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Edward Charles Novels in History |
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ISOLJ—Some Tudor Sources |
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I used a lot of source material in getting to grips with In the Shadow of Lady Jane, both books and web-based material. I found the internet an essential tool for research, locating books and finding information. I liked the idea of researching Tudor England through the internet tools. Below is a small sample of useful books. I have only listed the directly relevant books but many others gave me general background and key dates.
Children of England by Alison Weir [Jonathan Cape 1996] Whenever I got in a mess with dates, Alison Weir’s logical and careful approach came to my rescue. I wore out one copy and had to buy another. The front cover has a portrait of Lady Jane now in the collection of the Earl of Jersey
Lady Jane Grey & the House of Suffolk by Alison Plowden [Sidgwick & Jackson 1985] A very helpful biography; by my elbow for months. Her later biography Lady Jane Grey [Sutton 2004] came out after I had finished writing my own book on that subject.
Lady Jane Grey by Hester W Chapman [Jonathan Cape 1962] A good read, even if the style seems somewhat stilted today. The dates are, however, very unreliable in places. My copy is full of yellow stickers, as I don’t like writing in books.
Lady Jane Grey and Her Times by A.I. Taylor [Appleton & Co New York 1908] Hard going and a bit variable but with the odd gem of motivation and many wild flights of fancy. A good reminder of how biographies mirror the writer and the period when they were written, as well as the subject.
Two Tudor Portraits by Hester W Chapman [Jonathan cape 1960] Two short biographies—of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Lady Katherine Grey. Useful on the latter; especially in developing her flighty, shallow and rather silly personality. The sort of girl who got a boy into serious trouble.
The Last Tudor King by Hester W Chapman [Jonathan Cape 1961] Some excellent “insider views” of the boy king Edward VI and his short life. The “royal imp” comes over as a really interesting character. What a pity he didn’t survive and marry Lady Jane. He would have driven her mad, of course, but she might also have learned to laugh.
Chronicles of the Tudor Queens by David Loades [Sutton 2002] A more heavyweight history book, He (correctly) steps over Lady Jane as Queen of England but adds to the atmosphere of the period. Contains my favourite portrait of Lady Jane (p70) (property of Lord Hastings) wearing the same jewels as in her portrait in the collection of the Earl of Jersey, referred to above.
Secular and Divine by Edwin Haydon [Marwood Publications 1997] An excellent East Devon local history book, which gave me the Stocker family and Dr Thomas Marwood. A useful source of all sorts of local knowledge, especially about the fulling mills of the Umborne Valley and Colyton. It seems nearly all the local men were called John. Memorials of the West by W H Hamilton Rogers [James Commin, Exeter, 1888 ]
A gem of a book, kindly lent to me by a local farmer. Pages 233—236 are essential reading for followers of Thomas Marwood. I often wondered how his wife Temperance outlived him by 27 years. The answer is that she was his third wife and only married him when he was 94.
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