e-books continued

Recently reading The last days of Richard III as an e-book allowed me to explore some of the features provided when using an e-book reader - in this case a Sony e-book reader.

Each time you open the book on the e-book reader it opens at the large page you were last reading.

Using the button in the right hand corner of the reader provides further navigation options including going to the Table of Contents or typing the number of a required page in the box provided.

Tapping a heading in the Table of Contents takes you to specific chapters and sections such as appendices, bibliography, index, notes and selection of plates.

This non-fiction book had many foot-notes for each chapter providing additional information and sources. Tapping the highlighted number for each foot-note takes the reader to the additional information. Utilising the back arrow at the bottom of the Notes page return the reader to the section they were previously reading.

Pressing the button to the right of the Home button also takes the reader back to the section they were originally reading.

These options help the reader easily navigate their way around the variety of information features provided in the book.

Devil bones

Devil Bones is no 11 in the Temperance Brennan series of books by Kathy Reichs. When during renovations to an old house in North Carolina a plumber discovers, in a cellar, remnants of a scene of grizzly ritual including a human skull Temperance is called in to investigate. Meanwhile a headless body of a young man is discovered by the side of a lake. Is this part of voodoo or devil worship? As in all the books in this series Reichs provides additional information about the forensic investigations undertaken and topics pertinent to the story. In this book she provides information about the practices of Wiccans and the religion of Santeria. An evangelical preacher stirring up fear in the community is another thread. Relationships continue to play an underlying part in the story with Temperance's daughter re-introducing her mother to a colleague, Charles Hunt, and Andrew Ryan visiting from Canada. Another interesting instalment in the life of Temperance Brennan.

Fallgirl

Dr Ella Canfield attends an important interview to secure funding to investigate possible sitings of Tasmanian tigers (an animal thought to be extinct) at Wilson Promontory. The person responsible for the money is Daniel Metcalfe. The interview has many ups and downs making it doubtful that the funding will be made available especially when Daniel says he wants to meet her at the university to learn more about her proposal. This introduces the first twist of the novel as we learn that Ella is really Della, a member of a family of con artists or grifters who make a living of persuading people to part with their money funding dubious projects. Della's father has a set of rules that family members are expected to follow when targeting a mark and Della, with the assistance of family members works hard to overcome the many obstacles that Daniel presents in order for her to obtain the goal. However as the story progresses she realises that there is more to Daniel Metcalfe than she initially thought and she needs to find our more about him. Fallgirl by Toni Jordan is a clever romantic comedy containing a number of twists in the plot involving a family of out of the ordinary characters with their own moral code.

The last days of Richard III and the fate of his DNA

This is the second edition of the book written by John Ashdown-Hill, originally published by History Press in 2010. After the publication of the first edition of the book, excavation of a carpark in Leicester resulted in the discovery and identification of the body of Richard III. This edition was published in 2013 as was the e-book which is the copy I read.

The first section of the book outlines the known details about the last five months of the life of Richard III covering the period from Friday 25 March 1485 until Monday 22 August 1485 when Richard died. Obviously there are gaps in the material available but the author contends that an examination of the known facts dispels many of the myths that surround later accounts of the personality and supposed deeds of the king. The stories about the treatment of Richard's body after his death plus the burial of Richard's body in Leicester are also examined.

The second part of the book deals with the DNA search to prove that the bones found belonged to Richard III. Males do not pass on the mitochondrial DNA but as a mother passes the same mitochondrial DNA to all her children the challenge was to follow a direct female line from the females in the family of Richard III to the present day so that the two sets of DNA could be tested. The author describes how a direct female line was discovered from Catherine (Katherine) de Roet, Duchess of Lancaster (1348-1403), via her daughter, Joan Beaufort, then her grand-daughter, Cecily Neville, the mother of Richard III, to Anne of York (Richards's sister) until finally, sixteen generations later, to Joy Ibsen (1926-2008).

During the writing of the book the author provides many details and explanations which at times do not make easy reading but generally this is an interesting study of an era in British history as well as an account of how new scientific approaches can help verify historical data.

The University of Leicester website - The search for Richard III - contains further information about the discovery of the body of Richard III.

The daughter of time

The recent identification of bones under a carpark in Leicester as being those of Richard III resulted in renewed interest in the king who was the last of the Plantagenets - [Guardian article] For centuries many history books have described Richard as the evil hunchback who stole the role of king from his nephew when Edward IV died, then imprisoned his two nephews in the Tower of London and arranged to have them murdered. Shakespeare's play, Richard III,  has perpetuated that notion.

In the novel, The daughter of time, written by Josephine Tey in 1951, a policeman, Alan Grant, is in hospital recovering from breaking a leg. To fill in the time a friend brings him a collection of portraits of people about whom a mystery is attached. Among them is a portrait of Richard III which inspires Grant to evaluate the story surrounding the king by investigating the actual known facts, rather than stories written long after Richard's death. 

The title of the book refers to a quotation from Francis Bacon (1561-1626) - 'For, truth is rightly named the daughter of time, not of authority.' In the novel Grant reads all the books that he can easily locate about the life of Richard including those credited with providing authoritative accounts. He soon discovers that the 'original' sources were written many years after the events described and by Tudor supporters. It is therefore necessary to seek information from documents produced during the reign of Richard. Aided by Brent Carradine who researches the available documents at the British Museum, Grant is able to debunk many of the myths and piece together the facts relating to this period of British history revealing an entirely different story.

This book should be read by all who are interested in history, including family history, re-enforcing the need to investigate the facts and not to just accept a story at face value.

For those interested in Richard III the Richard III Society provides detailed information.

A walking shadow: the remarkable double life of Edward Oxford

The life of Edward Oxford can be told in two parts. Born in England 1822 Edward Oxford gained notoriety in 1840 when he fired two pistols at Queen Victoria. There is no proof that the pistols were loaded and after his trial at the Old Bailey he was declared insane and was initially sent to the State Criminal Lunatic Asylum at Bethlem and later transferred to Broadmoor Hospital when it opened in 1863. From all accounts Oxford took advantage of the situation to study and improve his education  studying subjects including French, German and Italian as well as some Spanish, Greek and Latin. He also became a grainer and painter. Eventually it was decided that Oxford was sane but the government did not want him released in England so he was released on the understanding that he travelled to one of the colonies and stayed there.

Edward Oxford left Plymouth aboard the Suffolk in December 1867 but he now had a new identity - he was now John Freeman, a 'merchant' travelling to Melbourne Australia. In the second part of the book Jenny Sinclair pieces together what is known of Freeman's life in the colony of Victoria. Initially he worked as a painter and grainer and then in 1874 he wrote a series of articles about Melbourne for the Argus. The articles were signed Liber meaning, in Latin, free. Freemen was a member of the West Melbourne Mutual Improvement Society and was also actively involved at St James' Cathedral, holding positions of church warden and secretary.  In 1881 Freeman married Jane Bowen (Tapping) and by 1888 they were living in Albert Park. He was a respected member of Melbourne society and no-one suspected his past.

In 1888 the book, Lights and Shadows of Melbourne Life, was published in London. Freeman based the book around the Argus articles of 1874 and provided a view of life in Melbourne probably written for a London audience.

Freeman was probably not the only person in Melbourne who had two or more identities. Living two lives cannot always have been an easy thing to do but there is no evidence that Freeman told anyone in Melbourne about his earlier life in England. It was only through letters to a friend in England that many years later that John Oxford was linked to James Freeman.

In this book Jenny Sinclair provides not only an account of the life of Oxford / Freeman but also an introduction to life in Victorian England and the Colony of Victoria.

Berkshire Record Office - Broadmoor - Edward Oxford

Lights and Shadows of Melbourne Life

Celebrating Mooroolbark

Celebrating Mooroolbark is primarily about the Mooroolbark Community Centre and festivals held in Mooroolbark but it is more than that. It provides a view of the community spirit that existed in the area as it evolved from a rural community to a suburb of Melbourne.

The Mooroolbark History Group effectively has used articles from local newspapers plus photographs to tell the story. A brief account of the early settlement of Mooroolbark is followed by the story of the Mooroolbark Public Hall, the community meeting place for the residents of the area from 1924 until the building of the new community centre in 1980. The hall was the location for the first school until it moved into its own building and a number of churches also initially held services in the hall. The hall was also the centre of entertainment for the local population with dances and carnivals held in and around the hall.

In March 1980 the new community centre was opened and since that time has been the meeting place for many community groups, recreational classes, social functions, art displays and other events. To celebrate the opening of the community centre the first Red Earth Festival was held and it continued as an annual event until 2001. From 2002 the Celebrate Mooroolbark Festival, centred around the community centre, has been held each March.

The story of the community centre and the festivals unfolds chronologically and is well illustrated with copies of newspaper articles which further enhance the story as well as many photographs of people and events. The focus of the book is on the people and events that contribute to the function of the community centre and the festivals as well as the public who enjoy participating in the community centre activities and festival events.  As the title suggests, this book is a celebration of Mooroolbark. It is also the story of the evolution of a vibrant community contributing to an understanding of the social history of the suburb.