Richard Plantagenet—Was He A Mason ?

arisen—one Avith regard to Sir Christopher Wren , and the other with regard to Richard Plantagenet , so-called . With the former we shall not ribw deal , but confine our remarks to the latter . A short time ago , tho rector of St . Edmund ' s , Lombard

Street , City of London , delivered a lecture at Margate , on tho " Historical Memorials of Kent , " and in tho course of his remarks ho referred to an entry in the church registry at Eastwell , where the death is recorded of " Richard Plantagenet" in December 1550 . The lectivrer stated that

this Richard Plantagenet worked at Eastwell ' as a mason for his living . " Bro . Speth ' s mind was at once exercised on tho matter , and he wanted to know who this Richard was , and tho authority for the statement as to his occupation . He says : " Let us prove this statement and we shall indeed

have one royal brother at least previous to the revival . The Rev . Mr . Benham very courteously responded to Bro . Speth ' s desire for more information , but his reply is more suggestive than explanatory , although he contributes some interesting facts . He states that his immediate reminder

was Murray s " Handbook of Kent , which he had lent since the lecture , and could not therefore refer to it ; to Hasted ' s "Historyof Kent , " which he had sent to the binder . He also alludes to the " Gentleman ' s Magazine " for 1767 , in which appeared , he says , " a full account of

the discovery of the man's personality . According to Drake ' s Hhoracum , Richard " was sixteen years old at the time of his father ' s death , and had been knighted by him at York . " Mr . Benham records two or three other particulars , and adds : " My authority for using the word

mason is an old history of England , which makes no mention of Eastwell , but merely says that ' King Richard left a natural son , who , after his father ' s death , supported himself as a mason . ' " Just previously Mr . Benham had said : " I think , but am not sure , that Murray calls him a

bricklayer . " That is just what Murray does not do . The passage will be found on page 192 of the " Handbook for Kent and Sussex , " from which we take the following : Eastwell Ohnrch , in which is buried the " last of thePlantagenets . ' Richard , a natural son of Richard III ., is said to have fled hither

immediately after the battle of Bosworth , and to have supported himself as a mason , until discovered by Sir Thomas Moyle , who allowed him to build a small house adjoining Eastwell Place , in which he lived and died ( 1550 ) . The parish register of burial contains tho following entry , copied , of course , from an earlier book :

"V Rychard , Plantagenet , Desember 22 nd , 1550 . " The letter V marking persons of noble birth throughout the register . A tomb in the chancel , without inscription and deprived of its brasses , is said to belong to this offset of the White Rose ( but the Earl of

Winchilsea told Dr . Brett , in 1720 , that it was unknown whether he was buried in the church or churchyard . See Dr . Brett's letter in Peck ' s Desiderata Cnriosa . ) Tho house in which Plantagenet lived was destroyed toward the end of the 17 th cent . ; a modern building marks the site . Near it is a spring called " Plantagenet ' s Well . "

The author of Desiderata Ctmosa was the Rev . Francis Peck , M . A ., Rector of Godeby , near Melton , Leicestershire . The letter written by Thomas Brett , LL . D ., to William Warren , LL . D ., president of Trinity Hall , dated the 1 st September 1733 , in which the facts relating to Richard

Plantagenet are set forth , is given in full on page 249 in the work referred to , together with several notes . The story reads like a romance of chivalry , and was thought , by Mr . Charles Knight , worthy of a place in that excellent work

" Half Hours with the Best Authors , now published by Warne and Co ., Bedford Street , Strand . The paper is too long to transfer to our pages , but the following brief summary will give a fair idea of the interesting events recorded in Dr . Brett's letter .

Sir Thomas Moyle built the house called Eastwell-place , and Richard Plantagenet is called his " chief bricklayer . " This Richard was observed to be fond of reading a particular book , a circumstance that excited the curiosity of his employer . The latter surprised Richard one day while

engrossed m his study , and rudely snatched the book from him . Another account states that Sir Thomas , on one occasion found Richard asleep , and quietly removed the book from nnder his arm . At any rate , Sir Thomas discovered that the book was in Latin , and he examined

Richard m the language . His answers suggested other questions , and by this means the real character of Richard was discovered , although be wished to keep his story a secret . It appears that he was boarded with a Latin

schoolmaster , without knowing -who his parents were . In a note the Rev . Mr . Peck makes Richard to say : " I was brought up at my nurse ' s house ( whom I took for my mother ) till I was seven years old . Then a gentleman , whom I did not know , took me from thence , and carried

me to a private school in . Leicestershire . " Afterwards Richard was taken by a strange gentleman to a fine house , where he had an interview with " a man , finely dressed , with a star and garter , " who gave him money and dismissed him back to school . A note puts words into

Richard ' s mouth as follows . Referring to the interview with the gentleman with the star and garter , who no doubt was the king , he says : " Who examined me narrowly , and felt my limbs and joints , and gave me ten pieces of gold , viz ., crown gold , which was the current money then , and

worth ten shillings apiece . " We do not know Peck ' s authority for this detailed statement . He is precise , while Brett is general . The latter got his information from the Earl of Winchilsea , a member of the family that succeeded to Sir Thomas Moyle ' s estate , and simplv repeats it to an

intimate friend without apparently taking any trouble to confirm the facts . Peck , on the other hand , seems to have bestowed some pains upon the matter . He gives results and not authorities . Resuming the thread , of the main story , it is recorded that Richard was favoured with a

second visit from the same gentleman while at school . On this occasion he was furnished with a horse and accoutrements , and taken to the King ' s tent on Bosworth field . The King embraced him , told him where to meet him if successful in the battle , when he would own and provide

for him ; if defeated , Richard was told to shift for himself . Tho King then gave him a purse of gold and dismissed him . A note gives fuller particulars of this meeting , but both statements substantially agree . We shall take Peck ' s note as to what followed in preference to the original story .

Richard says : " After the battle was over , I set out accordingly for London . And just as I came into Leicester , I saw a dead body brought to town upon an horse . And upon looking stedfastly upon it , I found it to be my father , I then went forward to town . And ( my genius leading

me to architecture ) , as I was looking on a fine house which was building there , one of the workmen employed me about something , and finding me very handy , took me to his house and taught me the trade which now occupies me . " Brett also has it that Richard " put himself

apprentice to a bricklayer . " After Sir Thomas had heard Richard ' s story , he offered him the run of the house , but his " chief bricklayer" preferred to live retired , as he

hitherto had done . He therefore craved a piece of ground , on which he built a house , where he lived and died . The close of the story , as given by Brett , is important , we therefore transcribe it literally :

I have been computing the age of this Richard Plantagenet when he died , and find it to be about 81 . Tor Richard III . waa killed August 23 1485 , which subtracted from 1550 , there remains 65 , to which add 16 ( for the age of Richard Plantagenet at that time ) , and it makes 81 . But , though he lived to that age , he could scarcely

enjoy his retirement in his little house above two or three years , or a little more . Eor I find by Philpot that Sir Thomas Moyle did not purchase the estate of Eastwell till about the year 1543 or 44 . We may , therefore , reasonably suppose that upon his building a new house on his purchase , he could not come to live in it till 1546 , but

that his workmen were continued to build the walls about his gardens , and other conveniences off from the house . And till he came to live in the house he could not well have an opportunity of observ . ing how Richard Plantagenet retired with his book . So that it was

probably towards the latter end of the year 1546 when Richard and Sir Thomas bad the forementioned dialogue together . Consequently , Richard could not build his house , and have it dry enough for him to live in till the year 1547 . So that he must be 77 or 78 years of age before he had his writ of ease .

It will be seen from the foregoing that Murray and Brett do not agree . The former says that Richard fled to Eastwell after the battle of Bosworth , and there supported himself as a mason ; the latter , we think , relates the more probable story , because it accounts for Richard ' s knowledge

of a handicraft , although its precise character is disputed . Whether a mason or a bricklayer , the "last of the Plantagenets" was a builder ; that is certain , if there is any truth at all in the whole story . If Brett ' s authority is to be relied upon , the whereabouts and the life of Richard

from 1485 to 1543 are involved in obscurity . It is true that he went to London , and Peck makes him to say that he had a genius for architecture , and Brett agrees with Peck in stating that Richard learned the art of bricklay ing . What was the life of our hero during the long interregnum

between his apprenticeship and his connection with Wtwell , there is nothing to show at present . Peck , in a note , states that at the interview at Bosworth the King gave his natural son " twelve hundred of the same ( crown ) pieces , " so that Richard had a considerable sum of money wherewith to apprentice himself . The account , however ,