On a lovely clear autumnal Saturday in May the Richard III Society NSW Branch held their biannual conference, set in the spacious, attractive North Sydney Leagues Club in the Sydney suburb of Cammeray. The event was well attended by regular members and people from the community, with some eager attendees having travelled interstate to attend. A wide range of topics presented throughout the day guaranteed something of interest to everyone. Read the rest of this entry »

We would like to welcome Jenny Savage from the Richard III Society in the UK.  Jenny attends our general meetings whenever she is in Sydney, where she is always a most welcome guest.  We are very excited that she has agreed to contribute to our website.

Today she makes a start with a review of Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton AD 1461 (which you can read here).

We are looking forward to hear from Jenny soon again.  All our contributors are highly appreciated, but this goes particularly for those from outside of  our branch.

A very big welcome, Jenny!

Today, May 20, is a time to celebrate. Exactly a year ago our new website took off, thanks to the inspiration and guidance of Mathias Burbach. Mathias, we can’t thank you enough.

Since then, in the skilled and sure hands of our webmaster Dorothea Preis, the site has developed into a place well worth visiting. There’s the latest news about our Branch as well as information about the people involved with it. Plus plenty of information about what is happening Ricardian-wise around the world such as the recent archaeological discoveries at Bosworth and the newly suggested site of Redemore Plain, developments at Micklegate Bar in York and new research into the Battle of Wakefield.

New items of interest are added regularly: the Medieval Calendar gives daily reminders of what happened when, where and to whom; medieval style recipes have begun to make an appearance; we’re visiting places that have a distinct Plantagenet presence. Our book list is filled with suggestions that range from classic research such as John Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor: the Secret Queen to entertaining – but not necessarily historically accurate – novels. Our library list grows weekly and our bookshelves are filling rapidly – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What has really thrilled us in the past twelve months is the amount of new friends from around the world who have made contact with us, offered us articles and illustrations, posted some of our items on other sites – and congratulated the Branch on its website. Take a bow, Dorothea!

Please continue to keep in touch with us. In fact we hope you make Many Happy Returns to our site and get to know the New South Wales Branch of the Richard III Society even better. Loyalty binds us.

… that was the question at our April General Meeting. However, before coming to this interesting talk some business needed to be taken care of.

Our Secretary, Julia thanked all those who had sent their registration forms for the May conference – and their cheques.  There was still time before the cut-off date for enrolment.  She reminded people to contribute to the bring and buy stall, that costume was optional, and asked them to be sure to arrive on time so as not to delay the programme. Read the rest of this entry »

Next Saturday, 10 April 2010, our April General Meeting will be taking place at our usual venue, the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts.  The speaker will be Kevin Herbert asking “What’s in a Name?”

And the names are ones we know well:  Richard and Duke of Gloucester, and it is an absorbing survey of people throughout history – with royal connections – who have been called Richard or ennobled by the title Duke of Gloucester.  What a tragic, haunted lot these characters were!  And how different from the present day  shining example set by the Society’s Patron HRH Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

Kevin gave this talk (although abbreviated) at the Perth convention last year.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday at 2 pm.

Just a short reminder that this coming Sunday, 21 March, we will be commemorating the death of Queen Anne.  We are meeting at 12.15 at the Duke of Gloucester at the corner of Frenchmans and Clovelly Road in Randwick.  Looking forward to seeing you there.

As newcomers to the Richard III Society my husband and I are still learning the basics of the 15th century milieu, and the lore surrounding Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester. Having read two Ricardian books together, The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman and Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time, we were very sympathetic to a man treated unjustly over 500 years ago, and had wanted to join with others to learn more about him and celebrate the known achievements of his brief reign. Read the rest of this entry »

We hope you will join us on Saturday, 15 May, for our one-day conference.  This promises to be a day with good companions, great speakers and a love of books, maps, heraldry and many things medieval.

We are sure you’ll find the speakers and the talks full of interest.  We are not only academic people in deep discussion over obscure points of history!  Naturally you’ll also learn very quickly why we are so enthusiastic about Richard III, his life and times.  Speakers on the theme of Books and Bookmakers include Maggie Patton from the State Library of NSW, Stephen Szabo of Heraldry Australia and historical novelist Felicity Pulman.  And there are more contributions from familiar faces from our branch.

Your registration fee of $30 includes a two course lunch and morning and afternoon tea – and there will be a super raffle and a sales table. Don’t miss out!

Registration forms and additional information are now available from info@richardiii-nsw.org.au.

The first general meeting of 2010 promises to be a special treat and we are sure you will want to mark 13 February in red in your diary.

Our  speaker at this meeting will be Dr Carole Cusack.   A historian and broadcaster, Carole is Associate Professor in the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney.  She has often been a guest speaker of our Branch of the Richard III Society, and for the last 10 years she has been the Honorary President of the Plantagenet Society.  Those of us who had the pleasure of hearing Carole speak on earlier occasions know what an exceptional pleasure it is to listen to her well-researched and lively talks.

This time her topic will be  “Writing about Richard:  Admissible Sources and Emotional Responses”.  She is going to look at the way how different historians’ biographical treatments of Richard III approach the question of admissible sources (remember, only Dominic Mancini is actually contemporary, all other sources were written at a later date).   Which sources historians accept, influences their picture of Richard III’s reign as well as their judgement on difficult questions like whether he ‘could have’ done away with his nephews.

Finally, reception history is interested in the way that historical persons and events are received by audiences across cultures and time periods.  What is it about Richard III that provokes an emotional response, when so many other British monarchs are of scant interest to twenty-first century people?

This is a meeting not to be missed.

As always, guests are most welcome.