The Daughter of Time

I just finished reading The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey, mystery writer and playwright. She has her detective, Alan Grant, stuck in a hospital room recovering from injuries suffered on a previous case. He becomes fascinated with a picture of Richard III and requests history books, then specific books about Richard and his time. A friend sends to him an American student, whom he enlists in performing research. Basically Grant applies his Scotland Yard techniques to the problem of whether Richard killed his two nephews.

I confess the book disappointed me. I had read so much about it and then? It did not uncover anything new.

For many of us, The Daughter of Time was our introduction to the idea that Shakespeare's Richard III wasn't the historical one. It was all new. :-) And it is pretty accurate, even if I wouldn't agree with all interpretations and conclusions.

Read this years ago but can't recall much — think it's time to seek it out and re-read. The story of the two princes goes on and on. In the last month I came across a review on a new book which speculates on one of them living out his life in obscurity but visited by Henry VII on occasion

Visited by Henry VII?!? Now that's a new one! Do you remember the name of the book or author? Fiction or nonfiction?

If Henry knew that one of them was alive, and even visited him, he should have had an easier time proving that Simnel & Warbeck were imposters. On the contrary, he seems not to have been sure whether they were alive or dead. There was a quote about wanting to know the depth of his danger.

myshelves: As I couldn't find my newspaper source I did a search of the Daily Telegraph website and it was noted in the issue of 25th May but the book was mentioned in an article rather than a review of the book itself. David Baldwin, a historian at University of Leicester has written The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York but the article does not name the publisher. Apparently he claims that the elder prince, Edward, died of natural causes and Richard was taken to St John's Abbey in Colchester where he worked incognito as a bricklayer and died in 1550. The notion that Henry VII may have visited him arises from the fact that Henry visited Colchester 4 times during his reign which is an unusually large number compared with other places.
By the way although it might certainly show Perkin Warbeck to be an impostor the survival of a rightful heir would not be something Henry would want to broadcast.
I've put a link below but if it doesn't work go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk and search 'princes tower' (without the quote marks).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/05/25/nprince25.xm...

myshelves: Just to add that if you copy and paste the full link it does take you to the article.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Lost-Prince-Survival-Richard-York-David-Bald...

there is a link to the Chapters.ca page on the book. PossMan, thank you for bringing this to my attention, I'm adding it to my wishlist! :)

Thanks, PossMan. It is now on my wishlist too. Seems to be available in the UK, but not yet in the US.

Ok, this is the Richard Plantagenet buried in Eastwell, Kent. I wonder if Baldwin found any record of him at Colchester Abbey? (Might explain why he could read Latin?)

Question: Does anyone know why Lovell and others headed for St. John's Abbey in Colchester after Bosworth? Was there no sanctuary nearer? Who was the Abbot?

A question about books: In DofT, the actress mentions to Grant a Kipling story in which Henry VII gives some piddling sum to Cabot as a reward for his discoveries.

Can anyone give me the title of that Kipling story? And perhaps suggest in what collection it can be found?

Here's the historical background:
In 1504 Sebastian Cabot (son of explorer, John Cabot) led an expedition from Bristol to the New World, using two ships: Jesus of Bristol and Gabriel of Bristol. They brought back a certain amount of salted fish, which suggests the voyage was at least partly commercial and that other expeditions may also have included fishing. Cabot was granted an annuity of ₤10 on 3 April 1505 by Henry VII for services "in and aboute the fyndynge of the new founde landes".
Kipling writes of Sebastian Cabot in his book 'Puck of Pook's Hill'.
However, this is NOT the reference myshelves refers to.

In Daughter of Time, the quote about Henry VII is "Do you know the lovely Kipling story about his knighting the craftsman not for having done beautiful work, but for saving him the cost of some scroll-work?"
The story myshelves seeks is actually found in Kipling's 'Rewards and Fairies' (1910), and it is not about Cabot...

The Story (copied from http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_wrongthing1.htm, see more notes at the link):
...
With Mr Springett, the village builder, Dan meets Sir Harry Dawe, the great master mason of Tudor times, who he had first encountered the previous year (see "Hal o' the Draft" in Puck of Pook's Hill). He tells a story of his pride in his work, and the hatred between him and another craftsman, Benedetto, who was jealous of his skills.
In his pride, Hal has made a painting to decorate one of the King's ships 'all in a heat after supper', but it is not a good piece of work; it is the 'wrong thing' of the title. One dark night Benedetto seizes him and threatens to cut his throat. But Hal tells how the King (Henry VII) had just knighted him, not for his craftsmanship and achievements, but because he had saved the King trouble over a small matter. The sword the King used to make him a knight was rusty; this too was 'the wrong thing'. Hal's pride had taken a fall. The two craftsmen laugh together at the irony of it, and the hatred between them is gone.

Hope this helps.