Researching family history can be an immersive journey into the past, uncovering not only documents and dates but the rich, layered experiences of our ancestors. For me, it was the lives of three extraordinary women from the St. John family during the English Civil War that captured my heart. These women, each with their own ambitions, loyalties, and destinies, shaped the course of their family’s future and the fate of England itself. In Written in Their Stars, the third novel of The Lydiard Chronicles, I had the immense challenge and privilege of bringing their stories to life.
Luce Hutchinson, Allen Apsley’s wife Frances, and Nan Wilmot were not just witnesses to history; they were active participants in shaping it. As cousins and best friends, they navigated the dangerous, shifting political landscape of 17th-century England, torn between loyalty to family and the cause they believed in. Writing these characters was more than a simple act of transcription. It required a deep dive into family archives and historical records, but also a psychological journey to understand their motivations and how their voices might have differed from one another. They quickly assumed their individual roles, and as I was writing, I called them “the Rebel, the Courtier and the Spymistress”.
Luce Hutchinson, “The Rebel,” offers a particularly poignant perspective. With her husband, John Hutchinson, being one of the signers of King Charles I’s death warrant, Luce’s entire life was turned upside down by the execution of the monarch. The rise of the Commonwealth promised new opportunities for women like her, but the future was uncertain.
Meanwhile, Luce’s brother, Allen Apsley, and his wife, Frances, remained staunch Royalists, committed to restoring Charles II to the throne. Frances, “The Courtier,” had to navigate the treacherous waters of exile in Paris, balancing her allegiance to the Royalists with the desperate hope for her family’s return to favour. Upon their return to England, Allen became a founding member of The Sealed Knot, an underground resistance network committed to restoring King Charles to the English throne.
Nan Wilmot, Countess of Rochester, “The Spymistress,” added another layer of intrigue to the family’s story. Marrying Henry Wilmot, a close confidant of the exiled Charles Stuart, Nan manipulated both Royalists and Parliamentarians to maintain her estates and position. A master of espionage, she recruited Frances into her web, and together they worked to subvert Cromwell’s rule.
These women’s intertwined fates reveal the complex dynamics of power, loyalty, and survival. Their stories show how family and politics can be deeply enmeshed, and how women, often unseen in history, wielded significant influence behind the scenes. Written in Their Stars reflects this, inspired by the memoirs of Luce Hutchinson and the legacy of their extraordinary lives
While continuing my research into family history, I uncovered a new layer of intrigue—another generation involved in secret intelligence work for King Charles and James, Duke of York. When the bones of the missing princes were discovered in the Tower of London, my ancestors were working at the highest levels of espionage within both courts.
Linking generations of my family, The King’s Intelligencer is an immersive historical novel of conspiracy, passion, and courage, following the daughter of Allen and Frances, Franny Apsley, and her quest for a truth that could change the fate of a nation. Fiction inspired by fact, and a companion to The Godmother’s Secret and The Lydiard Chronicles, the novel explores the fascinating hints and hidden history within private and public records, paintings, and monuments to the past. More details are on my Amazon Author Page.
