How did an innocent genealogical project to trace a family tree end up in the bedrooms of the Oxford University some 200 years ago and, shockingly, in the bedrooms of George, Prince of Wales?
Along the way three secret messages emerged, each with three specific clues to a mystery, plus a ghost also with her own secret clue.
At one point the two merged, the genealogical facts and the orally transmitted clues, into previously unknown territory.
The revelations, if true, were astounding.
If I were to draw any conclusion from all of the circumstantial evidence in my book it would be this.
The Acting Commander of the Tall Ship ‘Lady Nelson’, Lieutenant James Simmons, which sailed under his command from 1803, was the legitimate son of George, Prince of Wales.
Legitimate son?
The Prince spent several summers at his Brighton Pavilion (illustrated above) with his soul mate, Mrs Maria Fitzherbert.
Many residents were sure that she was pregnant each year.
And this was following a secret marriage between the couple, which was flatly denied in Parliament by the Prince’s mate and leader of the Whigs, Charles James Fox.
But there are witnesses who swore that the marriage did take place and, furthermore, the Pope ruled it to be a valid marriage.
So what of any children who may have been quietly dispatched on one of the early convict ships that conveniently sailed to the new colony on the other side of the world, Australia, at the time.
And what of other children who probably ended up in organisations for orphaned children or as trainee boys on sailing ships, as I suggest Lieutenant James Simmons may have, to later be given the command of the ‘Lady Nelson’.
Then he and his ship, as is on the record, were responsible for the founding of Hobart and Launceston in Tasmania and for rescuing a failed convict settlement inside the Heads 30 years before the town of Melbourne was settled.
One of the convicts, William Buckley, escaped and lived with the aborigines for the next 30 years and became a local folk hero. It’s an amazing story.
Lieutenant Simmons and the ‘Lady Nelson’ did much to foster early harmonious relations between the Governor of New South Wales (Australia) and the New Zealand Maori.
I invite you to read the amazing untold story of an unsung hero from 200 years ago, all but forgotten in the history books, who deserves a more prominent place in history.
And much more.
“You have discerned an amazing story,” says Writer’s Digest. “It’s got everything it needs to be a blockbuster.”
It’s a true story full of twists and turns.
Grab your copy and read it for yourself here.
Best Wishes.
Neil.
your mind is all 