Margaret Beaufort of Bourne, Collyweston, Maxey and Deeping

An amazing woman from Bourne, Collyweston and Maxey who had a profound impact on history but has been virtually forgotten in our Lincolnshire locality. Read tales of her survival from the traumatic birth of her son (Henry VII) when aged only thirteen, her ever-changing fortunes in the Wars of the Roses, being condemned as a traitor by Richard III and her eventual triumph, which saw her become the matriarch of the Tudor dynasty. As the only blood link from the Normans to our present Royal Family (documented here), her legacy through her symbols and academia is still far-reaching today.

Margaret has always had a deep love of her hometown of Bourne. Indeed, she can trace her paternal ancestry back to the 1660s in the Bourne Abbey registers. She attended the Bourne Abbey Primary School and was later educated at Bourne Grammar School; it was here that her interest in history began, with her history teachers, J. D. Birkbeck and his wife, Margaret. Although Margaret has always enjoyed history, even teaching this subject for a while, she would not count herself as a historian. She has always enjoyed sport and trained in this subject at Carnegie College in Leeds. However, she taught English for most of her career at firstly Bourne Grammar School and later at Bourne's Robert Manning School, now known as Bourne Academy. She is from a teaching family and many Brunnians were taught by her well-loved mother, Mrs Audrey Scotney, at the Abbey Road School. Margaret's husband, Ken, also a teacher at the Robert Manning School, is keen to preserve the heritage of Bourne and is in the latter stages of constructing a model railway of Bourne Station that will soon be ready for exhibition. Both would admit that their main hobby now is singing, being members and soloists in Stamford Gilbert and Sullivan Players and the Stamford Singers Concert Party. They are members of the Bourne Abbey Choir and perform in their own entertainment group, Tinderbox, along with Dee Hill, Laurence Lewis and their accompanist, Liz Hill. Both Margaret and Ken also enjoy solo roles in their local pantomime group, Tomorrow's Dream. However, having become fascinated with the life and achievements of Margaret Beaufort, Margaret sees her as one of the most influential women in history. Consequently, she was puzzled as to why little to no mention has ever been made to link Margaret Beaufort to our local area and in particular Bourne. She hopes that this book will help to rectify this oversight and give the mother of the Tudor dynasty the recognition that she deserves.