Historian whose research helped find the remains of Richard III

Born: April 5, 1949;

Died: May 18, 2018

JOHN Ashdown-Hill, who has died aged 69, was an historian and writer who research helped pinpoint the remains of King Richard III beneath a car park in Leicester in 2012.

Until that point, there had been various theories about what happened to the king's body. It was known that Richard died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field, one of the last significant battles in the War of the Roses, but it was not known what happened to the body. One theory was that it had been disposed of in a river.

However, Dr Ashdown-Hill's research led him to believe that Richard had been buried at Greyfriars Church in Leicester and was working on identifying the site of the church when he began working with Scotland-based Philippa Langley, of the Richard III Society, who was also researching the king's death and burial. The friary had been demolished during the reign of Henry VIII, eliminating any trace of the late king's grave.

Eventually, a spot under a car park in Leicester was identified and on the first day of the dig in 2012 a skeleton was found. It had a severely curved spine, matching accounts of Richard III's hunchbacked appearance. It also had a metal arrow in its back and severe trauma to the skull, which was consistent with historical accounts that the monarch was fatally pole-axed at Bosworth.

Later, DNA tests confirmed the skeletal remains were Richard's. The DNA sample extracted from the bones matched with that of two living descendants. The king was reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

For Dr Ashdown-Hill, who was born in London, the discovery of Richard's body, and the later re-burial, was the end of a long period of research. He had studied history at the University of East Anglia and completed his MA in linguistics and PhD in medieval history at the University of Essex, and had written books about Richard III's family.

He was awarded an MBE in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to historical research and the exhumation and identification of Richard III.

Professor Alison Rowlands, of the Department of History at the University of Essex, had known him since 2004.

"John was a prolific author, a leading historian of the Yorkist dynasty, and a real gentleman, who combined a genuine gentleness of manner with an immense enthusiasm for the solving of historical mysteries," she said.

"This enthusiasm was best exemplified in the absolutely pivotal role that John played in pinpointing the location - and confirming the identity - of the remains of King Richard III in 2012.

"Without John's research into the fate of the king's body after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and into the mitochondrial DNA of Richard's descendants, it is unlikely that this major discovery could have been made."

Dr Ashdown-Hill had motor neurone disease and died on May 18.