Our members and friends in the Canberra area are unfortunately too far away to often attend our regular meetings in Sydney. However, nothing stops Ricardians and so they meet informally among themselves. They put the recent free day, Australia Day on 26 January, to good use for a Ricardian get-together. Here is their report.
Canberra based Ricardians gathered on Australia Day at Gillian’s home to watch the defense portion of the 1985 Trial of Richard III.
We had watched the Prosecution section in late September.
An enjoyable way to spend a hot Australia Day afternoon, celebrated with some appropriate Australian food for afternoon tea.
If you live in Canberra or the surrounding area you are most welcome to get in touch with your local Ricardians at canberra@richardiii-nsw.org.au.
Tags: Canberra, NSW Branch
The December 2010 Ricardian Bulletins have been posted to our members in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. I was informed that Queensland may still be experiencing problems with postal deliveries after the devastating floods and it would be better to wait. We therefore would like to ask our Queensland members for a bit more patience, yours will be posted as soon as possible.
As per usual you will find a wide variety of interesting articles in the Bulletin. For members of our branch the highlight will be Leslie’s two-page report on our May 2010 conference. Also of interest will be the reviews of Now is the Winter by two members from the Scottish Branch, who were lucky enough to see a performance of the play. We have heard a lot about this play from Julia, our tireless Secretary, who has been in contact with the author, Kate Saffin. These are but two of all the informative items.
Hope you will find your copy soon in your mailbox.
Tags: NSW Branch
Our thanks go to Babs Creamer of the Dorset Group of the Richard III Society, who has for a long time been a good friend of our branch, who contributed this fascinating article.
Corfe Castle in Dorset
The name of Corfe Castle in Dorset goes back to Anglo-Saxon times, where the word Corfe meant a cutting, pass or gap. When the River Wicken and the Byle Brook eroded the rock a steep-sided chalk hill was left suitable to be a good defensive site “Corfe’s Gate or Corvesgate” a name which was resurrected by Thomas Hardy for his 19th century novels. Little is known about the earliest buildings there but we do know there was a timber-built Saxon hall as post-holes were found in the West Bailey during excavations. Queen Elfreda was very probably residing at the hall in AD978 when her stepson the teenaged Saxon King Edward called on her and his half-brother Ethelred whilst he was out hunting. Legend has it that Elfreda ordered Edward’s death by stabbing so that her own son Ethelred (the unready) would become king. I say legend as this story may be just as true as the one about King Richard III killing the Princes in the Tower! In 1001 Edward was recognised as a saint due to miracles at his tomb. “Edward the Martyr”. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Castles, Dorset
The biennial Australasian Convention of the Australian and New Zealand Branches of the Richard III Society will this year be hosted by the Victorian Branch. It will take place from Friday, 5 August, to Sunday, 7 August 2011, at the Victoria Hotel, Little Collins Street, Melbourne.
Registration for this important event should be made by 31 January 2011. If you haven’t already done so, please remember to help the Victorian Branch by getting your form to them on time. All the information was sent to members and friends last October. Should you have mislaid the documents, please let Julia know (on info@richardiii-nsw.org.au) so she can send you replacements. You can also find them on the website of the Victorian Branch.
Tags: Conventions
It is a couple of years since we abandoned our customary January Picnic in the Park (ie. the Botanic gardens), mainly because of appalling wet weather on occasions and the increasing problem of parking in the city.
However, because some people have suggested a similar informal event would be fun, we are planning another visit to enjoy the wonderful menu at the Sutton Forest Inn in the Southern Highlands. The date will be Saturday, 29 January, when everyone should be home from the holidays; the time: 12 noon. As before food and drinks will be paid for individually to avoid all the paperwork at the end of a great gathering.
If you would like to be there, please advise our Social Secretary Jane by email on social@richardiii-new.org.au . We shall need to know numbers by Saturday, 22 January, so please let her know as soon as possible. Also tell her if you will be driving there (plenty of parking) or would like to go by train and be picked up at Bowral station. Our master of public transport timetables, Kevin, will advise on times when we know who is coming.
Tags: NSW Branch
Helen Castor, She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth. Faber and Faber, London, 2010, ISBN 978-0-571-23705-0. RRP $45 (hardback)
The book opens with the death of the young King Edward VI, seeming to bring to an end the promise of a glorious Tudor dynasty. There is no king to succeed him and for the first time in English history there is the prospect of a woman on the throne.
But which one? Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn’s Elizabeth, or their cousins Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Jane Grey.
Whoever is chosen, will she be as strong and as influential as four amazing women who “ruled” England at times between the 12th and15th centuries. Read the rest of this entry »
Fighting in the Streets – The Battles of St Albans
People who know me, will have realised that I have a particular interest in St Albans and anything connected to the town or the saint.. After I had previously looked at the goings-on at the Abbey and its cells, I am planning to turn my attention to the civilian population in the middle ages. As the civilian population would have been very much at the receiving end of the two battles fought in their midst, irrespective of who won that battle, I recently read two books dealing with these battles. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Hertfordshire, St Albans
On 25 December 800 Charlemagne was crowned first Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome.
On 25 December 1066 William the Conqueror (William I) was crowned at Westminster Abbey.
Tags: December
Death of Anne of York, Countess of Surrey. She was the seventh child and fifth daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville.
Tags: Edward IV, Elizabeth Woodville, Family, November
The last meeting of the year was held on 11 December 2010. The Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts meeting room was filled to capacity with old members and new, and friends visiting from other branches.
Introductory remarks were made by the chairperson Judith who welcomed new members Rosemary and Peter Ingle as well as Jenny Savage, who was visiting from the UK, followed by the treasurer’s, librarian’s and webmaster’s reports – all being from our dedicated Dorothea who assured us that everything is in good shape. The social secretaries, Xavier and Jane, reported that they are busy planning the March luncheon and will have details for us at the next meeting in February. Julia Redlich reminded everyone that the deadline to register for the Melbourne Richard III conference to be held next August is late January.
Our program for the day was an excellent in-depth study of medieval pottery entitled Water, Earth and Fire: Medieval Pottery in Europe presented by Dorothea whose grasp of the subject was impressive.
Just before breaking for afternoon tea, Julia Redlich treated us to a delightful theatrical offering about a school play gone wrong which had everyone laughing and remembering similar disasters from their own thespian efforts during long-ago school days.
After the break we had a very challenging contest of identification of Ricardian landmarks, emblems, flags and statues offered by Judith, and the raffles were drawn with many people going home happy with their winnings, and purchases from the Bring and Buy table which had been laden with goodies. The next meeting will be on 12 February 2011, with invited guest speaker Penny Bishop presenting her work on the Plagues and Pestilences in the Middle Ages.
Tags: NSW Branch
