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Annette Josephine Carson (born 1 September 1940) is a non-fiction author and member of the research team that identified the location of the grave of King Richard III and arranged/funded his exhumation. In 2014 she was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Richard III Society for distinguished services to the Society. *

  1. Biography
    1. Early life
    2. Entertainment industry
    3. Sport aerobatics
    4. PR and advertising
  2. Activism
    1. Frozen pensions campaign
    2. Animal welfare
  3. Writing
  4. Richard III
  5. Bibliography
  6. References
  7. External links

1. Biography

1.1 Early life Born 1 September 1940 in Brighton, England, Annette Carson is the only daughter of Belle Hall and Harry Groombridge, musician and bandleader. Educated at Mary Datchelor Girls’ School in London and the Royal College of Music, she studied violin with Alan Loveday. Married US actor Robert Allen Carson (aka Paul Carson) in 1960, marriage dissolved 1966.

1.2 Entertainment industry 1959–63: Administrative Assistant at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and Front of House Manager, Vanbrugh Theatre. Joined Bernard Delfont Agency aka London Management as PA to Michael Sullivan. Between 1970 and 1984 National Organiser (Television) at British Actors’ Equity Association, and Programme Manager at Thames Television.

1.3 Sport aerobatics 1984–90: Freelance journalism researching/writing books on aerobatics. British Delegate to the Aerobatics Commission (CIVA) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Secretary of CIVA and Chairman of its Judging Sub-Committee. Served at various international championships as Contest Director, British Team Manager, and member of the International Jury. Awarded the Tissandier Diploma of the FAI for Flight Fantastic, September 1989. Contributed articles to Encyclopædia Britannica on Aerobatics and Stunt Flying.

1.4 PR and Advertising, South Africa 1989–2005: Copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather, D’Arcy Direct and Bates International, Johannesburg; subsequently freelance. Winner of 25 copywriting awards including a Silver Echo.

2 Activism

2.1 Frozen pensions campaign 2000–2010: Brought a High Court action against the UK Government seeking to ‘unfreeze’ British pensions paid to expatriates in certain countries who are denied annual upratings.* Pursued the case through the Appeal Court and House of Lords,* and eventually to the European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg, where the The Fifteenth England, 2.2 Annimal welfare 2002 onwards: Voluntary work for Karoo Animal Protection Society (KAPS), Barrydale, SA,* including creation of website, fundraising, video scripting and promotional literature, inaugurating a membership scheme which enabled the Society to establish itself with a secure income. Continues assistance including writing/producing its quarterly newsletters. Awarded the Karoo Dierebeskermingsvereniging Award for outstanding service to the community on behalf of animal welfare, September 2010.

3 Writing Carson has been writing and publishing since 1984 and has achieved sales of 47,000 non-fiction books on subjects that include aviation and biography. Her world history of aerobatics was published after extensive research which involved learning Russian. Her unauthorised biography of guitarist Jeff Beck was awarded 4 stars by Q Magazine.* She contributes articles to journals including The Ricardian and online (some are archived on her website).*

4 Richard III With a lifelong interest in King Richard III of England, she joined the Richard III Society whilst in SA and researched/wrote her first Ricardian book, Richard III: The Maligned King, a pioneering analysis of the king’s reign based on non-Tudor sources. The ‘Maligned’ in the title encapsulates the argument that the house of Tudor purposefully misrepresented Richard for dynastic reasons, and his subsequent detractors, lacking credible evidence of misdeeds, have relied on calumny and rumour. William Shakespeare’s theatrical portrait of Richard III, and the many star actors who have portrayed him as a demented cripple, have much influenced public perceptions. Among points argued by Carson in his favour are laws which contributed to a fairer justice system for all classes of society. Although conceived in an atmosphere ‘full of anxiety’, Professor E.F. Jacob comments that ‘the tone of the measures taken was firm and moderate, and aimed at the suppression of local tyranny and abuse.’<ref[*Reference Prof E F Jacob, The Oxford History of England, 1399-1485, page number 631-2]>

In The Maligned King Carson stated her conclusion that the king’s remains still lay under the Greyfriars Church where he was originally buried, and ‘would now probably lie beneath the private car park of the Department of Social Services’. [*Reference Annette Carson (2008), Richard III: The Maligned King (The History Press), pp. 269–70. ISBN 9780750949736.] A year after the book’s publication Philippa Langley founded the ‘Looking For Richard Project’ (Exhumation of Richard III of England), [*Reference http://looking-for-richard.webs.com] with the aim of excavating the same Social Services car park, later stating ‘It was the first book I had read to make this claim.’ [*References Philippa Langley & Michael Jones (2013), The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III (John Murray), p. 10. ISBN 9781848548909; A.J. Carson, J. Ashdown-Hill, D. Johnson, W. Johnson & P.J. Langley (2014), Finding Richard III: The Official Account (Imprimis Imprimatur), ISBN 9780957684027, 9780957684034.]

On returning to England in 2011 Carson was invited to join the ‘Looking For Richard Project’ as Historical Consultant, [*Reference http://www.richardiii.net/leicester_dig_team.php.] also contributing skills in scripting/copywriting. In 2012 helped organise International Appeal that saved the dig from a £10,000 shortfall. [*Reference P. Langley & M. Jones.(2013), The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III (John Murray), pp. 25, 28–9. ISBN 9781848548909.] Part proceeds from the appeal covered the extra £800 required by the archeological contractors to exhume the remains that proved to be those of Richard III. [*Reference P. Langley & M. Jones (2013), The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III (John Murray), p. 100. ISBN 9781848548909.]

Carson also gives talks on Richard III, and on 6 January 2015 appeared as expert witness in BBC Radio 4’s ‘Great Lives’ series with Philippa Langley nominating Richard III. [*Reference http://www.richardiii.net/whats_new.php.]


5 Bibliography

  • Flight Unlimited (1984) [co-writer Eric Müller] ISBN 0950925209
  • Flight Fantastic: The Illustrated History of Aerobatics (1986) ISBN 0854294902
  • Flight Unlimited ’95 (1995) [co-writer Eric Müller] ISBN 0620187743
  • Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers (1998) ISBN 0620235950
  • Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers (2001) ISBN 9780879306328
  • Richard III: The Maligned King (2008/2009 and revised 2013) ISBN 9780750949736
  • Flight Unlimited (2012) [co-writer Eric Müller] ISBN 9788875651282
  • Richard III: A Small Guide to the Great Debate (2013) ISBN 9780957684003, 9780957684010
  • Finding Richard III: The Official Account (2014) [co-writers J. Ashdown-Hill, D. Johnson, W. Johnson & P.J. Langley] ISBN 9780957684027, 9780957684034.

6 References

7 External links Official website http://www.annettecarson.co.uk

PHOTO PANEL Born 1 September 1940 Occupation Writer Language English Nationality British Genre History and biography Specialist subject Richard III


Version 4

Categories

  1. Living people
  2. British historians
  3. British non-fiction writers
  4. Historians of England
  5. Category:Richard III
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