Paul L Dawson

I will be speaking to the Scottish Branch of the R3 society at the end of the month about Richard duke of York and the Battle of Wakefield. Dates etc to follow.

New research (from archives that have been publicly available for a century) shows that all accounts of the battle of Towton since 1548 are simply wrong. Hall is not a contemporary writer, and inexplicably uses contemporary poetry as historical fact. More more to say on this in coming weeks.

David Grummitt and I's joint paper on the battle of Wakefield. I wonder, given the battle location is not in Wakefield and was not a battle in any meaningful sense, should we downgrade it to the Skirmish of Swillington? www.battlefieldstrust.com/page251.asp

its the seal of Charles VII on the commission to invade England in late May 1461, brokered by Henry Beaufort. The French army was joined by Exeter and Fulford when it landed.

Always fascinating to make discoveries in archives that seem set to change how we view the Wars of the Roses. I am now absolutely certain, the battle of Towton as is traditionally understood, never happened. Bad historiography has introduced layers of myth that I seek to overturn.

I really appreciate that when chroniclers came to illustrate the story of the battle of "Towton" they correctly omit, snow, wind, frost and a hail of arrows which are all later myths, and chose instead to show the charge between Edward and Northumberland's mounted men at arms which began the battle.

Released for sale to day my "warts and all" review of the Grande Armee of Napoleon 1e.

Hopeful of finding new accounts of the politics and battles of the Wars of the Roses by contemporaries in this august institution. I seem to be one of the few researchers using UK and EU archives to study the 15th century. Without using EU archives we loose much of the context for English history.

As our biography of the duke of York is off to the press, we have started a study of "what happened next". New archive discoveries in France, written within days of 29 March 1461, tells us that their was no battle of Towton as traditional histories have us believe. "History" looks to be wrong!

I'm following up duke of York with a comprehensive review of Towton based on new archive documents, to get to the facts of the battle, and to show the ludicrous statements by Hall, Clements Markham etc. for what they are. No arrow storm, no blizzard, no wind helping the arrows, no climatic battle.

The contemporary evidence for him at Towton being? Odd you say Yorkist when contemporary documents show him backing Henry VI.

Released on 30 September my "warts and all" biography of Richard duke of York. I am heading to Paris in May to track down a cache of letters about the battles of St Albans and Towton that have never been published before, or used to study these battles. Watch this space for updates.

On sale from today, my latest bool. Lots about Richard duke of York and his death in Pontefract at the end of December 1460, as well as the role Unitarians played in the Rebellion of 1745.

I'm speaking on 15 May in Wakefield, at Waterstones, Kirkgate from 17:00, exposing the myths and down right lies that led to the erection of the Richard duke of York memorial in Wakefield.

Proportionally, more Unitarians fell 14/18 than any other denomination, yet we were excluded from civic commemorations. Deeply wrong, yet fully expected, when the established church - to a large extent- dictated who could or could not be commemorated.

Not to Leeds, as far as I am aware, as it was raised at the centenary of the armistice in 2018. None of the dead from Wakefield congregation are on any monument.

National policy in the 1920's was to omit Unitarians from memorials. In Leeds, Mill Hill had to build its own monument as the City Fathers expunged Unitarians from the official roll of war dead. This discrimination was nation wide, and is a lasting injustice.

History is only as ever as good as the source material the historian uses. It is exciting to be working on 1,000 documents that have not made their way into English language discussions of the Wars of the Roses, including a new account of Towton by the earl of Warwick's Herald written on the field.

I'm speaking in Pontefract on 21 March about the murder of Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury to Pontefract & District Archaeological Society. I will be revealing some of my new research around Salisbury's death and subsequent reburial.

As a writer and historian, I marked world book day completing two book proofs, for texts to be released later this year. I'm well on my way to filling my second shelf on my book case with my titles!

Made king, perhaps this day in 1461, Edward duke of York, had no claim to the crown. He was a useful puppet for the insatiable ego of the earl of Warwick. Warwick was as much kingmaker in 1460 as in the years before his death. New archive discoveries confirm Warwick was king in all but name.

To be fair, everything we think we know about Warwick, Richard duke of York and Edward earl of March is in a rapid state of flux as new archive sources are uncovered. Edward was a puppet for the real king, Warwick. York was, and lets be honest, so filled with hubris he got himself murdered.

Always exciting to make new archive discoveries about the Wars of the Roses, especially when the sources were largely last used in the 1870's and are it seems, totally unknown to English language researchers. New insights into people, diplomacy and battles will appear in my work on the Duke of York.

Book number 40 on sale from today. With thirteen more titles in production or being written, can I write seven more and make 60 published books, or is 53 sufficient? An achievable goal?

One of the endearing myths about Richard duke of York is that he was beheaded and his head displayed at Mickelgate Bar in York or the walls of Pontefract. This episode is "fake news" appearing in the later 1460's. None of the archive material from the first quarter of the 1460s mentions the event.

I have the same issue....

Exciting research discoveries that have the potential to challenge accepted truths about the battles of Wakefield and Towton, and the events leading up to them. Always gratifying to find sources no English language author has used before, and very few others since 1881.

Coming soon to all good book shops.

I'm speaking about all things Unitarian for Wakefield Family History Society on 1 March at 10:30. Never heard of Unitarianism? Come along and find out. My talk is centred on the Briggs family of Hull, Halifax, Leeds, Stockton, Dundee and Wakefield congregations.

The lack of fact checking in Wars of the Roses studies, has meant easily disprovable errors by chroniclers have become fact. My work on the duke of York brings new sources to light from European archives which contradict the chroniclers accounts and published texts that are reliant on these sources.