Sarah Bonner (AKA Albert green)

b.1425 - d.1480

BIOGRAPHY:

Sarah was born in England and was the youngest of 5 children to Mary and Callum Bonner. Callum was a Scottish ex-soldier and met his wife Mary (originally from Ireland) after her moved South in search of an honest living. Sarah had four brothers and grew up thick-skinned. She practiced archery and swordplay as a child, beating most of her opponents, boys and girls alike.

Sarah's mother felt her behaviour to be inappropriate for a girl and she was anxious for Sarah's future prospects of finding a husband. However, she was not to worry as Sarah's somewhat wild spirit enabled her to meet her future husband Ewan Black at an archery contest in 1452 when she was 17. One year later they had a boy, who they named Zachary.

In 1455, when Zachary was just 2, York began recruiting an army and Ewan was obliged to fight for his Lord. Sarah could not bare for him to leave so she disguised herself as an archer and left her young son in the care of her neighbour, Chrissy. Sarah was already popular among York's retinue of archers as her husband had a good reputation and they kept her secret. However, she felt the first fear and shock of battle at St. Albans, in 1455. She then continued to follow and fight beside her husband until Towton in 1461 when he become one of 32,000 soldiers killed in the bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil.

Her husband had been slaughtered on the field and Sarah, distraught and bloodstained, found herself running back towards the Yorkist reserve lines. She stumbled over the dead bodies that littered the battlefield and fell onto the chest of a dead man. She screamed aloud but her attention was drawn to a stifled groaning sound. She gasped as she saw a hand move and yanking the dead body to one side she saw a man beneath him. He had broken his arm and he had a large wound to the head. Sarah had witnessed enough cruelty and senseless violence during that battle, and she found the strength to aid the injured man to his feet.

Sarah soon learnt the man's name to be Bill Bowman. She nursed the soldier back to health and sought comfort in his company, but she missed her husband desperately. Once the battle was over Sarah and Bill returned home. Sarah was 36 and her little son had grown to be 8 years old. He did not remember anything about either of his parents but in time he began to bond with Bill, who had stayed on to help Sarah farm the land and 2 years later they were married.