Kris contacted our branch a while ago hoping we might be of assistance in her genealogical research.  We understand that Kris is especially interested in the Durnford link, so if any of readers could help Kris further, please let us know (webmaster “AT” richardiii-nsw.org.au) and we will gladly pass your message on to Kris.

Jigsaws, we have all done them. They are an excellent tool for keeping our minds active and provide challenges for people of all ages, when the pieces start to fit together to complete the picture. In solving Family History puzzles, some surprises can be unearthed!

Firstly I tackled my father-in-laws family, and being from convicts from the First Fleet, they are now known as the Royalty of Australia. That project took about 3 years and resulted in developing a website.

The next family line was my own. The lack of information at times made be almost give up, until I decided to work on my grandmother’s family, the Durnfords. There were lots of rather famous relatives among the Durnfords, many of them highly decorated in the British Military for their prowess on the battlefield, to their ability in engineering new cities in America, Canada and the West Indies.

Along the way, some of them married 3 or 4 times, and had numerous children. The Durnford family is worldwide, and has its own website. One arm of the family became known as the “Military” Durnfords. It is to the line that we Australian Durnfords are related.

While living in the past centuries and reading of their lives with the research that was available, I found that I could research their direct lineage back to King William the Conqueror. That was a shock. But to even be able to go back to the different Royals of the European countries was certainly an experience.

I loved geography when at school, but refrained from studying British History, and suddenly I was surrounded by it day in day out, as I took to the researching almost as a full time job.

We decided then to take a 3 month trip and “walk in our ancestors’ footsteps”. We planned a driving route that would take us to many of the towns where I knew these people had lived or died, or where they had fought in a battle or two, or where they had built amazing buildings.

Nothing could have prepared me for what we discovered.

We arrived in Leicester, and on a wet, cold and rainy day, decided to find the Cathedral, because one line of the family Herrick. The hostess an elderly lady told us that the Herrick’s were buried in St Katherine’s Chapel, and she eagerly took us there. I mentioned to her that I had discovered King Richard III was among my family ancestors. She then showed us where King Richard was to be reburied, on a spot immediately outside the chapel.

She also told me that she didn’t think she had seen any other relatives of the Herricks retracing their lives, and was a bit impressed. She sent us off to the adjoining Guildhall where the Mayor’s offices were.

I was a bit overwhelmed, all the names of Herricks that I had no knowledge of who they all were! The memorials covered the walls of the chapel, which is at the front of the Cathedral to the left hand side (east), it has an altar and beautiful stained glass windows.

But I found the grave stones of Robert Herrick and Elizabeth Manby.

They are my 10th great grandparents.

Here lyeth the bodie of Robert Herick Ironmonger and Alderman of Leicester who had beene thrice Maire thereof. He was eldest sonne to John Herick and Marie, and had 2 sonnes and 9 daughters by one wife with whom he lived 51 years. At his death he gave away 16 pounds 10 shillings a year to good uses. He lived 78 years; and after dyed very godly the 14th of June 1618.

Then I learnt that they owned Greyfriers, the land adjacent to the Cathedral where King Richard III was initially buried after the Battle of Bosworth. Now if that wasn’t an amazing discovery

We returned from our trip with all this new information and an added research purpose to link all the ancestors and write about their lives.

In doing so, I was able to trace our lineage through the La Zouche family, who were the great grandparents (a few times) of King Richard. That line continued to the Herricks.

How ironic that while King Richard III was unceremoniously put to rest on the land later known as  Greyfriers, that he would be re-buried in the same Cathedral, just a few steps away from the owners of the same land.

I am sure they would not have been aware that a long lost King was also a long lost cousin!

The father of Christopher Wren wrote in his diary that he had seen a marker indicating that King Richard III was buried in Leicester on the Herrick’s land.

Why was he there? Because he was a tutor at Oxford and his pupils were none other than Herrick children

This is one piece of my family jigsaw that is of significant historical importance!

Notes regarding Robert and Elizabeth Herrick

From my blog www.edurnford.blogspot.com.au

Eldest son of AId. John Heyrick, mayor in 1557; born at Leic. in 1540, was one of the forty-eight councillors 1567, M.P. for Leic. 1588, a J.P. and alderman, and again mayor 1593 and 1605.

There were 5000 residents for all these councillors!

Ald. Robert Heyrick married at St. Martin’s 11 November 1567 Elizabeth, daughter of Ald. Wm. Manby of Leic., by whom he had a numerous family (vide St. Martin’s registers). For some years prior to his death, he resided in a mansion house within the precincts and grounds of the dissolved Grey Friars monastery, nearly opposite St. Martin’s church.

Here he died 14 June 1618 aged seventy-eight, and was buried at St. Martin’s two days later. M.I. there. Will dated 26 March 1617, was proved in the P.C.C., London, 30 July 1618. His portrait, with that of his younger brother Sir William Heyrick of Beaumanor Park, is still preserved in the Guildhall.

A townsman of note, and one of the most influential and active members of the corporate body of his time. In 1598, in conjunction with his younger brother Sir William Heyrick of London, goldsmith, later of Beaumanor, he obtained a confirmation of the ancient family arms, with the addition of this crest :-A bull’s head argent, the muzzle ears and horns tipped sable, gorged with a chaplet of roses leaved vert. The family motto VIRTUS NOBILlTAT being adopted by later members of the family.

Second son of Thomas Heyrick of Leic., and brother of AId. Nicholas Heyrick (No. 167). He was born in 1513, enrolled a freeman 1534-5, elected a chamberlain 1543-4, and again mayor 1572. He resided in the Saturday market at the corner of Cheapside ; married Mary, daughter of John Bond of Ward End, co. Warwick, who died in 1611, by whom he had five sons and seven daughters.

Here lyeth the bodie of Robert Herick Ironmonger and Alderman of Leicester who had beene thrice Maire thereof. He was eldest sonne to John Herick and Marie, and had 2 sonnes and 9 daughters by one wife with whom he lived 51 years. At his death he gave away 16 pounds 10 shillings a year to good uses. He lived 78 years; and after dyed very godly the 14th of June 1618.
Robert Herrick (also spelled Heyrick, 1540-1618), from a family of successful ironmongers, followed in his father’s footsteps as Mayor of Leicester, holding the position in 1584, 1593 and 1605.

Robert and Elizabeth’s home and its place in history!

Sir Robert Catlyn, Chief Justice to Elizabeth I, acquired the site from Bellowe and Broxholme, and it was later bought by Robert Herrick (Heyrick), three times mayor of Leicester. Herrick built a mansion fronting onto Friar Lane, with extensive gardens over the east end of the Friary grounds.

These gardens were visited by Christopher Wren Sr. (1589–1658) in 1611, who recorded being shown a handsome stone pillar with an inscription, “Here lies the body of Richard III, some time King of England”.

The Herrick family, who also owned the country estate of Beaumanor, near Loughborough, sold the mansion to Thomas Noble in 1711,who, like Herrick 130 years before him, represented Leicester in Parliament.

He was also a Justice of the Peace and at various times the town’s Chamberlain, Coroner and MP.

The Mayoral Roll records: “For some years prior to his death, he resided in a mansion house within the precincts and grounds of the dissolved Grey Friars monastery, nearly opposite St Martin’s church.”

Herrick built a house on the eastern part of the grounds, visited in 1612 by a young man named Christopher Wren, who was tutor to Herrick’s nephew at Oxford. (This was not the famous architect but his father, later Dean of Windsor.)

Wren wrote in his diary that Herrick showed him a stone pillar with an inscription ‘here lies the body of Richard III, some time King of England’. This was the last recorded location of Richard’s body.

Herrick’s daughter Frances married Thomas Noble and one of their descendants (also Thomas Noble, c.1656-1730, later the town’s MP) bought the Greyfriars land in 1711.

His son, yet another Thomas, divided the site into two in 1740 with the appropriately named New Street, along which houses were built, with numerous burials discovered during the building work. Herrick’s house and garden passed in 1743 to Roger Ruding of Westcotes, in 1752 to hosier Richard Garle, and in 1759 to banker William Bentley who built a fine house with the address ‘17 Friar Lane’.

Archaeologists from the University of Leicester who are leading the search for the lost grave of King Richard III announced today that they have made a new advance in their quest.

They have uncovered evidence of the lost garden of Robert Herrick – where, historically, it is recorded there was a memorial to Richard III.

Now the ‘time tomb team’ as they have become to be known has discovered paving stones which they believe belong to the garden.

The University of Leicester is leading the archaeological search for the burial place of King Richard III with Leicester City Council, in association with the Richard III Society.

In 1485 King Richard III was defeated at the battle of Bosworth. His body, stripped and despoiled, was brought to Leicester where he was buried in the church of the Franciscan Friary, known as the Grey Friars. Over time the exact whereabouts of the Grey Friars became lost.

Tags: Family, Leicester, Richard III