry Edward IV, showing his supposed descent VII granted this mansion to his mother – a de- from Adam. The College has the Latin ver- cision that still appears to rankle! Somewhat sion of the Rous Roll and we could see how ironically the College was to move to its cur- Edward of Lancaster had been inserted into rent site, between St Paul’s and the river, the entry for Anne Neville, presumably after through a grant from Edward Stanley, 3rd 1485. It was the practice of heralds to tour Earl of Derby – great-grandson of Lady Mar- the country on visitations, to make grants of garet’s husband. Shortly after this, in 1555, it arms and to check that existing grants were received a charter of re-incorporation from not being misused. Just to show that some Queen Mary and King Philip. Its present things do not change, we were shown an ex- home, was built in the 1670s after Derby penses claim from a 1683 visitation. The item Place was destroyed in the Great Fire. that probably aroused the most comment and The College’s officers consist of three interest was non-heraldic though. These were Kings of Arms, six Heralds and four Pur- the notes of a London citizen from the 1480s, suivants. In medieval times they were re- with their intriguing claim that the Princes sponsible for the organisation of tournaments were killed by the ‘vyse’ of the Duke of and from this they developed their role in or- Buckingham.* ganising great ceremonies of state and their After this very interesting talk, it was time armorial expertise.