Richard III Society Yorkshire Branch

Richard III - King Of England

In 1924, the Fellowship of the White Boar was founded by the eminent British surgeon S. Saxon Barton. He, like others before him, was not inclined to accept the version of Ricardian history that had been handed down by Tudor historians, and thereafter generally regarded as a true account.

In 1951, a writer of detective stories called Elizabeth MacIntosh - better known by her pen name: Josephine Tey, wrote a book, "The Daughter of Time," the title being drawn from an old proverb: "Truth is the Daughter of time."Her book vindicated Richard III of the murder of his nephews, the sons of Edward IV, and better known in English History as The Princes in the Tower.

The book created much interest and, in 1956, the Fellowship of the White Boar was reformed as an international organisation and, in 1959, was renamed: The Richard III Society.

Why A Yorkshire Branch Site?

The Life and Times of King Richard III are already covered in great detail in the excellent web sites maintained by our Parent Society and by our sister Branches in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Nevertheless, we do feel we have a unique contribution to make to the story of Richard III, since Yorkshire was his favourite county of all.

It was here that he enjoyed his happiest days, here he and his wife, Anne Neville, daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker made their first - and favourite - home, at Middleham Castle and it was here that their only son, Edward was born in 1473, and spent most of his tragically short life.

In this site, therefore, we shall try to show you why Richard loved Yorkshire and why he was loved so well in return. It is an enormous task to show the vast variety of historical links with Richard III which are located in our county: the Castles, the Monasteries and Priories, the Battlefields, and the towns and cities which have intimate links with Richard and the Houses of Neville and York.

To achieve our aim, we intend to include regularly new pictures, new accounts, fresh news of forthcoming events in our county, and we shall change or add to the information in our site on a quarterly or even monthly basis, where this is required. In this way, we hope to share with you our own love for "this other Eden, demi-paradise..." which we call Yorkshire, which we - like Richard - call "home".

Committee

Chairman Paul Williams

Secretary and Acting Treasurer Graham Mitchell

Librarian and Research Officer Joan Lee

Editor Blanc Sanglier and Newsletter Alison Harrop

E-mail distribution Maria Grazia Leotta

Society Representative Norma Benathan

Committee Member Sheila Wren

Committee Member Sheryl Hayley

Yorkshire Branch Introduction

The Yorkshire Branch of the Richard III Society was founded in 1960 at the time of the 500th anniversaries of the Battles of Wakefield and Towton and is the oldest UK Branch of the Society. At this time (1960) members of the recently reformed Richard III Society living in the three Ridings decided to organise some local activities in the county Richard had known and loved.

Branch activities include an Annual Lecture, a Study Day, Battle Commemorations, an AGM, a Dinner, a Branch Day, trips and other events. We have a library, a research programme and a range of relevant merchandise.

In 2010 we held a 50th anniversary celebration day and costumed dinner for this important date in the Branch’s history, and in 2015 a service was held celebrating the life of King Richard at Holy Trinity, Micklegate, York. This service was a celebration of Richard’s life rather than his death. In December 2016 we placed a plaque in Wakefield Bridge Chantry Chapel as a memorial to Edmund, Earl of Rutland, who had no memorial elsewhere, and initiated an analysis of the contents of the Middleham Jewel.

Our website has a full rundown of the Branch, which has information on all aspects of Branch membership and events. The website has many features and includes sections on the Historic sites of Yorkshire including Castles, Northern Churches, Religious Foundations and the City of York.