Æthelred the Unready Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (Old English: "Æþelræd", ; 966 – 23 April 1016), known as the Unready, was King of the English from 978 to 1013 and again from 1014 until his death. His epithet does not derive from the modern word "unready", but rather from the Old English "unræd" (meaning "poorly advised"); it is a pun on his name, which means "well advised". Æthelred was the son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. He came to the throne at about the age of 12, following the assassination of his older half-brother, Edward the Martyr. His brother's murder was
Handyside Edgar by their father), and the Osborne Estate (created around 100 years earlier by a Dr Osborne). He appears to have already had kinsfolk in Jamaica including several half-brothers and sisters fathered by Alexander Edgar with negro slaves. Handyside Edgar acted as a physician in both Trelawney and Montego Bay in Jamaica. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1786. His proposers were John Robison, John Playfair, and Andrew Dalzell. He died in Jamaica on 8 June 1806. He is buried there in St James Churchyard. A dispute over his will, between his brother Alexander Edgar