Finding the Fugitive King a Ship (Finale)

November 12, 2014August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: Barque · Battle of Worcester · Bridport · Brighthelmstone · Brighton · Charles Stuart · Colonel Wyndham · English Civil War · Escape of King Charles II · Jane Lane · Jersey · King Charles II · Limbry · Oliver Cromwell · Shoreham · Tattersell · Wilmot · Worcester2 Comments

Up until now, our fugitive King, Charles Stuart, has hidden in a tree, fought off a deranged miller, crouched in a priest’s hole, sparred with a Republican smith, and ridden past a sea of enemy dragoons, all while picking up lessons on the speech and comportment of a country fellow. He’s had a busy time of it, but now we get to the final stretch. Our King must find a ship. After Charles had left the Nortons of Abbotsleigh, he arrived at Trent, the home of a close acquaintance, Colonel Frank Wyndham, who set to work to find him a…

Looking for Me?

November 4, 2014August 18, 2019 Categories: NewsTags: Charles Stuart · English Civil War · Highwayman · King Charles II · Worcester7 Comments

Today, I’m a guest of English Historical Fiction Authors. You can read about the history of infamous 17th Century highwayman, Captain Hind, in a new blog post titled The Royalist Highwayman. Come on over for a visit.

Finding the Fugitive King (Part 3): Damsel saves the day

October 23, 2014August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: Abbotsleigh · Bentley Hall · Bristol · Charles Stuart · English Civil War · Escape of King Charles II · Jane Lane · Moseley Old Hall · Thomas Whitgreave11 Comments

By the time Charles Stuart left Moseley Old Hall on September 9, 1651, Parliament had circulated a £1000 reward for his capture. This was no mean sum. To put this in perspective, a labourer made an average of £9 per year*, and it would have taken him over 110 years to earn the value of the reward. In today’s dollars, based on the average UK farmer’s salary** of £24,500 the reward would be approximately £545,000. The stakes were definitely high. Our old friend Thomas Whitgreave recommended the services of Colonel John Lane of Bentley Hall to Charles. The Colonel had…

Finding the Fugitive King (Part 2): Moseley Old Hall

September 30, 2014August 19, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: Charles Stuart · Colonel Lane · English Civil War · Escape of King Charles II · Father Huddleston · Highwayman · King Charles II · Moseley Old Hall · Penderell · priest's hole · Thomas Whitgreave · Wilmot · Worcester10 Comments

The trusty Penderells (see Part 1) brought Charles to the next safe house five miles away in Wolverhampton. Moseley Old Hall was the home of Sir Thomas Whitgreave, a papist and former Royalist officer who had last fought at Naseby in 1645. The hour was midnight in the wee hours of Monday, the 8th of September. Thomas greeted Charles at the manor’s orchard door. On hand was the King’s friend, Lord Henry Wilmot (see below), and the Whitgreave’s priest, Father Huddleston. Introducing the King to a Catholic priest was a bit risqué considering that practicing Catholicism was against the law. But…

Finding the Fugitive King (Part 1): White Ladies and Boscobel House

September 13, 2014August 18, 2019 Categories: 17th centuryTags: Battle · Boscobel House · Charles Stuart · English Civil War · Escape of King Charles II · Oliver Cromwell · Penderell · Royal Oak · White Ladies · Worcester19 Comments

In chess, it’s all about capturing the King. Imagine this: You’ve lost the Battle of Worcester, and your soldiers have been killed, captured, and/or scattered. You know what comes next. Your father, after all, was murdered at the hands of the very men who are scrambling to find you. Resources? 200 mounted men. Options? Run. Following the battle, Charles headed north toward Scotland. Not that he wanted to, and you could hardly blame him. Since June 1650 when he landed in Scotland to secure an alliance, the Scots had practically kept him a prisoner. He acted the part of a puppet…