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The Fifth Wife
There are no known records of exactly when Catherine Howard was born but it was on this day in 1542 that she died, with a single blow from the executioners axe, on Tower Green. The young queen had made the mistake of having an affair with a favourite of her husband King Henry VIII, one Thomas Culpeper. What made this decision fatal for the pair was that they were indiscreet and their enemies made the King aware. It…
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‘The season is so sharp’ – Charles 1
On the 30 January 1649, Charles I walked through St James Park. It was a cold morning and the King had chosen to wear two shirts as he did not want the watching crowds to think he was shivering through fear. ‘The season is so sharp as probably may make me shake, which some observers may imagine proceeds from fear. I would have no such imputation’ He was led through Whitehall Palace to the Banqueting house, where he…
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The youngest Brontë sister
Anne Brontë was born on this day in 1820, she was the youngest of six children. Her father Patrick was the perpetual curate at Howarth in Yorkshire. Her mother Maria died the year after she was born. Her four elder two sisters Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Emily were all sent away to school. The regime was tough and the two older girls died in 1825 from poor diet and TB. Maria was 11 and Elizabeth was only 10.…
