If you caught the intriguing BBC4 documentary - England’s Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey – which aired on BBC 4 on Thursday, you’ll already know how the short life of the teenage girl who sat on the throne of England for just nine days in 1553 was one of sadness - and a tragic bloody end.

But the often overlooked queen also had interesting links to our county, which are explored in a new book, The Little History of Essex.

Penned by Southend historian and author Judith Williams, the book condenses the most interesting chapters of the county’s past into one enjoyable easy read.

As well as Lady Jane Grey’s connection – which include the fact one of her main supporters in her claim for the throne was John Gates of Beeleigh Abbey, a former Sheriff of Essex as well as her younger sister Catherine being kept under house arrest in Essex by Elizabeth I - the book explores how Essex has been shaped by violent invasions, religious reform, witch-hunts, a civil war, an earthquake, agricultural depressions, scientific breakthroughs and plenty more.

Echo: L0000812 Matthew Hopkins, Witch-finder..Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images.images@wellcome.ac.uk.http://wellcomeimages.org.Matthew Hopkins, of Manningtree Essex, The Celebrated Witch-finder. From a very rare print in the Pepysian Library, a

The Little History of Essex takes the reader through the ages of Essex- from its early beginning, to Norman and Medieval times, Tudor Essex, up to Victorian and then post war and modern history.

Readers can discover the development of ship building at Harwich, the silk and woollen industries in central Essex, the fortunes of Chelmsford and Colchester and the rise of seaside resorts at Southend and Clacton. and journey through the historic struggles and celebrations that moulded the Essex we know today.

Judith had her interest in the history of Essex sparked when she was a community columnist for local newspapers. She went on to write six history books about Essex – including The Amazing History of Southend- and eventually trained as a tutor of English and history.

Judith is currently involved with the Shoeburyness Military Archives and a heritage centre project for the historic Shoeburyness area. She is helping to produce a Victoria County History ‘short’ for the Southend area. Judith is a member of the Friends of Essex Churches Trust and enjoys church bell ringing.

It’s no easy task to compact the history of Essex but some of the people featured in the book and singled out by Judith helped shape not only our county’s future but the future of our entire county and even the world.

For example, did you know Essex has its own Nobel Prize winner?

Judith writes: “John William Strutt was born in Maldon in 1842. He inherited the title 3rd Baron Rayleigh in 1873 and into Terling Place with his wife Eleanor Balfour (whose brother later became the prime minister).

“John experimented with electromagnetism and acoustics and was the first person to be able to explain why the sky looks blue – a scattering of particles, still known as the ‘Rayleigh effect’.

His most significant discovery was of the colourless, odourless element argon, for which he received a Nobel Prize. He became president of the Royal Society and continued scientific research until his death in 1919.”

The terrible persecution of Protestants under Mary I, Bloody Mary, also feature in the book.

“Mary was responsible for the deaths of 63 Essex people,” writes Judith,.

“Their crime was ‘heresy’ and they came from all walks of life. They included Hugh Laverstok, a lame painter from Barking; Thomas Higbed, a farmer from Horndon; Thomas Bowyer, a weaver from Great Dunmow; Mr Newman, a pewterer from Saffron Walden

Judith also charts the story of one of Essex’s most famous martyrs - 19-year-old William Hunter, who was killed in Brentwood in 1555.

“When he lost his job as a London silk weaver and returned to his parents’ home in Brentwood,” she describes.

“in 1555. He wandered into the chapel on Brentwood High Street one day and began to read the Bible there. The priest came in and challenged William. “William – whether he was brave or foolish is a matter of opinion – began to argue his religious beliefs and found himself taken before the local magistrate. William refused to agree with the Catholic teachings. He resisted both bribes and threats.

Echo: memories essex

“Eventually, William’s execution was orderedw. He was returned to Brentwood where he was burnt at the stake in front of the townspeople, including his family.” An elm tree was planted on the site of William’s death and today there is a memorial in place at the site of his execution.

Although history books tend to focus on events from the medieval times and onwards, the Little History of Essex delves back to epochs of the past- way into the past.

Outlining how Essex came to be, Judith explains: “The Essex of 450,000 years ago would be unrecognisable to modern man. The River Thames flowed eastwards above London via the sites of Chelmsford and Colchester, and what is now the River Medway flowed north across ‘Essex’ towards Clacton. “There is evidence of early man living in the area. For example, 400,000-year-old finds at Clacton – flint chopping tools and a worked wooden staff – have given the name ‘Clactonian man’ to a whole group of Homo erectus people.

“Chafford Gorge shows evidence of human activity on the banks of the River Thames 200,000 years ago, in a period between ice ages. These were Neanderthals, not modern Homo sapiens, and the Essex Field Club paints a vivid picture of these people living below the chalk cliff and making flint tools to kill and prepare tasty meals of the local rhinoceros, bison, mammoth and elephant.”

Echo: memories essex

Other chapters focus on the Georgian and Victorian eras of Essex and how the fortunes of residents could rise- and fall - so quickly.

Between 1870 and 1890 a series of poor harvests in England, along with cheap imports of corn from Canada and America caused a major agricultural depression which ripped through Essex.

Judith reveals how the vicar at Ramsden Crays even refused tohold a harvest thanksgiving in 1881 because of the plight. As Essex steadily became more affluent and the opportunity for work increases, so did its population. The 1901 census shows that the population of Essex had increased by 38.2 per cent since 1891.

“This was a greater increase than in any other county in the UnitedKingdom (the average rate of increase for the UK was just under 10 per cent),” said Judith.

It’s no suprise workhouses began to spring up across the county.

“The Romford Workhouse had to find accommodation for 9,540 ‘tramps’ in 1899, and Colchester had over 4,000,” the book tells.

“in 1906. Billericay tried to discourage vagrants asking for admission with hard labour (stone breaking) and a bread and water diet. Regular inmates enjoyed 7 ounces of bread and a pint of gruel six days a week, with beef and vegetables on Sundays.”

*The Little History of Essex by Judith Williams is published by the History Press and priced at £9.99. It is available from Amazon in hardback and kindle form. Visit the historypress.co.uk

Echo: Book cover- the Little History of Essex offers a compact history of Essex’s past