Louis John Frederick Ashdown-Hill MBE FSA (5 April 1949 – 18 May 2018), commonly known as John Ashdown-Hill, was an independent historian and author of books on late medieval English history with a focus on the

House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of Yor ...

and

Richard III of England Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Ba ...

. Ashdown-Hill died on 18 May 2018; he had had

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

for some time.John Ashdown-Hill obituary
at Richard III Society, 18 May 2018.

Education

University and polytechnic

*HNC in History and French from Anglia Polytechnic *MA in Linguistics from

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

*PhD in medieval history from

*Granted an honorary second doctorate from

in July 2014, to acknowledge his key work both in local history and in the discovery of the remains of Richard III.

Early career

Ashdown-Hill taught languages including English, French, Spanish, Italian and modern Greek and also Classical civilisation in the UK, in Tunisia, in Spain and in Turkey, but eventually gave up teaching to focus on his historical research.

Career

In 2003 Ashdown-Hill was asked by colleagues in Belgium to seek the

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

(mtDNA) sequence shared by

and his brothers and sisters as one of them,

Margaret of York Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503)—also by marriage known as Margaret of Burgundy—was Duchess of Burgundy as the third wife of Charles the Bold and acted as a protector of the Burgundian State after his death. She was a daugh ...

, had died and was buried in what is now Belgium. He spent a year tracing an all-female line of descent from Richard III's eldest sister, Anne, to Joy Ibsen, a woman living in Canada. In 2005 he announced the discovery of the

Mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

sequence of Richard III and his siblings, and in 2006 he gave a presentation on the subject of his DNA research to the

Richard III Society Ricardians are people interested in altering the posthumous reputation of King Richard III of England (reigned 1483–1485). Richard III has long been portrayed unfavourably, most notably in William Shakespeare's play ''Richard III'', in which R ...

in London, in the presence of

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as well ...

. In 2004 Ashdown-Hill was commissioned by the BBC to research a story that Richard III's remains had been thrown into the

River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands and is the principal river of Leicestershire. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north through Leices ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He concluded that the story was untrue. In 2009

Philippa Langley Philippa Jayne Langley (born 29 June 1962) is a British writer, producer, and Ricardian, who is best known for her role in the discovery and exhumation of Richard III in 2012 (the ''Looking for Richard'' project), for which she was awarded an ...

invited Ashdown-Hill to lead a study day for the Scottish Branch of the Richard III Society, as a result of which the ''Looking for Richard'' project was formally founded at the Crammond Inn, Edinburgh. In August 2012, after three years of work persuading the authorities in

, the search for the lost remains of Richard III began with the excavation of the Social Services Department car park. On the first day of the dig (25 August 2012) bones which proved to be those of Richard III were found in the area predicted by Ashdown-Hill and Langley and several earlier researchers, such as David Baldwin. Subsequent DNA research and analysis by Turi King and her colleagues proved that the mtDNA of the bones matched the sequence from Richard III's mother's female descendants that Ashdown-Hill had identified in 2004. On 5 September 2012, Ashdown-Hill had the honour of carrying the remains from the car park. He covered the box of bones with his modern copy of the

House of Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in b ...

Royal Standard. On 2 March 2013 he was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the

by Society President Phillip Stone. In May 2014 Ashdown-Hill's key role in the finding of Richard III's remains was formally acknowledged by

Heather Hallett Heather Carol Hallett, Baroness Hallett, (born 16 December 1949) is a retired English judge of the Court of Appeal and a crossbench life peer. She was the fifth woman to sit in the Court of Appeal, and led the independent inquest into the 7/7 ...

and her colleagues in the High Court Judgement regarding the reburial of the king's remains. Ashdown-Hill was awarded an MBE in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for "services to historical research and the exhumation and identification of Richard III". Ashdown-Hill died 18 May 2018; he had had

for some time.

Other historical research

John Ashdown-Hill also carried out innovative research on the Plantagenet Y-chromosome, and on the mtDNA sequence of the Princes in the Tower.

Bibliography

*''Mediaeval Colchester's Lost Landmarks'' (2009) *''Eleanor The Secret Queen: The Woman Who Put Richard III on the Throne'' (2009) *''Richard III's Beloved Cousyn: John Howard and the House of York'' (2009) *''The Last Days of Richard III (and the Fate of His DNA)'' (first published 2010, fully revised and updated edition 2013) *''Royal Marriage Secrets: Consorts and Concubines, Bigamists and Bastards'' (2013) *''The Third Plantagenet: George, Duke of Clarence, Richard III's Brother'' (2014) *''The Dublin King: The True Story of Lambert Simnel and the Princes in the Tower'' (2015) *''The Mythology of Richard III'' (2015) *''The Wars of the Roses'' (2015) *''The Private Life of Edward IV'' (2016) *''Cecily Neville: Mother of Richard III'' (2018) *''The Poetry Of John Ashdown-Hill'' (2018) C S Hughes, ed. *''The Mythology of the "Princes in the Tower" '' (2018) *''The Pink Queen: Edward IV's Chief Mistress'' (2019)

Contributor

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashdown-Hill, John 1949 births 2018 deaths Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of the University of Essex Historians of England Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London British male writers People from London Members of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in the United Kingdom