|
| Northamptonshire |
 Northamptonshire
lies in central England. In
1974 the Soke of Peterborough was incorporated
into Cambridgeshire.
Towns include the county seat of Northampton. |
| Historic
Events |
| Major
Battles |
In
1645 the Battle
of Naseby was a decisive battle of the English
Civil Wars,
a conflict from 1642-51 between supporters of the monarchy and
supporters of Parliament. The Parliamentarians under Sir Thomas
Fairfax
defeated the Royalists under Charles
I
and captured the king's baggage train. This proved to be decisive
as in the train the King kept his personal correspondence and
the letters showed proof of his duplicity in dealing with Parliament,
a significant factor in his later downfall.
Charles
I
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|
| Royal
Consorts and Heirs |
|
House of Lancaster |
Henry
IV's first wife Mary de Bohun
died in childbirth at Peterborough
Castle (then in Northamptonshire)
in 1394. Her husband became King in 1399. She was the mother
of the future Henry
V.
Henry
IV
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Writers
and Poets
|
|
The poet John
Dryden was born at the vicarage at Aldwinkle in 1631. He became
the first official Poet
Laureate
in 1668 when he succeeded Sir William D'Avenant. He had to relinquish
the post which was normally held for life in 1688 during the Glorious
Revolution and in 1689 Thomas Shadwell succeeded him.
John
Dryden
The
Glorious Revolution
The
poet laureates
Either be wholly slaves or wholly
free.
The Hind and the Panther (1687)
J.L.
Carr, the author of A Month in the Country, died in
Kettering in 1994.
J.L.
Carr
... - the first breath of autumn was in
the air, a prodigal feeling, a feeling of wanting, taking, and keeping
before it is too late.
A
Month in the Country (1980)
We can ask and ask but we can't have again what once seemed ours
for ever - the way things looked, that church alone in the fields,
a bed on a belfry floor, a remembered voice, the touch of a hand,
a loved face. They've gone and you can only wait for the pain to
pass.
A
Month in the Country (1980)
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|
Althorp
Park
