Henry VII; 

His early years and the build up to his landing in Milford Haven 0n 7th August 1485   

1422    Henry V died and confusion swept through England, the infant Henry VI was now King of England and Henry V's widow Catherine of Valois was kept under watch as whoever she wed would become step-father to the king. 

1431  Catherine met and by some accounts, married a Welshman named Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudur, a soldier  descended from the "Lord Rhys" who had entered the service of Queen Catherine   as keeper of the Queen's wardrobe, after the death of Henry V.  Owen's father Maredudd ap Tudor had been a stalwart of Owain Glyndwr's uprising of 1400.  The origin of Catherine and Owen's romance is obscure, but later chroniclers attributed it to drunkenness (at a ball, Owen was so drunk that he stumbled and fell into the queen's lap) or voyeurism (the queen saw Owen bathing in a stream and was attracted to him; she secretly traded places with her maid and arranged to meet him in disguise.  They had four children including Edmund and Jasper. 

1442    Henry VI began to take an interest in the upbringing of his step brothers Edmund and Jasper and they were brought to London. 

1452   Edmund was created earl of Richmond and Jasper was created earl of Pembroke and Henry VI recognized them as his brothers. 

1457  (January 28th)   Henry Tudor (later to become Henry VII) was born at Pembroke Castle  the only child of Edmund Tudor and Margaret Beaufort,  Henry's later claim to the throne came from his mother Margaret, as she was the great great granddaughter of Edward III.  Edmund had died 3 months earlier as a result of defending Carmarthen Castle from the Yorkists. 

1460  Henry VI was deposed by Edward IV and imprisoned. 

1461   At the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire, Owen Tudor led the Lancastrian forces, who were defeated by the Yorkists after which he was beheaded at Hereford.  Jasper then had to flee to Pembroke, but was hunted mercilessly by Edward IV's ally William Herbert.  Jasper did successfully elude  capture,  and escaped to France via Scotland, but the four-year-old Henry Tudor was left behind at Pembroke Castle, under the custody of Herbert.  Herbert was never cruel to the boy; in fact, he and his wife, Anne Devereux, raised him as their own.  After this Henry rarely saw his mother, but she was allowed to write to him. 

1468    Jasper returned to Wales, with the support of Louis XI of France and gathered 2000 men, but was eventually routed at Harlech Castle  and forced to return to France. 

1469    Jasper's invasion did, however, create a breach in the Yorkist party, as the earl of Warwick became  dissatisfied with the king and switched sides to support Henry VI.  Warwick later defeated and killed  Herbert ( Henrys guardian) at the Battle of Edgecote, leaving Henry Tudor under the sole protection of Anne Devereux, who took him to her family's home in Herefordshire. 

1470    Jasper launched another invasion, this time with the support of  Warwick and when they arrived in Hereford, he was reunited with Henry Tudor.  Meanwhile, Warwick marched on London and freed HenryVI from the Tower, restoring him as king.   Edward IV was forced to flee to Holland. It was also a reunion for Henry and his mother, who spent about six weeks together in London.   Jasper briefly regained the earldom of Pembroke.  

1471  Edward IV returned from Europe, killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet and was reinstated himself on the throne.  Henry VI was Killed, prompting Jasper to raise an army to fight Edward which was to be reinforced by Henry VI's widow,  Margaret of Anjou and their son Prince Edward   She gathered an army in the West Country and marched north toward Wales to  join forces with Jasper, but Edward IV confronted them at Tewkesbury on 4 May and soundly defeated them killing Prince Edward.    Henry Tudor was now one of the few surviving male heirs of the Lancastrian line and Jasper had good reason to  fear for both his and Henry's safety and they were soon standing siege by a Yorkist army in Pembroke Castle, but managed to make their escape from Tenby headed for France, however storms in the English Channel forced them to land at Le Conquet in Brittany, where they were given refuge by Duke Francis II.  Even though Edward IV placed diplomatic pressure on Duke Francis, the uncle and nephew remained safe from the clutches of the English king for the next 12 years. 

1483  Edward IV died unexpectedly and his two sons - held in the Tower - mysteriously died, Richard III (Edward IV's brother) usurped the throne and was suspected of murdering them.  This saw support grow for Henry Tudor, now the leading Lancastrian claimant to the crown and encouraged his mother, Margaret Beaufort and Edward IV's widow, Elizabeth Woodville (the dowager Queen),  plan to wed Elizabeth's daughter, also Elizabeth (Elizabeth of York) to Henry Tudor, thereby uniting the Houses of Lancaster and York.  Both women knew that such a marriage would imply that Henry Tudor wanted to replace Richard on the throne, so Margaret quickly sent word to Brittany for Henry to return to Britain via Wales, his native land,  as he would receive substantial support there. On Christmas Day 1483, Henry made a public declaration  that if he won the throne of England, that he would marry Elizabeth of York and make her his queen.  

1484  Richard III tried to make Duke Francis hand over Henry, but Henry instead, was granted asylum from French king Charles VIII, who encouraged Henry in his plan to overthrow Richard. 

On 7th August 1485, the future Henry VII landed in Milford Haven.  He then marched through Wales, mustering support for his attempt to seize the throne of England from Richard III. 

A summary of the events of 1485 in the build up to The Battle of Bosworth; 

March - Richard's queen, Anne Neville, died and  news came that Richard planned to marry Elizabeth of York.  Henry with the support of  the French king began to assemble an invasion fleet of 4000 men.  

1st August  -  Henry and his army left  Harleur  and sailed down the Seine into the Channel. 

7th  August  - Henry sailed into Milford Sound and landed at Mill Bay,  Upon landing, he knelt down and whispered, 'Judge me Lord and fight my cause.'  He kissed  the ground,  crossed himself, and asked his men to follow him.  Henry and his force spent that night at Dale. 

Henry now hoped to engage the support of his  stepfather , Lord Thomas Stanley and Sir William Stanley (Lord Stanley's brother and Chamberlain of Chester and North Wales) to strengthen his force, before marching to London. The Stanleys had been communicating with Henry for some time and were aware that his strategy of landing in Wales and heading east into central England depended on their support, but they remained uncommitted.

8th August  -  Henry marched to Haverfordwest Castle. 

Richard's control over much of Wales meant that Henry was forced to march north to Cardigan. 

14th August  -  Henry arrived at Machynlleth, here he wrote a letter to Sir Roger Kynaston, the guardian of the Grey estates of Mid Wales, asking to pass safely to Shrewsbury   - Kynaston's inaction enabled Henry to progress to unopposed and supporters were marching to join him, bringing along supplies, including Rhys ap Thomas, who brought almost 2000 men with him. 

Shrewsbury was an important town, it was the traditional gateway to the English M idlands .   It had prospered under Richard III.  The people of Shrewsbury had no desire for foreign troops to plunder their town, so when Henry requested to march through the town,  the town bailiff, Roger  Mittonmade  said that they would enter"over my belly."  Henry could not afford to go  around  the city so he retreated and composed a letter to the bailiff, promising that his men would simply march through Shrewsbury peacefully, without causing any damage or harm, this with the arrival of Rowland Warburton, a retainer of Sir William Stanley,  persuaded Mitton to let Henry pass, he did however lay on the ground so Henry could step over his belly (thus keeping his oath.) 

The Stanleys had not joined Henry, but nor had they attacked him.  However, once it was clear that Tudor was marching  unopposed  through Wales, Richard demanded that Lord Stanley join him without delay.  However, Stanley excused himself on the grounds of  illness and  Richard proclaimed him as a  traitor . 

Three armies followed each other into the midlands: Lord Stanley's army of 5,000 and those of, Sir William Stanley and Henry Tudor.   Lord  Stanley, whose son Lord Strange was Richard's 'hostage', did not dare meet with Henry Tudor, though he did send a message assuring him of eventual support.   Under such circumstances, Stanley's support was not completely assured  and when he began marching toward Lichfield, it was  presumed he was intending to meet up with Richard III at Nottingham. 

20th August  - Henry met up with Sir William Stanley at Stafford.  Stanley brought news that Richard III was camped at Nottingham, so Henry marched to meet him, stopping overnight at Lichfield.  

21st August  - Henry secretly met with the  Stanleys  but, after the meeting, was still unsure of their unqualified support.  

22nd August  - Battle of Bosworth.  The  Stanleys  took up a position independent of both the royal forces and those of  Henry. Lord Stanley kept his powder dry, taking no direct part in the action, but it was Sir William's decisive intervention that gave Henry the victory.  The critical role the Stanleys had played in bringing Henry Tudor to the throne was emphasised when Lord Stanley retrieved Richard's fallen coronet and placed it on the head of his stepson before his cheering troops. 

1488   Jasper was restored to all his former titles, as well as Knight of the Garter, Duke of Bedford and given possession of Cardiff Castle.

Born this day 1938 in Bangor 

Dewi Iorwerth Ellis Bebb - former Wales and Lions rugby international.  Dewi Bebb became a national hero in Wales as one of his country's greatest wingers.   Bebb  scored 11 tries for Wales and was renowned as one of the game's great finishers.  He was blessed with a great turn of speed, as was amply demonstrated by his try against France in Paris in 1961 when he dribbled the ball three-quarters of the length of the field.  He was also one of the few former sporting stars who was able to succeed in his second profession as an outstanding television producer and editor.  He initially presented the Welsh language programme Y Dydd, before taking up sports commentary and production, also editing HTV's Sports Arena for many years.  He was also heavily involved in the Rugby World Cup competitions in 1987 and 1991.

Eigra Lewis Roberts, one of the foremost Welsh Language writers of our time, was born on this day in 1939 in Blaenau Ffestiniog. 

Eigra is a mainly Welsh language author of short stories, novels and poetry who also works for radio and television.  She was educated at the University Wales, Bangor and is the winner of four major Welsh Literature awards, as well as being a Fellow of the Welsh Academy. 

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William Edwards was a Welsh Methodist minister, stonemason, architect and bridge engineer. Edwards was born in Eglwysilan, Glamorgan, and began preaching in his early twenties 

Edwards' most famous creation was the Old Bridge at Pontypridd, built between 1746 and 1754. He actually constructed three bridges at the same site, with only the last surviving, although a more modern bridge next to it carries the traffic today.  At 140 ft, the bridge was the largest single span in the world when it was constructed. Edwards' master-stroke was to lighten the weight of the stone by leaving "holes" in the lower part of the structure.  The bridge opened in 1755 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2005.  Edwards also built bridges in Aberafan, Betws, Cilycwm Pontardawe and Usk, and he was responsible for the layout of the industrial village of Morriston near Swansea.

Born this day 1985 in Treherbert 

Andrew Bishop  - Welsh rugby international, who was a key member of the Wales Under 21 Grand Slam victory in 2005. 

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On 7th August 1893, 22 people from Ystrad Rhondda were drowned at Aberavon in a boating accident on a Sunday school outing.

The party of 34 people had been invited on a boating trip by brothers  William and John Bath.  The boat was just 20ft long, 5ft 6in wide and 2ft 6ft deep and would prove incapable of carrying its load, capsizing at the breakwater.   The brothers were charged with manslaughter but were subsequently found not guilty.