Author: Purple Brolly

King Edward III (1312-77) had thirteen children, the eldest of whom was Edward of Woodstock (1330-76), known posthumously as the Black Prince. He was destined never to sit on the throne due to his early death, probably from dysentry. He married his cousin, Countess Joan of Kent (1326-85) and had two sons. The eldest died aged 6, so it was their second son, Richard of Bordeaux (1367-1400), who succeeded his grandfather when he was only 10 years old.

The Black Prince had several other titles, including the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall, and he was one of the first Knights of the Garter. He fought valiantly in battle from age 16 and after victory at the Battle of Poitiers in France he became Prince of Aquitaine. He also fought in Spain to help Don Pedro the Cruel regain his throne.

His reward was a large red spinel gemstone which is now part of the Crown Jewels. It is known as the Black Prince’s Ruby and has been worn in the battles at Agincourt and Bosworth Field. Oliver Cromwell sold it to a jeweller who then sold it back to King Charles II (1630-85) in 1660. It is now a centrepiece of the Imperial State Crown.

(Top image of the tomb of the Black Prince at Canterbury Cathedral: Peter Trimming at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Bruce Reynolds (1931-2013) and Gordon Goody (1930-2016) masterminded the audacious Great Train Robbery, which took place on 8th August 1963 in Buckinghamshire and netted some £2.5 million in cash. Essential to their plan was the inside knowledge of a Post Office employee, nicknamed ‘The Ulsterman’ and eventually named in 2014 as Patrick McKenna.

It was McKenna who supplied the information that the train from Glasgow to London on the 8th would be carrying more cash than their original choice of the 7th and it was McKenna who knew that there were no alarms yet fitted in the carriages. He was never caught but most of the 15-strong gang were, after fleeing their farmhouse hideout. They were given sentences of up to 30 years, though most served no more than 10.

They made several mistakes, one of which was knocking the train driver unconscious with a crowbar. The poor man was then woken up and forced to drive the front carriages to their unloading spot at Bridego Bridge because their own retired train driver, recruited by Ronnie Biggs (1929-2016), was not familiar with the new controls. Biggs was one of the minor gang members but became the most famous, as he escaped prison and lived abroad for 36 years.

(Image [cropped]: Bradford Timeline at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)