18 May 2026 Worcester Cathedral

Interesting day, today. I headed up to Worcester to visit my 24th Great Grandfather's tomb. King John Plantagenet wasn't the most popular or well liked Monarch in English History, but you take the good with the bad, and he's family anyway.

It was a beautiful tomb. As you can see by the mark on his nose, someone had it out for him, but he did some pretty despicable things in his lifetime. He lost the ancestral lands in France, was rumored to have killed his eldest brothers son, Arthur, and then caused the demise of the family of the man who helped him get rid of his rival nephew (William de Braose III). He signed the Magna Carta, then tried to back out of the deal after the fact. Even the Pope wouldn't let him do it.

An interesting fact is that after his death, one of his closest allies, and a man often described as the best Knight in the World, William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke (Wales) scooped up his son Henry, and whisked him off West to prevent him from being killed by John's enemies. Nobody would dare challenge William Marshall, who became Henry's Guardian and regent until Henry was old enough to take the crown himself. Henry was Knighted by Marshall, and then taken to Gloucester Cathedral, where he was coronated. Needless to say, he had quite the mess to clean up after his Father King John's death.

Statue of William Marshall outside of Pembroke Castle in Wales

During this visit, I have been to Gloucester Cathedral, where Henry III became King of England, and the Battle of Evesham, where Henry and his son, Prince Edward (later, Edward the First, Longshanks) defeated Simon de Montfort in the Second Baron's War.

Worcester Cathedral also housed the remains of some of my other ancestors, even though I couldn't exactly tell where they were. Several times, tombs with Knights were listed as Unknown, even though I did find two, that at the time, I didn't know I was related to.

This has been my first discovery of the trip. The brass plaque underneath the effigy of this knight is in Latin. I can't read Latin, but I can read names, and the names on the plaque were "Somebody Harcourt and Isabelle de Camvile". The names sounded familiar to me, so when I got back to my hotel and started transferring my pictures from my camera to my laptop, I decided to check my genealogy software for a match. I found one.

Millicent Isabel de Camville was born in 1152, and lived until 1208. According to my database, she was married to Robert Harcourt, 1152-1202. Both are clearly visible on the plaque. I also checked Find a Grave, and the memorial for him lists Worcester Cathedral as his final burial site, but they couldn't find it, until I showed up and looked for it.

Tomb of an Unknown Knight at Worcester Cathedral

This was my second discovery. I found my 15th Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother's tomb here. Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas and Catherine St. John's tomb is very close to where Robert Harcourt's tomb is, and it is shown below. They weren't even listed as being at the Cathedral in my database, but that may be because a lot of the tombs are written in Latin, as England was a catholic nation prior to Henry VIII converting it to protestantism.

I am really excited to find things out like this when I come over to England every couple of years. It kind of makes my whole trip worth it. Tomorrow will be a busy travel day for me. One old church and 4 ruined castles on my schedule. Hopefully I'll have many more discoveries before I head back home in July. Here are a few more pictures from today in Worcester.