ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
ABBEY HOUSE MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat: 12 – 5pm
Sun: 10am – 5pm
Last admission: 4.30pm
Address
Abbey Walk
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS ART GALLERY
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed
Tues -Sat: 10am – 5pm
Sun: 11am – 3pm
Address
The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AA
LEEDS CITY MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (11am – 5pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat & Sun: 11am – 5pm
Address
Leeds City Museum
Millennium Square
Leeds
LS2 8BH
Ticket Provider
LEEDS DISCOVERY CENTRE
Opening Hours
Visits by appointment/special event only.
Free public store tours are now available by booking in advance. Please call or email us.
Address
Leeds Discovery Centre
Off Carlisle Road
Leeds
LS10 1LB
LEEDS INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM
Opening Hours
Mon: Closed (10am – 5pm on bank holiday Mondays)
Tues – Fri: 10am – 5pm
Sat – Sun: 12 – 5pm
Last admission one hour before closing.
Address
Canal Road
Leeds
LS12 2QF
KIRKSTALL ABBEY
Opening Hours
Mon: closed (10am – 4pm on bank holidays)
Tues – Sun: 10am – 4.30pm
Last admission: 4pm
Address
Abbey Road
Kirkstall
Leeds
LS5 3EH
Ticket Provider
LOTHERTON
Opening Hours
Open Daily
Estate opens: 7.30am
Café: 9am – 5pm, hot food finishes 45 mins before
Hall: Open (Downstairs only) 10am-5pm
Wildlife World: 10am – 5pm
Estate closes: 7pm
Last entry 45 mins before estate closing time
TEMPLE NEWSAM
Opening Hours
House: Tues – Sun: 10.30am – 5pm
Home Farm: Tues – Sun: 10am – 5pm | Open Bank Holiday Mondays and throughout summer holidays
Last entry 45 minutes before
THWAITE WATERMILL
Address
Thwaite Lane
Stourton
Leeds
LS10 1RP
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Lord Darnley: On the 450th Anniversary of his Murder
Behind the Scenes, Collections‘The Sons of the Earl of Lennox’ by Hans Ewouts c.16th Century – Lord Darnley is on the right
Megan Jones explores the life of Lord Darnley – who was born at Temple Newsam – on the 450th anniversary of his murder.
Henry Stuart was born in December 1545, at Temple Newsam House. His mother, Lady Margaret Douglas, was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, sixth Earl of Angus, and Margaret Tudor. His grandparents famously had a tumultuous relationship, and Darnley would unfortunately inherit their volatile approach to marriage.
Margaret, his grandmother, was a Tudor: the daughter of Henry VII, the sister of Henry VIII, and the wife (in her first marriage) to King James IV of Scotland. By this reckoning, Henry Stuart had claims to the thrones of both Scotland and England; and as an English-born Catholic male, presented a threatening alternative to Queen Elizabeth I.
Marriage to Mary Queen of Scots
Sticking with the tradition of the day, Darnley made a powerful move in marrying his first cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, on 19 July 1565. On first sight Mary had declared him ‘the lustiest and best proportioned long man that she had seen’, and their marriage meant they were both high in the line of succession for the English throne: cue panic for the Elizabethan Protestants in England, who were starting to get nervous about their heirless Queen.
One of the most amazing pieces we have here in the collection is the impression of a wax seal, pictured below, accompanied by a note that reads: ‘This impression taken from a seal given to Mary Queen of Scots by Lord Darnley’. The seal impression makes the history of Mary and Darnley – whose story, 450 years on, you could be forgiven for thinking was a great work of fiction – entirely tangible.
Wax Seal Impression, taken from a seal given to Mary Queen of Scots by Lord Darnley c. mid 16th century
The initial happiness of their marriage was unfortunately short-lived. Darnley’s personality began to unravel: he was arrogant, unpopular with other nobles and often violent as a result of his drinking. As a result, Mary refused to grant Darnley the ‘Crown Matrimonial’, which would have made him the successor to the throne if she died childless. Luckily, Mary soon became pregnant with the future James VI and I of Scotland and England.
Portrait of Mary Queen of Scots, c. 1559-1587
On 9 March 1566 Darnley reached the peak of his villainy, when he and his associates murdered Mary’s private secretary David Rizzio in front of the Queen (who was 7 months pregnant at the time). Rizzio was rumoured to be the father of Mary’s unborn child, and such rumours would not do for Darnley (though his own promiscuity was widely known). The murder also served as part of Darnley’s insistence on being granted the ‘Crown Matrimonial’.
Of course, Lord Darnley denied any involvement.
Murder
Lord Darnley’s body was discovered on the 9 February 1567. Whilst staying in lodgings at Kirk O’Field, two explosions went off in the small room under where Darnley had been sleeping.
Although Lord Darnley died that evening, his body was found the next morning in the orchard outside the lodging: dressed only in his nightshirt, his body had no signs of injuries from the explosion. Darnley had likely been strangled, and the explosion employed as a cover.
Although Darnley had many enemies, the likely suspect was James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who had been enjoying a suspiciously ‘close relationship’ with the Queen. Sure enough, soon after they fled the scene, Bothwell and Mary married. This marriage would become her downfall, and after a long imprisonment over a plot to kill Elizabeth I, Mary was executed in 1587.
A slippery character if ever there was one, the story of Darnley’s life is as erratic as his personality. Had he had a more positive temperament, without so many enemies it is more than likely that he would have lived beyond the age of 21, and possibly maintained his marriage to Mary Queen of Scots. Without her marriage to Bothwell, Mary might not have been executed: and the course of British history may have taken a different route. And it all started with a birth at Temple Newsam.
By Megan Jones, Social Media Placement