Bastard Son of the King

Richard Blewitt Edwards I

Poet, Choirmaster, Playwright

25 March 1525 - 31 October 1566

Illegitimate son of Henry VIII.

Alternate spelling is Edwardes.

Richard Edwards' line runs through time by way of the males to Naola Edwards Revis' father, Nathaniel Edwards. (More on Nathaniel and his daughter Naola in a future post.)

Most of this information was taken from findagrave with some additions and editing by me. There are other sources that point to Richard being the illegitimate son of Henry VIII. This YouTube video lists Henry's known bastard children, including Richard. His information is brief and near the middle of the video.

Agnes Blewitt Edwards was Richard's mother but her husband Richard Edwards was not his father.

Here are some reasons for this belief:

King Henry VIII bestowed upon Agnes Edwards the ability and privilege to display The Tudor Rose on her coat-of-arms after Richard's birth.

Thomas Edwards, did not pay for his education, Henry VIII did.

Richard was educated at Oxford at the expense of The King.

Thomas Edwards did not include Richard in his will when he died.

Henry VIII provided a position for Richard as Choir Master in the Royal Chapel, where Henry attended.

Richard was a favorite in the court of Elizabeth I, his half-sister.

Richard, his wife, and children were included in gatherings of The Royal Family.

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Richard Blewitt Edwards I

His mother was Agnes Blewitt, the daughter of Richard Blewitt and Mary St. Aubyn. Her lineage goes back through the Plantagenet kings to William the Conqueror. (More about her [our] interesting ancestors in a future post.)

Agnes married William Thomas Edwards and had one son when she became a lesser-known mistress to King Henry VIII Tudor.

Agnes and Edwards had more sons after Richard's birth so they did stay married even after her bastard son Richard was born. They had three Edwards sons of their own and raised Richard. So, Agnes had all four of her sons in her husband's household to raise. The King bestowed upon Agnes Edwards the ability and privilege to display the Tudor Rose on her coat-of-arms after Richard's birth. This honor was reserved only for the Royal Tudor Family. Richard was raised by his mother and his step-father Thomas Edwards. He was raised alongside his three Edwards half-brothers. Legally, he was Thomas' son but not biologically because the King refused for him to be christened or baptized with Edwards listed as his father. Thus, no Christian records of his mother joined to Edwards with Richard as their son exist. He was also known as Richard Tudor.

Richard was educated at Oxford at the expense of the King. Richard received a bachelor's and master's degree there. He was a member of The Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn which was made-up of lawyers, but he chose not to practice law. Instead, he became a Reverend of The Church of England, had a post at Christ Church College at Oxford, and was Master of the Children of The Chapel Royal in 1561. You can picture him leading the choir, just as in the photo! This photo is of King's College Chapel, which was completed with Tudor money during Henry VIII's lifetime. Richard was a published and acknowledged Reverend, poet, playwright, and musical composer. He was a court favorite of his half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I. One of his works, Paradise of Dainty Devises, can be read online. Damon and Pythias is the only play that survives. Richard first married Margaret Babb in 1560. Two years later, he married Helen Griffith, whose father was Thomas Griffith. Richard and Helen had eight children: Marie, Gwen, Elizabeth, John, Thomas, Abigail, Judith, and Richard Blewitt II (who was born three weeks after Richard's death). We come from Richard Blewitt II's line. Richard and Helen lived at Edwards Hall, located in or near present day Cardiff, Wales. The Hall was originally a Norman castle in the time of William-the-Conqueror. The castle had been owned by a French-origin Knight named "de Pomeroi". There are two theories of how it became named Edwards Hall. One is that marriage brought the castle into the Edwards family and the other is that King Henry VIII gave his bastard son Richard the castle. The hall/castle no longer exists.

I have spent many hours this past week, running down the rabbit hole to find where the Hall was located. It's frustrating not to be able to pinpoint it! This map is from the 1300s and the Hall would not have been in the Edwards' family yet. So would it have been called by the de Pomeroi name? Or something else in Welsh? Hmmm.

Cardiff Castle--shown here--was built by one of the conquering Normans in the late 1000s AD. Edwards Hall would have been build nearby during the same time period.

Richard died at Edwards Hall, Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales. His half-sister, Queen Elizabeth I, was in the process of giving him an award for one of his plays when she learned of his death. He, his wife, & children were included in gatherings of The Royal Family. ------------------------------------------

FindaGrave information from: D. Tumlinson (#47092783) ~ 2019 and ~Lynda (LABG)

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During my research on the Edwards family I found an interesting story about the "Edwards Millions". Read about Robert Edwards, the Pirate. Many relatives of Robert feel that they own 77 acres of Manhattan. We are not in his direct line but I haven't researched to see if we are cousins of some sort.