Category: The English Civil War

History of the times that defined the life of Sir Ricard Lane

  • Passing of the Torch: The Service of Richard Lane the Younger to the King

    Passing of the Torch: The Service of Richard Lane the Younger to the King

    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. (more…)

  • Update on the Trial of Strafford Painting

    Update on the Trial of Strafford Painting

    “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! (more…)