Sixty-nine years in East Bentleigh

At the end of June 2024 the Moses family ties with 37 Edinburgh Street, East Bentleigh ended.

My family moved to their new home in May 1955, one of many houses being built on  former market garden land. The house was scheduled for completion at the end of 1954 so at the end of the school year I had said goodbye to classmates at Reservoir State School. However, as the completion of the house was delayed, I was back at the school for the first term (there were three terms a year in those days) and didn't start at Coatesville State School in East Bentleigh until the commencement of term 2.

Our house was the third house built in Edinburgh Street. There was a timber house on the corner of Edinburgh Street and Tambet Street plus the large farm house on the Mackie Road corner. However a number of other houses were being built in the street when we moved into our new home.

As a seven year old, moving house was a great adventure especially when the house was situated in an area that only a short time before had been market gardens. As new houses were built there were plenty of places to explore when the workmen had gone home. How good of them to create structures that we could climb on or hide in and create imaginary worlds. Once a building was at the stage where it could be locked at night we moved to another one being constructed near by.

Two streets away was Coatesville State School (primary school) which I attended for almost five years. St Christopher's Church of England (Anglican church) was a short walk away in Mackie Road. Also in Mackie Road, three streets away in the other direction, were the Mackie Road shops. In the 1950s some of the shops included the milk bar, the grocers, green grocers, haberdashery shop and newsagent. A petrol station was on the corner near the shops. A branch of the State Savings Bank of Victoria was also in this shopping strip. The doctor's surgery was across the road from the shops. Land bordering Mackie Road, opposite the top of  Edinburgh Street became the cricket ground and also housed the bowls club. My sister was four when we moved too East Bentleigh and she attended the kindergarten in a church hall in Mackie Road, near North Road.

The Oakleigh - Middle Brighton bus service ran along Mackie Road. This provided easy access to Oakleigh Station one way or to Bentleigh Station in the other direction. Bentleigh Shopping Centre was the main shopping centre at the time though there was also a smaller shopping centre at East Bentleigh. When I went to secondary school I used to travel on the bus each day to Brighton and when I studied at RMIT I would travel by bus and train to the city.

Edinburgh Street was a good choice for a family to move to as most of what we needed was close by. Before long there were many other families with young children in the street. The children attended Coatesville State School or St Peter's school in Centre Road. After school and during the holidays the children all played together. One family purchased a television set shortly after television first came to Melbourne and some of us used to watch the Mickey Mouse Club after school before going outside to play. Occasionally, some of the adults met on a Friday evening to watch Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight at the neighbour's home.

The houses in our section of Edinburgh Street (it is a long street) soon became a community with neighbours helping other families when needed. I remember spending a couple of days with other families on occasions when my mother was not well and when my brother was born. When I made my wedding dress our next door neighbour helped with the fittings and provided friendly advice.

Many of the women attended Mothers' Club meetings at the school and when the annual fete was held kitchens would be devoted to providing cakes, biscuits and toffees for the fete. This procedure would be repeated when the church held its fete.

In the 1950s fireworks were legal and Guy Fawkes Day and Empire Day (Commonwealth Day) were celebrated with displays of fireworks including Catherine wheels in the fence and sparklers as well as bungers and other fireworks, including one or two designed to explode in the sky high above our heads as we celebrated around a small bonfire in the back garden. My father and another neighbour were the main organisers of such activities.

In our early years living in Edinburgh Street, in October or November it was not unusual for part of the street to flood providing another excuse for community involvement, particularly among the younger members who considered this another form of entertainment.

In the late 1960s a bungalow took up residence in our back garden. My father was a journalist and needed extra space for his writing when he was working at home. I came to know part of the bungalow well as, when I returned to Melbourne from Canberra in 1971, I was allowed to use part of the bungalow as a bedroom. As I worked full time and was completing a university degree part time I usually only needed my space at night. My main challenge was to keep my father's dog from using my bed as his bed when I wasn't home.

After I finally left home the bungalow disappeared and an extension was built at the back of the house.

As family members moved from home we still got together for special occasions, especially Christmas Day celebrations normally held at Edinburgh Street. A major feature of these occasions was the game of street cricket involving family members and the neighbours. More recently the cricket games were played in the back garden to accommodate younger family members.

On 23 June we had our last family get together in Edinburgh Street. In the afternoon I went for a walk with my grand-daughter showing her the back route I used to walk to school and also the church which recently closed and has since been sold. Plenty of memories. There was also the final family game of cricket in the back garden.

The house has been purchased by developers who have other plans for the land. Hopefully whatever is built will house other families who can enjoy living in Edinburgh Street and in East Bentleigh (now formally referred to by authorities as Bentleigh East).

More information: A patchwork of memories - based on an assignment for University of Tasmania Family History Diploma assignment.

The Court Is Short!

Recent reports about the main swimming pool used for the Olympic Games in Paris possibly being two shallow brought back memories of some of the articles that my father wrote in The Argus newspaper. Dad was known as a stirrer and if he thought something was wrong he brought it to the attention of the public, usually in his Why Keep It Quiet? column.

Each year, in the 1950s, we used to spend the summer holidays on my grandparents' farm in Queensland. In January 1956 the Australian Tennis Championships were held in Brisbane so Dad covered the tournament for The Argus. This was the first time that the tournament had been held at these courts and it had not all been plain sailing. I remember Dad, when he returned to the farm, telling the family about a problem that he has discovered with one of the tennis courts.

When I heard about the swimming pool in Paris I decided to investigate the tennis court story so I did a search in Trove.

On Friday 27 January two semi-finals had been played on a court which was two feet too short at one end. The players had noticed the discrepancy but did not make an official complaint. However when some journalists, including my father heard of it they decided to investigate. They were assured by the tournament committee that the groundsman had verified that the court measurements were correct. When the journalists decided to double check for themselves an official tried to prevent them until the Q L T A vice-president said to let them check the measurements.

Measuring the northern end of the court with a foot ruler showed the length to be correct - 21 feet. However the southern end measured 18 feet, eleven inches.

No more matches were to be played on the court so the matter was closed. Dad did comment that the Q L T A had worked hard to make the tournament a success and it was unfortunate that this mistake had occurred.

Almost three weeks later Dad was reporting on another sporting venue problem. In Sydney one of the pools hosting events for Australian Swimming Championships had a hole in a lane wall. This had been known for some time and reported but nothing had been done to rectify the problem at the Enfield Pool. 

When the women's championship races had been held at the pool the women refused to race in lane five to avoid encountering the hole when they made the turn at the end of the lane. The 800 yard race and 1650 yard race, plus the diving were the men's events scheduled to be held at the pool. The local council had been informed of the problem but so far nothing had been done to repair the hole.

 And this was nine or ten months before the Melbourne Olympic Games!

At the beginning of his report on the defective swimming pool Dad had commented - It won't be long before Australian sporting organisations start paying me good money to stop at home.

 ... and now the court is short - The Argus 28 January 1956

Sherlock Strikes Again - The Argus 16 February 1956 

Using Photobook for Writing Family Stories

August is Australian Family History Month so perhaps it is the opportunity to reflect on some of the projects that I have been working on.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns I concentrated on researching information about some of the members on my family tree. There was plenty of time to write family history stories but I was unable to focus enough to start, except for some posts on my Family Connections blog. 

As my mother was in a nursing home, and during the lockdowns we were unable to visit her, I started compiling a weekly newsletter providing information about family activities. Members of my family contributed sending me lots of photographs and stories for Great Nan. Each year I compiled a book containing some of the photos from the newsletters which we sent to Mum for her birthday. The books ended up becoming a compilation of life during COVID-19.

I compiled the books using the Photobook Australia website. This resource is easy to use and although primarily designed for books with mainly images, text in various quantities can be added. Three books were made for my mother. After my mother died my husband suggested that I should continue to create an annual compilation of family events.

Meanwhile I began to experiment using Photobook to produce books of family history stories for the family. These books are in a format that the grandchildren should be able to easily use when they want information about the family history. As well as purchasing a printed A4 40 page book (extra pages can be added), I receive an ebook which can be shared with family members. I also make a PDF for each book as a back-up copy.

So far I have produced 21 family history books using Photobook. Some of the books are about specific family members or families. Others are on general subjects such as convicts in the family, ships that brought family to Australia and family ties with India. I also wrote a book about my father's involvement in the Second World War and another on his work as a journalist during the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

Since our children left school my husband and I have had a number of holidays exploring Australia, the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. I am preparing books on these holidays too. During a cold Melbourne winter it good to remember holidays in warmer parts of Australia. 

My husband plays veterans cricket so over the years we have also been on cricket tours to many parts of Australia for over 60s then over 70s national cricket championships. There have also been trips to Tasmania and South Australia for annual games against teams from those states. Added to this there have been two tours to England in Australian over 60s and over 70s teams plus one social cricket trip to Hawaii. Consequently I have also prepared books about these adventures which are an important part of our life. Twenty-one of these books have been prepared so far, with more to come.

Photobook is a great way to write your family stories. Whether it is record of a special occasion or a review of the year’s activities, the account of a special holiday or the telling of part of your family history, producing a photobook is an easy way of preserving stories to share with your family.

Where do I come from?

Our grandson who is in grade six told us that he knew that he was Australian but what other countries can be found in his DNA.

Members of my family have been in Australia for more than two hundred years. On one side of the family my grandson's ancestry dates back to the First Fleet when two of his 6 x great grandparents (William Roberts and George Guest) arrived in Australia in January 1788. William married Kezia Brown while George married Mary Bateman who both arrived in Australia on ships in the Second Fleet. By 1808 twelve members of my family had arrived in Australia as convicts.

Most of these convicts came from different parts of England though two were transported from Ireland. Other members of the family arrived in Australia as free settlers between the 1830s and 1870s. These settlers came from England, Scotland and Ireland. My Ancestry DNA shows that most of my family roots are from England and Scotland with a small percentage from Ireland, Wales and Sweden & Denmark.

However my husband was born in England and his parents were born in Wales. His Ancestry DNA shows that most of his family roots are from Wales, England and Northwestern Europe plus Norway, Scotland Sweden and Denmark.

My grandson's mother's family also came from England and Ireland plus some from Scotland, Norway and Wales. One of his 3 x great grandparents on his mother's side of the family was born in England while the rest were born in Australia.

Chocolate in Sydney

The following advertisement appeared in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 24 April 1803. Simeon Lord was a Sydney merchant at this time.

Click image to enlarge

Robert Crawford wrote the book, More than a glass and a half: a history of Cadbury in Australia to commemorate one hundred years of chocolate at the Cadbury factory in Tasmania. In the first chapter he writes about the uptake of chocolate for drinking and eating throughout the world. On page 15 he wrote:

However, newspaper reports ... reveal that cocoa and chocolate were beginning to find their way into the colony. In 1803 the 'long-established Shop of Simeon Lord' was advertising tea, coffee, and chocolate as 'approved articles ... at the most reasonable and reduced prices'.

There are a number of theories about the arrival of chocolate in Europe, one being that the explorer, Hernan Cortez, brought cocoa beans and the chocolate drink-making tools to Europe in 1528. Drinking chocolate certainly came to Europe in the 1500s. It soon became a popular drink and hot chocolate remains a popular drink throughout the world today.

Medieval Queens in the Family Tree - Saint Margaret of Scotland

Saint Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093)

Saint Margaret of Scotland married King Malcom III of Scotland 

Margaret was born in Hungary, possibly in 1045 or 1046. 

Her father was Edward the Exile (1016 – 19 April 1057), also called Edward Ætheling, and was the son of King Edmund Ironside. Her mother was Ealdgyth. Edward spent most of his life in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary following the defeat of his father in England by the Danish king, Cnut the Great. Margaret and her family returned to England in 1057. 

Following the death of King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Margaret's brother Edgar Ætheling was elected King of England but was never crowned as the barons considered that he was too young.  Harold Godwinson was appointed king instead. When the Normans arrived in England and defeated King Harold and his troops, Margaret's family again left England, this time seeking refuge in Scotland. Despite the different countries associated with Margaret's early life, her family is very much associated with the Anglo-Saxon families of Wessex.

After she and her family fled north, Margaret married Malcolm III of Scotland by the end of 1070. 

Margaret was King Malcolms second wife. Margaret and Malcolm had eight children, Edward, Edmund, Ethelred, Edgar, Alexander, David, Edith (Matilda) and Mary. Edgar, Alexander and David later became kings of Scotland. Edith married King Henry I of England and changed her name to Matilda while Mary married Eustace III of Boulogne.

King Malcolm's marriage to Margaret and his alliance with her English family was not considered a popular move by the Normans. Eventually, in 1072, King Malcolm signed the Abernethy Agreement, a peace agreement with England.

Margaret's popularity was mixed. She was considered by many in Scotland to being the instigator of many English ways into the country. In reality, Malcolm had spent much of his early life in England, not returning to Scotland until 1054.  However Margaret probably introduced a number of English and European court customs, including ideas of display, art, clothing, and even hairstyles to the royal court.

With the queen being a devoted supporter of the Catholic church, the position of the Gaelic church in Scotland was affected. Having lived her early life in Hungary and England Margaret regarded some of the practices and organisation of the church in Scotland as rather backward. A number of English monks and priests were therefore invited to live in Scotland to spread the faith and establish monasteries.

Margaret was known for her generosity to the poor and she established endowments and funding to construct  places of rest for pilgrims. She also gave grants to several churches, particulalry at Laurencekirk and Iona, the traditional burial site for Scottish monarchs.

King Malcolm III was killed during a raid on Northumberland on 13 November 1093. Malcolm and Margaret's son Edward died in the same incident. Queen Margaret was in Edinburgh Castle when she heard the news. She died three days later on 16 November. 

Queen Margaret was buried at Dunfermline in a small church which later became part of Dunfermline Abbey. A shrine was built in her honour in the mid-13th century. Margaret had provided the funds for constructing the original church.

Chapel of St Margaret at Edinburgh Castle

The Norman chapel at Edinburgh Castle was built to honor Margaret. Margaret's daughter, Queen  Matilda of England arranged for a Benedictine monk, Turgot of Durham (c. 1050-1115), to write a biography about her mother. 

In 1250 Margaret was made a saint by the Catholic Church in recognition of her efforts to spread Roman Catholicism and her charity work for the poor in Scotland. Since then she became known as Saint Margaret of Scotland. The feast of Saint Margaret of Scotland is remembered on 16 November, the day of her death.

Medieval Queens in the Family Tree - A costume for a school project

During first term the Year 8 students at the school attended by my grand-daughter learned about life in medieval England. Towards the end of term the students were taken by bus to Montsalvat where they had a dress-up day with the students dressing as different characters from medieval times. My grand-daughter was to dress as a medieval queen.

Due to her extremely busy schedule we had only one weekend to make the costume though I had previously planned how the project should be tackled. I made a list of the steps required including items we needed to purchase, items we already had that could be used plus a step by step guide as to what needed to be done.

The aim of our project was to make an outfit that might have been worn by a medieval queen or a lady of high status. Many fabrics available today were not available in medieval times when ladies in the court would have worn silk, wool,velvet and taffeta - cotton and synthetic fabrics were definitely not available. The garments were often elaborately embroidered. The colours of fabrics used in clothes were usually dark green red, dark blue, purple and gold.

We decided to utilise fabrics that were easy to sew but still looked approriate. The costume was to be an outfit for the queen to wear when she was outside the castle. We also needed to make an outfit that was easy to put on as 'the queen' on this occasion did not have a large staff to help her dress.

Researching websites provided an idea of what costumes possibly looked like. The royal ladies would have worn many layers of clothes but I decided that a full skirt and an over garment would work.

I found a long skirt that I had worn in the 1970s. It was dark green and made of a soft cotton fabric that looked like wool. There was a printed pattern of small cream flowers and squiggles on the fabric which, with imagination, could look like embroidery. In medieval times many ladies would have spent days embroidering patterns on fabric for the queen's wardrobe. This was to be used as the over garment after I removed the zip and opened up the seam.

We went shopping and purchased two metres of 'royal purple' poplin to make the gathered skirt. Some of the fabric was also used for the head-dress. We also purchased half a metre of white lawn for the wimple and some gold braid to decorate the head-dress. A white skivvy with cuffs removed completed the outfit.

There are a number of images of medieval queens on the internet but these images were usually representations made many years later of what the queens may have looked like. However they can be useful as a guide.

Some of the outfits have a bodice or bib which is narrow at the waist and wider at the top. This idea was used for making the outer garment for this costume using excess material from the skirt. It was also designed as something easy to put on and wear for the school project. 

The head-dress was based on some images of medieval royalty. A simple wimple was added to the head-dress – a full wimple would have extended under the neck of the wearer and would not have been as easy to put on without assistance. The head-dress itself was made from a circle of cardboard covered with layers of fabric. Another piece of fabric formed the top of the hat. Two rows of gold braid were stitched to the head-dress.

My grand-daughter and I shared the sewing, both machine and by hand, in this project. With more time we would have done some things differently but the costume we made worked on the day and, more importantly, my grand-daughter enjoyed wearing it and had an enjoyable Medieval Day at school. 

Some online references: 

Medieval wimples and head-dresses

Clothes in Medieval England

A very easy medieval head-dress

The cheats guide to medieval head-dresses

Medieval queens clothing

The medieval period covered hundreds of years and there would have been many fashion adaptions over the years.

Medieval Queens in the Family Tree - Philippa of Hainault

Philippa of Hainault (1314-1369)

Philippa of Hainault married King Edward III. 

The actual date of the birth of Philippa of Hainault is uncertain but it is thought she was possibly born in February 1314. Her father was Willem, Count of Hainault (in modern-day Belgium), Holland, and Zeeland in the Netherlands. Her mother was Jeanne de Valois, the sister of King Philip VI, who ruled France from 1328–1589. 

When she was twelve Philippa was promised in marriage to the future Edward III of England. This was an arrangement between Philippa's father and Edward's mother, Queen Isabella of England. Isabella required both soldiers, ships and money to fund her campaign to defeat her husband, King Edward II, and remove him from power. The marriage between  Philippa and Edward was arranged as part of the exchange for the Count of Hainault assisting Isabella.

Philippa arrived in England in 1327, 11 months after the forced abdication of Edward II. On 25 January 1328, she married Edward III in York. He was fifteen and she was almost fourteen. After Edward took control of the country from his mother in 1330, Phillipa was crowned Queen and was granted land and her own income.

Edward and Philippa had thirteen children. Nine survived childhood - Edward (the Black Prince), Isabella, Joan, Lionel (1st Duke of Clarence), John (1st Duke of Lancaster), Edmund (1st Duke of York), Mary, Margaret and Thomas (1st Duke of Gloucester).

Philippa worked tirelessly for the country, maintaining balance between royal duties and family duties. However she loved clothes and jewells and spent extravagent sums of money on these items. Nevertheless she was widely loved and respected as a queen by her English subjects

As the financial demands of the Hundred Years' War were enormous, Philippa advised the King to take an interest in the nation's commercial expansion as a method for recovering expenses. She established the textile industry in Norwich by encouraging Flemish weavers to settle there and promoted coal mining in Tynedale.

Philippa accompanied Edward on expeditions to Scotland and part of Europe in the early campaigns of the Hundred Years War, where she won acclaim for her gentle nature and compassion

In 1346 Philippa served as regent of England when her husband was overseas. During this time there was a Scottish invasion and Philippa gathered the English army to fight the Scots at the Battle of Neville's Cross near Durham. Before the battle, on horseback, she rallied the English soldiers. The  English victory resulted in the Scottish King David II being taken prisoner.

On 15 August 1369, Queen Philippa died at Windsor Castle. She was given a state funeral six months later on 9 January 1370 and was interred at Westminster Abbey. Eight years later, Edward III died and was buried next to Philippa. It would appear that their forty-year marriage had been happy.

Tomb of Edward and Philippa

Medieval Queens in the Family Tree - Isabella of France

Isabella of France (1295-1358)

Isabella of France married King Edward II

Isabella was born in Paris, probaby in 1295. Her parents were King Philip IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre and her brothers Louis, Philip and Charles became kings of France. Isabella was brought up in and around the Louvre Palace and the Palais de la Cité in Paris. She received a good education and developed a love of books. 

All of Philip's children were married young for political benefit to France. When she was ten years old Isabella was promised in marriage by her father to Edward, the son of King Edward I of England, in the hope of resolving the conflicts between France and England over England's possession of Gascony and claims to Anjou, Normandy and Aquitaine. Isabella and Edward II were married at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 25 January 1308 when Isabella was twelve and Henry II was twenty-three.

Isabella was considered to be very beautiful. She came from a wealthy family and loved beautiful objects. This included elaborate clothes and her wardrobe around the time of her marriage included dresses of silk, velvet, taffeta and other cloth, along with numerous furs. She had more than 72 head-dresses and coifs and she took to England two gold crowns, gold and silver dinnerware and 419 yards of linen.

Edward II had become King of England on 7 July 1307 when his father, Edward I, died. The coronation of Edward and Isabella was held at Westminster Abbey on 25 February 1308.

Isabella and Edward II had four children - the future Edward III, was born in 1312,  John in 1316, Eleanor in 1318 and Joan in 1321.

The relationship between Isabella and Edward II was not a close one. Isabella faced numerous challenges during their marriage. 

Edward was a handsome man, but he was unconventional as he appeared to form close romantic attachments to men: first to Piers Gaveston and then to Hugh Despenser the Younger. On the political front Edward often disagreed with the barons, in particular his first cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. He also continued the war against the Scots that he had inherited from Edward I. 

Using her own supporters at court and the patronage of her French family, Isabella attempted to find a political path through these challenges. She successfully formed an alliance with Gaveston, but after his death at the hands of the barons, her position grew increasingly precarious. Edward then began to take revenge on his enemies, forming a strong alliance with the Despenser family, in particular his new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger. 

When Isabella had accompanied the English troops in a battle against Scottish forces in 1322, Isabella and her supporters were separated from the main army and had to escape by ship. During this time Edward cut Isabella's allowances and, from 1324, when tensions with France increased, her lands were confiscated and she was denied access to her younger children. Unsurprisingly this resulted in further animosity between Isabella and Edward. By 1326 Isabella finally made her own bid for power including an invasion of England. 

In 1325 Isabella had returned to France to negotiate a peace treaty with the French king. However many of the nobles opposed Edward's reign and Isabella was able to form an army to challenge Edward, in alliance with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Isabella and Mortimer may have been in a relationship by this time.

Isabella and Mortimer returned to England with a mercenary army and gained control of the country in a lightning campaign. Members of the Despenser family were executed and King Edward II was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, King Edward III.  Edward II was initially imprisoned in a castle overseen by the Duke of Lancaster. Isabella strengthened her control, particularly in London, by taking over the Tower of London. A council of nobles and church leaders in January 1327 decreed that Edward II should remain in prison for the rest of his life. 

Due to fear that those opposed to the new government might make plans to free Edward II it was decided to move him to the more secure location of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire from approximately 5 April 1327.  How well he was cared for is in dispute. As a result of threats to rescue the former king, Edward was moved to other locations in secret before returning to permanent custody at the castle in late summer 1327. The political situation remained unstable. New plots appear to have been planned to free him. On 23 September Edward III was informed that his father had died at Berkeley Castle during the night of 21 September 1327. There are many stories about how Edward II might have died. There are even stories that he escaped. However the accepted story is that Edward II's body was buried at Gloucester Cathedral. Isabella continued to rule as regent until 1330, when her son, Edward III ruled in his own right.

During the four years when Isabella and Mortimer were regents, Isabella acquired huge sums of money and land. In 1330 Edward III deposed Mortimer in a coup, taking royal authority for himself. However Isabella survived the transition of power and remained a wealthy and influential member of the English court, though she was not directly involved in active politics.

For some time Isabella was transferred to Berkhamsted Castle,and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she then moved back to her own Castle Rising in Norfolk. After losing power in 1331, Isabella remained extremely wealthy despite having to surrender most of her lands.  She was reassigned an annual income of £3000, which increased to £4000 by 1337. 

Isabella lived an expensive lifestyle in Norfolk, including minstrels, huntsmen, grooms and other luxuries, and was soon travelling around England again. In 1348, there were plans for her to visit Paris in order to take part in peace negotiations, but this plan did not eventuate. However she was involved in the talks with Charles II of Navarre in 1358. Isabella became a nun at the Order of St Clare before she died on 22 August 1358 at Hertford Castle. Her body was taken to London for burial at the Franciscan church at Newgate.  

In her final years Isabella became closer to members of her immediate family. When she died Isabella left most of her property, including Castle Rising, to her favourite grandson, the Black Prince, with some personal effects being granted to her daughter Joan.

In later life, Isabella remained interested in Arthurian legends and jewellery and she continued to wear lavish costumes when making public appearances. For example, in 1358 she appeared at the St George's Day celebrations at Windsor wearing a dress made of silk, silver, 300 rubies, 1800 pearls and a circlet of gold.

Isabella was Queen of England for eighteen years, then served four years as Regent. She was a complex queen who was not afraid to use her power when she thought that change, such as removing her husband from the throne, was required. However Isabella was not univerially liked by her English subjects, especially when she became involved with Roger Mortimer. After her son, Edward III, was king she remained in the background of royal life for another twenty-eight years.

Medieval Queens in the Family Tree - Eleanor of Castile

Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290)

Eleanor of Castile married King Edward I

Eleanor was born in 1241, the daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile and Joan, Countess of Ponthieu. Her Castilian name, Leonor, became Alienor or Alianor (later Eleanor) in England. 

In November 1254 Eleanor married King Henry III's son, Edward, in Burgos in Spain. She would have been 13 and Edward was 15. This was a marriage arranged by their parents to ensure political security of Gascony in southern France claimed by the English. However over the years their marriage developed into a close relationship.

Eleanor and Edward had sixteen children but only six grew to be adults including a son who became King Edward II.

Edward spent much time travelling around his kingdom and Eleanor normally accompanied him. She also went with Edward when in 1270 he travelled to Acre in Palestine for the Eighth Crusade. 

On 16 November 1272 King Henry III died.Edward and Eleanor were in Sicily when they received news of the King's death some months later. Edward had been wounded during the crusade and although the actual wound was not serious he developed health problems slowing down their journey back to England. When in Gascony Edward had to suppress another uprising. A son, Alfonso, was also born in Gascony.

Therefore it was two years into his reign when Edward and Eleanor returned to England on 18 August 1274. On 19 August Edward and Eleanor were crowned King and Queen of England at Westminster Abbey.

Eleanor was not actively involved in public life to the extent that Eleanor of Provence had been but she no doubt influenced some of the King's decisions in private. Eleanor was well educated and exerted a strong cultural influence on England. She was a keen patron of literature and introduced the use of tapestries, carpets and tableware in the Spanish style. Eleanor also had innovative garden designs created. She was a successful businesswoman, endowed with her own fortune as Countess of Ponthieu, but she also acquired many English properties, making her unpopular with some of the population. 

On 28 November 1290 Eleanor died while she and Edward were on one of their journeys around England. Eleanor died at Harby in Nottinghamshire, near Lincoln. She was 49 years old and had been married to Edward for 36 years. She had been queen for sixteen years. Eleanor's body was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Edward later ordered that a series of memorial crosses should be erected at each overnight stop the procession carrying Eleanor's body back to London made. Twelve monuments known as Eleanor Crosses were erected. Three remain almost intact today including the Northampton Eleanor Cross at Geddington.

Eleanor Cross, Geddington