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"I don’t change the facts to enhance the drama. I think of it the other way round, the drama has got to fit the facts,
and it’s your job as a writer to find the shape in real life."
Hilary Mantel


Feb 15, 2012

1688



The year 1688 is known as the date of the Glorious Revolution, when Prince William of Orange came to England--at the invitation of Protestant lords and officials, who objected to his father-in-law James II's pro-Catholic policies and flouting of English law. Early in 1689, Parliament designated William and his wife Mary, James's daughter, as King and Queen.

Also in 1688, an ancestor of mine was the warden of this secluded rural church in Worcestershire. Did he welcome William's arrival and James's departure, or oppose the change?



The loyalties of his father, church warden and landowner in this neighbouring parish, are documented--he was a Royalist. During the Civil War he served as Captain of Horse in the King's Army.



When researching and writing historical events, I can't help wondering how my own family members felt about them.