Richard of Eastwell – The illegitimate son of King Richard III
Richard of Eastwell, also known as Richard Plantagenet, was a bricklayer of Eastwell near Ashford in Kent.
He made claims to be the natural son of Richard III.
Richard of Eastwell was originally brought up without knowing the identity of his parents.
He was boarded with a schoolmaster who taught him Latin – this was a sign of someone of high status’ education.
Richard was visited four times a year by a ‘mysterious gentleman’, who paid for his upkeep.
This gentleman once took him to a “fine, great house” where Richard met a man in a “star and garter” who treated him kindly.
At the age of 16, the gentleman took the boy to see King Richard III at his encampment, just before the battle of Bosworth in 1485.
King Richard informed the boy that he was his son, and told him to watch the battle from a safe vantage point.
King Richard then told the boy that if he won, he would acknowledge him as his son.
If he lost, he told the boy to forever conceal his identity.
It was even suggested that this Richard Plantagenet could have been Richard Duke of York, one of the missing Princes in the Tower!
Richard of Eastwell was employed by Sir Thomas Moyle, the lord of the manor at Eastwell, as a gardener and bricklayer.
He was given a house on the grounds, a building called “Plantagenet Cottage” which still stands on the site.
A well in Eastwell Park still bears his name.
The parish records of St. Mary’s Church at Eastwell record that Richard died on 22nd December 1550, at the age of 81.
The entry is not considered a forgery.
The register entry reads:
“Rychard Plantagenet was buryed on the 22. daye of December, anno ut supra.
Ex registro de Eastwell, sub anno 1550.”
In 1861, John Heneage Jesse published his Memoirs of King Richard III.
He states –
” Anciently, when any person of noble family was interred at Eastwell, it was the custom to affix a special mark against the name of the deceased in the register of burials.
The fact is a significant one, that this aristocratic symbol is prefixed to the name of Richard Plantagenet.
At Eastwell, his story still excites curiosity and interest.
Tradition points to a tomb in Eastwell churchyard as his last resting place.
Lastly, the very handwriting, which more than three centuries ago recorded his interment, is still in existence”.
The tomb in the churchyard of the derelict St. Mary’s church bears the inscription:
“Reputed to be the tomb of Richard Plantagenet”.
Richard Plantagenet remains an enigma, while there may have been no evidence to prove his identity, there was also no evidence to disprove it.
Until now…..
Since the DNA of Richard III has been discovered, it would now be possible to confirm whether or not Richard of Eastwell/Plantagenet was indeed of the York bloodline.
St. Mary’s church where he is buried, has been derelict since the 1950’s, and is now owned by a national charity.
The owners welcome an investigation, but things may prove difficult.
Matthew Saunders, director of the Friends of Friendless Churches which took over St. Mary’s church in 1980, told Kent Online that he would support excavations or testing to see if Richard was a descendant of the king.
“One of the ways to be certain about it would be to take a DNA test of the bones.
It would be an enormous task as that churchyard is probably full of 2,000 bodies, unless they do a localised search under the tomb.
If they wanted to try and find him we would be delighted.”
? Reputed to be the tomb of Richard Plantagenet – 22nd December 1550”
St. Mary’s church, Eastwell
