Exceptional biography about the mother of Henry VII who had a profound impact on English history

About the Book:

An amazing woman from Bourne, Collyweston and Maxey who had a profound impact on history but has been virtually forgotten in our Lincolnshire locality.

Read tales of her survival from the traumatic birth of her son (Henry VII) when aged only thirteen, her ever-changing fortunes in the Wars of the Roses, being condemned as a traitor by Richard III and her eventual triumph, which saw her become the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty.

As the only blood link from the Normans to our present Royal Family, her legacy through her symbols and academia is still far-reaching today.

About the Author:

Margaret has always had a deep love of her hometown of Bourne. She can trace her paternal ancestry back to the 1660s in the Bourne Abbey registers. She attended at the Bourne Abbey Primary School and was later educated at Bourne Grammar School; it was here that her interest in history began, with her history teachers, J. D. Birkbeck and his wife, Margaret.

Margaret’s husband, Ken, also a teacher at the ‘Robert Manning School’ is keen to preserve the heritage of Bourne and is in the latter stages of constructing a model railway of Bourne Station that will soon be ready for exhibition.

Both would admit that their main hobby now is singing, being members and soloists in ‘Stamford Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ and the ‘Stamford Singers Concert Party’. They are members of the ‘Bourne Abbey Choir’ and perform in their own entertainment group, ‘Tinderbox’.

Having become fascinated with the life and achievements of Margaret Beaufort and seeing her as one of the most influential women in history, Margaret was confused as to why little to no mention has ever been made linking her to their local area, and in particular, Bourne. She hopes this biography will help rectify this and give the mother of the Tudor dynasty the recognition she deserves.

Excerpt from the book:

“Margaret’s life was a roller coaster of wealth and poverty, stability and frantic disaster. So many of her family were either killed in battle, executed or, like her father, had committed suicide. Throughout all this, Margaret had to steer a course of diplomacy and humility in order to survive but at the same time had to keep her strong resolve and courage. What an achievement then in her finest hour, to see her son crowned on the battlefield by non-other than her husband Thomas Stanley.

Margaret’s family always had to face the fact that their line was illegitimate. John of Gaunt produced his line of Beauforts whilst still married to his first wife, even though he did eventually marry his mistress, Katherine Swynford. Richard II, John of Gaunt’s nephew, did legitimise them but with the proviso that no-one in their line of descendants could ever have a claim to the throne. Margaret would know this and must have wondered when this question of Henry VII’s legitimacy could rear up and deprive him of the throne she had fought so hard to gain for him.

The character of Margaret cannot be fully explained without an examination of her part in the Wars of the Roses.”