The Bower & Collier Family History
Research by Colin Bower
The Death of William II (William Rufus)
Interim Report II
Contents
1. Loose Ends
2. More Searches/Answers!
3. John Leland
4. Beaulieu History Society
5. Visit to Lymington
6. Publications by Arthur Lloyd
7. Conclusions from Interim Report I
8. Conclusions from Interim Report II
1. Loose Ends
I decided as a next step to see if I could tackle the Loose Ends from Interim Report I:
1.1 Where William of Malmesbury was a monk
1.1 & 6.7 What was the book published in 1882
5.4 Why did John Leland write about Truham in 1530
5.9 The name of the monk who wrote soon after Beaulieu Abbey was founded (Article 26)
6.8/6.9 Who did Walter Tirel marry, e.g was he related to the de Clares
6.10 What period was Article 26 talking about
7.7 Which Article had this information (that loyal servants carried the body to Winchester Cathedral)
2. More Searches/Answers!!
In order to tidy up the loose ends, I conducted another sweep of the Other Publications and found some additional useful information:
Answers
1.1 Where William of Malmesbury was a monk
William was a monk at Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire
1.1 & 6.7 What was the book published in 1882
William of Malmesbury wrote a number of books which have been translated.
One of the most quoted is his, Chronicle of the Kings of the English (1128) - see Artuicle 10.
5.4 Why did John Leland write about Truham in 1530
See 3. below
5.9 The name of the monk who wrote soon after Bealieu Abbey was founded (Article 26)
This is a quote from Arthur Lloyd's booklet in which Arthur refers to a monk at Waverley Abbey.
6.8/6.9 Who did Walter Tirel marry, e.g was he related to the de Clares
Two Articles (1 and 19) agree that Walter Tirel married Adeliza, daughter of Richard fitzGilbert, later known as Richard de Clare.
6.10 What period was Article 26 talking about
This was another direct quote from Arthur Lloyd's booklet, the Death of Rufus.
Arthur seems to be saying that none of the recent historians (1963-1977), who have written about the death, concluded that Willaim Rufus was murdered.
The use of the words "of the period" is ambiguous and unhelpful.
I think since 2000, when the booklet was written, some modern historians have suggested it was murder.
7.7 Which Article had this information (that loyal servants carried the body to Winchester Cathedral)
This was a statement in Article 11.
3. John Leland
There was a vital piece of information in Interim Report I, namely that in 1530 John Leland identified Truham as the place where William Rufus was killed.
I first searched the internet to find out why John Leland was in a position to say this:
The information on John Leland still did not give me the source for his contention that William Rufus was killed at Thorougham.
Beau;lieu History Society
I decided to add the word Beaulieu to John Leland in the search engine and hit gold-dust, with an entry in the September 2007 Newsletter of the Beaulieu History Society:
The Article quoting from Arthur Lloyd's booklet, provides the answer and more:
So if I had started with Arthur's booklet, I wouldn't have had to do so many other searches! But I wouldn't have found out the existence of so many different accounts.
5. Visit to Lymington 22 August 2024
I made a very successful visit to obtain copies of:
- an article in our local paper 14 April 2001 on the unveiling of a memorial cairn to Wiiliam Rufus in Beaulieu
- Arthur Lloyd's articles for the Hampshire Magazine in September 1962 and March 1965:
Visit to Lymington August 2024
6. Arthur Lloyd and his Publications
I thought that I would add a summary about Arthur Lloyd and his publications about William Rufus.
7. Conclusions from Interim Report I
In Interim Report I, I drew conclusions on:
A. People who would know of the death
B. The Facts of the Case
A. People who would know of the death
Depending on which group they were in would determine whether they knew a litte or a lot of what happened:
1. servants at the hunting lodge
2. members of the hunting party
3. Henry I and his entourage
4. The Royal Household/Staff etc at Winchester Castle & Winchester Cathedral and later London
5. The inhabitants/countryfolk of the New Forest
6. Misc people who were told of the event at the time and it was passed down through the ages
To the original list, we could add:
7. Monks writing their Chronicles
8. Descendants of 1-5 including descendants of Walter Tirel and Purkis the charcoal-burner
B. The Facts of the Case
Facts
1. Hunting in the New Forest was very popular particularly at the start of the stag-hunting season.
2. William Rufus hunted in the New Forest on 2 August 1100 (2nd day of the stag-hunting season)
3. He was killed in a hunting accident by one of his own men.
4. Walter Tirel is implicated
5. Brother Henry & others made off for Winchester and Henry claimed the treasury and the crown.
Likely
1. It was a good-sized hunting party with nobles, huntsmen and servants
2. The hunting party stayed at a hunting lodge possibly Brockenhurst
3. The hunting accident occurred on what is now the Beaulieu estate (meaning the Rufus Stone was in the wrong place)
4. Whilst many of the hunting part left the scene, William Rufus did receive some attention.
5. It took at least 2 days before the body reached Winchester
6. William Rufus' death would have been hot news.
8. Conclusions from Interim Report II
I have collated over 30 Other Publications now and it feels like there were 30 versions of the same story!
The Project was transformed by the collation of the information in Arthur Lloyd's publications:
No one publication includes all the reasons given by Arthur. So I have drawn up a list which has all the key reasons and which publication they came from:
The Conclusions from Interim Report I have been updated:
A number of articles in Interim Report I have been Updated:
List of Books & Other Publications
Findings to Date in Categories
Hunting in the New Forest
References to Trees
Colin Bower
30 September 2024
