Stapleford History Society 11 March 2025
A talk by David Jones
This was the most well-attended talk I have seen and, according to the speaker, was Part 2 of the talk he gave to the Society on 9th December 2021. As a chartered accountant by training and the possessor of ‘O’ level History only, he became an enthusiastic and very well-read researcher after moving to Little Shelford, where he lives in a 16th century timber-framed thatched cottage.
After more than a century of turmoil, both political and religious, the Tudor dynasty (1485 to 1603) came to an end with the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth I. People were well aware of the problems this lack of an heir could pose and there was a sense of relief when James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England. He was also the only claimant with a direct link back to Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty.
James had become King of Scotland when he was nine months old, after the abdication and beheading of his mother, Mary Stuart, a devout Catholic. He himself was a Protestant and, at the age of twenty-two, made his Royal Progress from Scotland to England. He was showered with gifts and declared, “I was swapping a stony couch for a deep feathered bed.” He particularly liked South Cambridgeshire and it is said that he spent more time in Royston than in London and returned to Scotland on only one occasion.
South Cambridgeshire was clearly prosperous. Cambridge was nearby to provide intellectual stimulation and enjoyed the favour of the book-writing King. The university was growing and in 1604 was given the right to send two Members to Parliament followed by a new Charter in 1605. Newmarket was a horse-racing centre even then. However, neither place was as satisfactory as Royston for satisfying the King’s real passions for hare coursing and playing golf.
Royston was also a good place within reach of many of his friends and supporters. The richest man in England, Sir Horato Palavacino, lived at Babraham Hall and later at Little Shelford Manor House. Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton and patron of William Shakespeare, lived at the Manor House, Great Shelford. Sir Oliver Cromwell lived at Hinchingbrooke House where he held a 14-day party for James. Attendees included the heads of all the Cambridge colleges and the Earl of Southampton. He also had friends like Robert Cecil who lived at Theobalds, near Cheshunt, so not very far from South Cambridgeshire.
Unfortunately the King’s take-over of Royston was not as successful for the local inhabitants as for him. Although South Cambridgeshire in general became the centre of Royal life and government, the local people had their houses requisitioned by the entourage of about forty courtiers and ambassadors, plus all the men necessary to look after the horses. A fourteen mile exclusion zone was imposed where both hunting and ploughing were forbidden to the locals thus reducing their ability to provide food for themselves.
Report by Jane Steadman
David Jones kindly recorded his presentation on the night, so anyone who missed the evening can watch it on YouTube.