Wallis Simpson, behind enemy lines...

      The strange case of the swimsuit, lost behind enemy lines. In 1940 Edward Windsor and Wallis Simpson had to leave their coastal Villa at Nice in the South of France, as that part of the country became occupied by the Nazis. Although it is said the couple secretly had close links to the Nazi regime and were able to gain some assurances their properties in Paris and the south of the country would be protected.

  
      It is said Mrs Simpson had a certain and particular attachment to a swimming costume, which had been left behind in the Nice villa, and by whatever means an operation was launched to recover the said item of clothing. By the intervention of British diplomats with the help of The US Government and maybe even possibly, the full knowledge of high level Nazi government officials. Whoever was involved the Villa was entered and the item recovered and safely presented to the Duchess.

William Marshall, Knight in an Age of Chivalry.

      William Marshall, 1147 - 1219 1st Earl of Pembroke has recently become something of a phenomenon with books and television programmes highlighting his life and times, has The Greatest Knight, even though we've long known of his presence simply through the Magna Carta.
      William Marshall, born the forth son of a minor 12th century baron, rose to be Regent of England and ruled on behalf of the boy-king Henry lll And in the process made himself one of the wealthiest men in England, defeated at least 500 opponents in single combat, knighted two kings, beat a powerful French Army upon English soil and in doing so, saved the kingdom of England and earned a mention upon the Magna Carta.
      William's early years were centered in hard and difficult times, war raged between Stephen and Matilda, over the English throne, Stephen besieged Newbury Castle 1152 and sought to use the young William as a hostage, in an attempt to persuade his father John Marshall, to surrender the castle. Surprisingly John refused and in a rage Stephen, threatened to execute the boy, but later spared him and William was to later become a favourite of Stephen.
      Being a royal favourite may well have helped William to some degree, but being the son of a minor baron with little in the way of inheritance offered little in the way of prospect for the future. Fortunately with the influence of a cousin upon his mother's side, William was sent to be trained as a Knight with William de Tancarville in Normandy, this was to be long years of hard physical training in every aspect of medieval warfare, until he was eventually knighted in 1166 fighting in the north of Normandy.
      After seven years, William left Tancarville, to join the household of his Mother's Brother, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, where he won some distinction on behalf of Eleanor of Aquitaine. With the death of his father and with little in the way of inheritance, William decided upon a new career as a professional tournament fighter upon the circuit of such events, this was often organised but the most deadly combat with team consisting of small armies fighting to the death over a large area of land. Yet the rewards for such victories, often meant money, horses and armour and on top of this great riches could be earned by the capture and ransom of an adversary.
      By 1170 William was drawn to the attention of the young Henry, son of Henry ll, they became friends and fought together at many tournaments, and made great fortunes. William was at Henry's side when he died of dysentery at Limoges in 1183. Next William was on crusade in the Holy Land, carrying out the vow of his former companion and employer, but also with the blessing of Henry ll. Upon his return to England William became part of Henry ll household, and helped him deal with his rebellious heir, Richard, Count of Poitou, soon to be Richard l The Lionheart. And for his trouble was gifted the large estate of Cartmel in Cumbria (South Lakeland)
      It was a short time later, in Northern France, William came face to face with the young Richard and unhorsed him, Richard had to beg for his life and William, instead, lanced his horse, simply to make a meaningful point. Soon after this Richard ll was dead, but William was now welcomed to the court of the now Richard l whom gifted William the hand in marriage of Isabel de Clare, daughter of Richard Strongbow and upon doing so also came into large and wealthy estates in England, Ireland, Normandy and Wales and by 1199 received the Earldom of Pembroke. By now and thanks to this marriage, William had become landed, titled and wealthy with Pembroke and Chepstow castles, the marriage was also blessed with five sons and five daughters.

                                        The Majestic and powerful Chepstow Castle.

       With Richard away on Crusade in the Holy Land, William was appointed to the Council of Regency, to act upon the kings behalf, which included continuing the wars in Northern France, against Phillip ll and dealing with the rebellious John whose ideas and plans didn't always coincide with those of his brother. In 1193 William and the Barons loyal to Richard, stood against John and his followers. William's elder brother Richard Marshall was John's Seneschal and in the course of the struggles was killed defending Marlborough, Richard allowed William to succeed his brother and now became William, Marshall of England. Upon his deathbed Richard granted William as custodian of Rouen and of the royal treasure during the interregnum.

      With Richard's death in 1199 William now became John's loyal follower, but with problems in France and Ireland and John's often poor decisions and leadership the two were often at loggerheads, with William spending his time in Ireland, defending his wife's lands and erecting defensive structures

      However, back in favour by 1212 William was recalled to Court, though William remained loyal to John, differences with his barons came to the fore in 1215 culminating in the Magna Carta at Runneymede. The Marshall witnessed it on behalf of John, with his eldest son William sealed it as one of the 25 barons named in the security clause.

      William remained loyal to John and the king, upon his deathbed, entrusted William, to take care of his nine-year old son Henry and to ensure he would succeed him to the throne. William also arranged John's funeral at Worcester Cathederal.

      Prior to John's death, the majority of the more powerful barons had already decided to overthrow the king, even without William's support and even went as far as to have Prince Louis of France, crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

      On his own initiative, William had the young Henry crowned Henry lll and reissued the Magna Charta, and now facing a superior armed force, took his troops to Lincoln, where at the great age of 70, led his troops to a resounding victory over the French King and his supporting barons. This was soon followed by a naval victory in the straights of Dover and the war was over, with William on hand to negotiate the final treaty.

      Afterwards, with his duty complete, his health failing by 1219 he was invested in the Order of the Knights Templar. He died on 14 May 1219 and is buried in the Temple Church in London.   

                                                                    The Magna Carta       

                         

The Brontes of Howarth

      The Bronte family of Howarth, a strangely fascinating family group in 19th Century England, living at The Parsonage, in the supposedly bleak and gloomy moors village of Howarth, West Yorkshire. On the one hand, there is the three sisters, Anne, Charlotte and Emily, all published authors, producing classic works of English literature, Anne; "Agnes Grey," and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" Charlotte; "Jane Eyre" and Emily; "Wuthering Heights." Then there are the other members of the family, their father Patrick Bronte, who made his way from humble beginnings to join the priesthood, become a published poet and active local worthy, building a Sunday School and organizing clean water supplies for the village, etc. His wife Maria, seems to have led a quiet existence, very much in the background of the Bronte household. Their son, (Patrick) Branwell Bronte, artist and writer, though not in the same vein as his sisters. There are of course two other older sisters both died of tuberculosis, whom barely draw a mention, unless you dig a little deeper. 

      Then of course there appears to be another side to the story, perhaps nothing quite so awful about the family, maybe items which will add interest to their story, and character no doubt well researched, discussed and recorded. 
      It seems Branwell comes off with the worst reputation, due to a bad and arrogant attitude with a fascination for alcohol intake and opium consumption. There is an interesting story about him taking up the position of tutor to two boys of the Postlethwaite family at Broughton-in-Furness. On days off in Ambleside, he is said to have found himself in the company of such a notable as Samuel Coleridge Taylor, himself a noted Opium addict. Branwell then found himself dismissed from his teaching position within a year, due to a ribald desire for the bottle. Branwell also had a later Tutor's position to a single boy in the Robinson family, of Thorpe Green near York, where Anne had been the governess for the previous three years. Unfortunately this position also came to a premature end due to a rumoured adulterous relationship with Mrs Robinson. 
      Elizabeth Gaskell, friend of Charlotte Bronte described Patrick Bronte in her 1857 Biography, as "strange and half mad not naturally fond of children." He is said to have terrorised his family with sudden explosions of temper. There are stories of him burning his children's books and firing a shotgun out of his kitchen door, and is said to have carried a loaded gun, at all times, probably quite normal events for this period, he also suffered debilitating eye sight in his later life.
      Of the three sisters, although many pages have been written about the family, and we view them in a certain light, it's worth noting some unkind remarks, at the time on their generally plain and undernourished appearance. Although it is said. Emily, once beat up the family dog, leaving it half blind in the process. Charlotte found employment as a girls tutor, though proved to be quite unpopular with teacher and pupils sharing a mutual hatred. Their lives at the Parsonage are said to be remote and closeted, with mortality looming in the background. There is a rumour of Charlotte also consuming opium, hardly surprising with the presence of Branwell.
      All these minor indiscretions aside, the Bronte Family, remain one of the greatest literary families in the world.

      
      A recently discovered watercolour which is thought to be of the three Bronte sisters.

Jane Winkworth Shoe Designer

      There are those people who have a good business idea, then never take them any further and then there are the people whom have the ideas, act upon them and in the process change their lives and probably the world in general as well.
      One such person from the latter group is shoe designer, Jane Winkworth. Who in a moment of inspiration, opened her first store; "French Sole" in 1989 She would go on to own and operate 400 shops, with a high calibre list of famous celebrity customers.
      Interestingly, as a young girl she had a certain fascination for everything to do with ballet and more particularly ballet shoes, which she wore through most of her early and teenage years. always trying to seek them out wherever and whenever she could.
      Originally from Weybridge in surrey, she went to London to study Art, eventually dropping out to work for the fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki at Biba.
      In 1988 whilst on holiday in Spain, she discovered a shop in Marbella, selling a range of ballet flats. The shop was on the verge of going out of business and upon sheer impulse, Jane purchased their entire stock and brought them back to the UK.
      She began by selling a few items to family and friends and after all the shoes were sold, she began buying more shoes, in small quantities, sometimes end of lines, from French manufacturers. These she took to sell on a rented stall at various NSPCC fairs, often selling out her stock straight away, later extending her horizons at a number of other locations around the country.. During these times as she continued to sell through various Christmas and Summer events, she was able to make a deal with the Hirigoyen family, a french shoe manufacturer, to supply her with ballet fats, but often using Jane's chosen materials and unique colour variations.
      With her new supplies now under control she continued with the table-top sales, but began moving into Mail-Order only store, she was then able to take over the lease of a shop to test the demand for her products. And in the first day's trading was amazed and delighted to find a number of people waiting at the front door for the shop to open, attracting customers from far and wide.