Keighley and District Local History Society’s next meeting will be on Wednesday 8th May 2024, upstairs in Keighley Library. The guest speaker will be writer and historian Alison Harrop, giving her talk “Lady Mortimer and Edward II: From Skipton to Berkeley Castles”.
Alison writes under the pen-name Alice Mitchell, and her novel “The Mortimer Affair: Joan De Joinville’s Story” was published by YouCaxton Publications in 2020. Alison was born in Keighley and grew up in East Morton, becoming head girl of Bingley Grammar School before training to be a doctor. She worked for more than 20 years as a medical doctor in the Wirral and in North Wales, and moved back to Keighley following the death of her husband in 2019.
Her novel tells the story of Joan de Joinville, wife of the infamous Roger Mortimer, who was imprisoned in Hampshire and then at Skipton Castle, because of her husband’s rebellion against King Edward II in the 14th century. Mortimer was alleged to have ordered the murder of Edward at Berkeley Castle in 1327, but the novel gives Joan a voice and tells an alternative story through her eyes. Joan suffered a great deal of hardship and humiliation but ended-up surviving both men by many years. Alison’s talk addresses the question did Edward II really die in Berkeley Castle?
Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (free if you are a history society member). The meetings are upstairs in the local studies library of Keighley Library on North Street. Doors open at 7pm, the meeting starts at around 7.20pm and Alison’s presentation will begin at 7.30pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Please use the side entrance to the library on Albert Street if you are arriving after 7pm.
Anyone is welcome to come along and if people wish to join the society they can pay in cash on the night (membership for the rest of 2024 costs £15 or £20 for a couple living at the same address). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.
