This Day in History: 1416-03-09

On 9th March 1416, Robert Waterton, Constable of Pontefract Castle, was made guardian for the four-year-old Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, whose father, the Earl of Cambridge, had been executed in August 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against Henry V. Richard’s paternal uncle, Edward, second Duke of York, had been killed at Agincourt two months later. The king awarded Waterton £100 pa (£107,000 in today’s money) for the duke’s expenses,who remained with his household in Methley until December 1423 when his guardianship was transferred to the Earl of Westmorland.