Serena Jones's Blog

In November 1645 Richard Collings, the author of London Parliamentarian newsbook Mercurius Civicus made a plea to his readers: “One thing the Reader is desired to take notice of. That although it be not conceived now so fit to represent the effigies or pictures of some of our worthy Commanders in the frontispeece of this … Continue reading "“The omission of a shaddow”"

Just a brief note about the cannon in my blog header. It’s a genuine English Civil War-era demi-culverin, one of a pair sent to the town of [London]Derry by the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors in 1642: Another, named ‘Roaring Meg’ was sent by the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers: There are a number of similar … Continue reading "The [London]Derry Cannon"

Last night I watched ‘The Monuments Men’, the 2014 movie about the rescue of art treasures looted from their owners by the Nazis during the second world war. As an instinctive archivist and hoarder/disseminator of information against its loss, the film was a grim reminder to me of the fragility of our civilization’s collective cultural … Continue reading "The Saint on the Beach"

Readers of No Armour But Courage will have noticed that I dedicated the book partly to George Lisle and his family, and partly to “My ancestor, Major Henry Leigh of Thelwall’s regiment, Lisle’s tercio”. I’m sure many of those readers immediately assumed that I became interested in Colonel Lisle because I had one of his … Continue reading "An unexpected ancestor: Henry Leigh of Adlington"