Born to a golden age but dogged by ill fortune
Despite being born into a golden age, William Sheldon’s life was dogged by persecution for his religion and his loyalty to the Royalist cause.
The Mystery of the Missing Passport
A travel document issued to Edward Sheldon in 1625 may prove to the oldest British ‘passport’ in existence, pre-dating by 11 years one previously thought to be the oldest.
The Sheldon Tapestries
The Sheldon Tapestries marked an attempt by wealthy landowner William Sheldon and his son Ralph to create new rural employment opportunities through the development of new skills imported from continental Europe.
Sheldon fortunes take a downwards turn
Ralph Sheldon was fortunate not to have been drawn into the 1583 Throckmorton Plot to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her on the English throne with Mary Queen of Scots…
A life blighted by the march of religious change
A first look at the life of Ralph Sheldon, whose days were dogged by religious persecution and by greedy adversaries who cast envious eyes over his vast wealth…
The complexities of Leicestershire mining
A more detailed look at the Sheldons’ involvement in the Leicestershire coalfield, which began during the reign of Henry VIII and lasted for another 200 years. The methods were primitive but William Sheldon and his heirs certainly knew how to make their investment pay…
William Sheldon (1500-1575) Part Two
Thomas Habington, the respected Worcestershire chronicler who lived through the same tumultuous period in English history, said of William Sheldon: “In our age for wisdom, estate and authority in our county he equalled most of the gentlemen of England”…
Philippa’s will that of a wealthy woman
Philippa did not survivie long to enjoy the fishing rights granted to her in the will of husband Ralph (1470-1546) as she died within two years of him. She had little land to bequeath, but she had many other valuable…
The details of Ralph Sheldon’s will
Ralph Sheldon of Abberton was a wealthy man; by values that apply in today’s world he would undoubtedly have been a millionaire many times over. Much of his wealth was inherited from his older brother, William…
Ralph Sheldon (1468-1546) the first coal king
The Sheldons had already acquired great wealth through sheep farming and weaving when Ralph Sheldon, quite late in life, acquired land at Cole Orton in Leicestershire in around 1533, possibly at the behest…
Feast of the Swans saw 267 new knights created
ONE OF THE GREAT SPECTACLES of the Middle Ages took place in Westminster Abbey over 700 years ago when 267 men were knighted, the largest mass knighting in medieval England. Among them was Nicholas Sheldon.
William Sheldon at the Battle of Bosworth
DURING THE REIGN OF EDWARD IV (1461-1483), William Sheldon, the eldest son of Ralph and Joyce Sheldon (nee Rudding) of Abberton, purchased the Worcestershire manor of Beoley from Richard Neville, Lord Latimer…