Colchester historian's Richard III joy (From Essex County Standard)

Colchester historian's Richard III joy

11:06am Monday 4th February 2013 in News By Wendy Brading

A COLCHESTER historian has spoken of his joy after being a key player in one of the most important archaeological discoveries in decades.

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III.

Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch's family.

And it was Dr John Ashdown-Hill who spent more than a year carefully tracing Richard III’s family line.

Dr Ashdown-Hill, who studied for a PhD at the University of Essex, said after the announcement: “It is absolutely superb to have the DNA confirmed.

“All that work on the family tree was worth it.”