This Day in History: 1483-04-24

On 24th April 1483, Richard Duke of Gloucester came to Pontefract Castle prior to meeting Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers and Richard Grey at Northampton on the 29th. It was at Northampton that Gloucester had agreed to meet with his supporter Buckingham, who had a retinue of 300 men, the same as the Duke of Gloucester. After an apparently convivial dinner Earl Rivers and Richard Grey found that their rooms were locked from the outside. In the morning, they were arrested by Gloucester and Buckingham. Following the arrest, Richard and his retinue rode the fifteen miles to Stony Stratford where they dismissed the king’s (Edward V) escort and arrested two of his household; the chamberlain Thomas Vaughan and Richard Haute, who along with Earl Rivers and Richard Grey would be subsequently executed at Pontefract in June. It was from that day that Richard’s plan to take control of Edward V gathered pace.