February 6th - 12th
“It was not a good week to be of royal blood this week in history what with one murder, two executions, and two deaths - one of which could possibly have been avoided if it weren’t for those meddling doctors...”
On 6th February…
Queen Anne is born in London
1665 - Queen Anne of England was born in London. She became queen after both King William III and Queen Mary II died childless. She was the younger sister of Queen Mary II; they were both daughters of the deposed King James II and VII.
Did you know that she was pregnant 18 times? Sadly, only five of her children were born alive and only one of those survived past infancy. Unfortunately, he died when he was 11 years old.
King Charles II dies at the mercy of his doctors
1685 - King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland died. His father King Charles I had been executed during the English Civil War and the nation had been ruled by Parliament and a Lord Protector (Oliver Cromwell). King Charles II had at least 12 children by his mistresses but had no legitimate heirs, so his brother James became King James II of England and VII of Scotland upon his death.
He died a slow and painful death suffering at the hands of his doctors who actually thought that they were healing him. Thankfully medicine has progressed a lot since then,
Did you know that the years of his reign are called the ‘Restoration Period’? This is because the monarchy had been restored following the English Civil War and the reign of Parliament and the Lord Protector.
He was uncle to Queen Anne and Queen Mary II.
Death of King George VI
1952 - King George VI died. He never expected that he would become king because he was the second son of King George V. His older brother (King Edward VIII) abdicated the throne leaving the job to his younger brother George who stepped in and became King George VI.
He was the grandfather of our current king: King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
On 7th February…
Charles Dickens is born in Portsmouth
1812 - Charles Dickens, the famous English author and writer of stories such as Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, was born in Portsmouth, England.
2005 - Ellen MacArthur became the fastest female to sail solo around the world. It took her 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds.
On 8th February…
Execution of a queen
1587 - Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle after being found guilty of plotting to assassinate her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.
Having been forced to abdicate the Scottish throne in favour of her baby son James, Mary was forced to flee to England for safety where she was then held prisoner for 19 years by Queen Elizabeth I who had been wary of her Scottish cousin’s potential claim to the the English throne.
On 9th February…
1555 - The Bishop of Gloucester, Thomas Hooper, was burned at the stake near Gloucester Cathedral. He was the first bishop to be executed in this way during the reign of Queen Mary I. Thomas had originally been a Catholic Bishop but had converted to Protestantism during the reign of King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII. He had supported Queen Mary in her claim to the throne but was found guilty of heresy when Queen Mary made England a Catholic country again. Many of the Protestant Bishops were found guilty during this time and were executed by being burnt at the stake. This is how Queen Mary earned her nickname Bloody Mary.
Queen of Scot’s husband is murdered
1567 - Lord Darnley, Henry Stewart, the husband of Mary Queen of Scots was murdered in the orchard of Kirk o’ Field in Edinburgh. Mary was a suspect in his death. Together they had a son who grew up to become King James VI and I (of Scotland and of England).
On 10th February…
Queen of England marries her cousin
1840 - Queen Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in St James’s Palace in London. They had nine children together and when Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria was so upset that she began wearing black mourning clothes and continued to wear black for the rest of her life.
On 11th February…
Elizabeth of York is born
1466 - Elizabeth of York was born. She was the eldest child of King Edward IV and married King Henry VII uniting the two warring houses in the Wars of the Roses. Elizabeth was mother to Henry VIII.
She died on her birthday in 1503. Can you work out how old she was when she died?
1990 - Having been imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years, Nelson Mandela, was released. Mandela fought for the end of apartheid and for equal rights for black people in South Africa. In 1964, after a long court trial called the Rivonia Trial, he was found guilty of sabotage, treason and violent conspiracy and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Just four years after his release, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa (1994-1999).
On 12th February…
Execution of a would be Queen
1554 - Lady Jane Grey was executed at the Tower of London. She was only 16 years old and at the age of 15 years had been Queen of England for nine just days before the throne was taken by Queen Mary I, the eldest child of Henry VIII.
Charles Darwin is born in England
1809 - Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. He wrote the Origin of Species which introduced the world to the theory of evolution and the idea that humans evolved from apes.
1809 - Abraham Lincoln was born. He was one of America’s most admired presidents and is most recognised by his tall, black, top hat. Did you know that he only went to school for one year?