The Mayflower

Below is William Halsall’s 1882 portrait of the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor. It is obviously imagined as the original ship was almost certainly broken up at Rotherhithe in 1624, a more extreme case than  the “Streatham portrait“, which post-dates it’s purported subject’s death by about forty years. From the spelling of the title, the background… Continue reading The Mayflower

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… Continue reading So where exactly is “Orwell”?

Did the boys from the Tower escape from one of Yorkshire’s lost coastal towns or villages…?

I have often wondered about Richard’s plans for the Yorkist “heirs” he sent for safety to Sheriff Hutton. We know Elizabeth of York was there, because Henry Tudor sent a very swift party to secure her person. She was then escorted regally to London, to be greeted at Lambeth by her husband-to-be. After he’d established… Continue reading Did the boys from the Tower escape from one of Yorkshire’s lost coastal towns or villages…?