The story of Sir Richard Lane’s evolving and ultimately tragic service to Kings Charles I and II
When talking with people here in the states, I generally have to clarify when I mention “Jersey” that I’m talking about old Jersey–the UK Channel Island situated just off the coast of France. Its a very unique place of beautiful vistas, truly dramatic tides and a fascinating history as a strategic outpost between Britain and the European mainland. I visited this Spring and although my body has been home for months, part of me seems to have remained in St. Helier for the summer…
This quest really began when I wondered what it would be like to visit the grave of the author of the ancient book I’d recently purchased at a Denver antique book store. At first, I doubted there would be any discoverable record of him at all. And initially, there wasn’t. My searches returned a sea of flotsam references to this or that person named “Richard Lane” over the centuries, or someone simply named “Richard” who lived on a “lane” somewhere! But when I began combining his name with words from the title of his 1657 book, I finally encountered articles that introduced me to the man. What I could read of him was intriguing, though. I found myself repeatedly choosing to look into “one more thing” before setting it aside and going on with my life…
Continue reading “Designing a Memorial for a Historic Figure (and his Wife)”
In the first article on the career of Richard Lane’s son, we led up to King Charles II’s invasion of England to restore his throne, and how his new Groom, Richard Lane (the younger), likely joined him in Scotland around the time of his coronation there in January 1651. Of course, the throne the young king really had his eye on was that of England. And the Scottish army now under his command was his means to that end…
My research into Richard Lane’s son has been far more successful than I dared hope. What was to have been one article has become four, revealing a fascinating story of survival, drama and ultimate vindication of his exiled father, Sir Richard Lane. Continue reading “Passing of the Torch: The Service of Richard Lane the Younger to the King”
I really wanted to understand more about the 1600s Jersey diarist, Jean Chevalier. His journal (a legacy gift to his own familial descendants) has become an unmatched window into his times. It is also the crown jewel of the Société Jersiaise, and the only credible historical document to tell of Sir Richard Lane’s fate while in exile with King Charles II during the English Civil War. But who was Jean Chevalier? How credible were his observations? I finally found a book that promised to tell me…
Continue reading “Kudos to the Magic of the Interlibrary Loan Program!”
“Proving” is an ambitious word. How do you “prove” that a mid-1800s painter depicting an important historical scene was aware of and attempting to portray specific actors and their inter-relationships in a drama that was already more than 200 years old at the moment he first stood before his empty canvas? Clearly, Thomas Woolnoth went to pains to realistically portray the principals of the scene in “The Trial of Strafford”, but was he aware of Richard Lane and his role? How much research did he do? How can we assert that he would have been aware of historical research that was being done in his own time? Without corroborating evidence, such assertions must be considered a hypothesis – one based on raw speculation…but, I think we can do better! Continue reading “Update on the Trial of Strafford Painting”
The grounds of history around Sir Richard Lane are simply full of rabbit holes! While doing some research into the 1641 Trial of the Earl of Strafford – an event that included the day the historical biographer Lord John Campbell called “the most memorable day in the life of Richard Lane” – I came across a wonderful painting of that trial in the UK parliament’s art collection. What makes it so wonderful is that the painter had endeavored to accurately portray all of the primary actors in the drama of that trial…
Continue reading “A discovery! The UK Parliament’s circa 1844 painting “The Trial of Strafford”…”
“Considering Sir Richard Lane’s spotless integrity, and his uniform adherence to his principles, – notwithstanding his comparative obscurity and his poverty, he is more to be honoured than many of his predecessors and successors who have left behind them a brilliant reputation, and ample possessions and high dignities to their posterity” — Lord John Campbell (1848 “Lives of the Lord Chancellors”, Vol 2)
Why is this quest so important to you? This is a question I have been asked quite often – and given the investment of time, energy and some money it has taken, it’s a fair question!
In the beginning, it was simple curiosity. I bought the “Lane’s Reports” book because it was so fascinatingly old. I wanted to find out what else there might be to know about it, beyond its age and the quill margin notes it contained. What could it tell me about the world it came from? Whose hands had held it long before even the earliest family I have known even existed? Or, for that matter, before most of this country existed?
I have found no evidence that Richard Lane visited Jersey before he arrived there with Charles II and his “entourage in exile” on September 17, 1649. Richard Lane could not have been part of Charles II’s entourage during his first visit to Jersey from April 17, 1646 – June 24, 1646. At the time of that earlier visit, Charles I was still alive, and Richard Lane was in Oxford, negotiating with parliamentary forces for the surrender of the King’s forces there. Continue reading “Summary Report of Jersey Visit (Part I)”
I’m going to need a vacation to recover from my “vacation”! Although it’s good to be to be back home in “the colonies”, I am deeply grateful for every moment of the last week in the UK. Continue reading “Summary Report of our London Visit”
5280 Explorer 