The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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Paternal Family Tree: Bennett
On 7th October 1771 [his father] Charles Bennet 4th Earl Tankerville [aged 27] and [his mother] Emma Colebrooke Countess Tankerville [aged 19] were married at Gatton, Surrey. She by marriage Countess Tankerville. He the son of [his grandfather] Charles Bennet 3rd Earl Tankerville and [his grandmother] Alice Astley Countess Tankerville [aged 54].
On 28th April 1776 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville was born to [his father] Charles Bennet 4th Earl Tankerville [aged 32] and [his mother] Emma Colebrooke Countess Tankerville [aged 24].
In 1803 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 26] was elected MP Steyning.
In 1806 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 29] was elected MP Knaresborough.
On 28th July 1806 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 30] and Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 23] were married at Devonshire House. She the daughter of Antoine 8th Duke Gramont [aged 50] and Aglae de Polignac "Guichette" Duchess Gramont. He the son of Charles Bennet 4th Earl Tankerville [aged 62] and Emma Colebrooke Countess Tankerville [aged 54].
On 10th August 1807 [his daughter] Corisande Emma Bennet Countess Malmesbury was born to Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 31] and [his wife] Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 24]. She married 13th May 1830 James Harris 3rd Earl Malmesbury, son of James Edward Harris 2nd Earl Malmesbury and Harriet Susan Dashwood.
On 10th January 1810 [his son] Charles Bennet 6th Earl Tankerville was born to Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 33] and [his wife] Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 27] at Charles Street, Berkeley Square. He married 29th January 1850 Olivia Montagu Countess Tankerville, daughter of George Montagu 6th Duke Manchester and Millicent Sparrow Duchess Manchester, and had issue.
Letters of Harriet, Countess Granville. To the Marquis of Hartington [aged 19]. London. April 12, 1810.
Dearest Hartington, — You must think me a brute for having been so long without writing to you, but I have been for some time the idlest of human beings. We keep terrible late hours, and I do nothing from morning till night but think what an angel my husband is, which is more pleasant than profitable. Your absence furnishes me with conversation wherever I go. I really cannot explain your leaving London just now, your thinking Bath the best place for mathematics or Doctor Randolph's attractions. Poor worn-out Lady Warwick rien peut plus with it, but with a tremulous voice, like cowards just before they dip into the sea, follows me about — 'Where is he gone, my dear Lady Harriet, what can he be gone about?' There are shoals of Miss Mildmays, and the good-natured Dowager quite like a hen. Sir Henry and his wife go about in attitudes, but they match so well and look so handsome that one forgives them for it.
You will have seen in the papers all that has been going on about Sir Francis Burdett [aged 40]. London is quiet and dull again. The mob entirely dispersed and nothing but soldiers to be seen. These riots have been very animating to different people in different ways. Lord Carlisle [aged 61]1 - got well pelted with mud and dirt. Think of the nose of nice nobility. Little 02. was obliged to explain his politics to the mob, who were going to swallow him, I believe. He is so factious that if he was not so small and inarticulate he might some day or other get into mischief. As it is he is never heard and scarcely seen. So passe, passe, petit bonhomme, very harmless and very ridiculous.
We all go to Court the day after to-morrow. Lady Stafford [aged 44]3 presents me, Lady Liverpool [aged 43] the Duchess [aged 52]4.
Note 1. He married Lady Caroline Leveson Gower, a daughter of the first Marquis of Stafford and half-sister to Lord Granville [aged 36]. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1780 to 1782. He wrote indifferent poetry, and was sneered at in English Bards amd Scotch Beviewers by his relative and ward, Lord Byron [aged 22].
Note 2. Lord Ossulston [aged 33], who succeeded his father, Lord Tankerville [aged 66], in 1822,. He married in 1806 Mlle. Corisande de Gramont [aged 27], of whom there is frequent mention in these letters.
Note 3. Countess of Sutherland, married in 1785 to the second Marquis of Stafford [aged 52], half-brother to Lord Granville. He was Ambassador in Paris from 1790 to 1792. She did what she could for Marie Antoinette when in prison.
Note 4. Elizabeth.Duchess of Devonshire.
In 1820 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 43] was elected MP Berwick on Tweed.
On 10th December 1822 [his father] Charles Bennet 4th Earl Tankerville [aged 79] died. His son Charles [aged 46] succeeded 5th Earl Tankerville, 6th Baron Ossulston of Ossulston in Middlesex. [his wife] Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 40] by marriage Countess Tankerville.
On 13th May 1830 [his son-in-law] James Harris 3rd Earl Malmesbury [aged 23] and Corisande Emma Bennet Countess Malmesbury [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Countess Malmesbury. She the daughter of Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 54] and Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 47]. He the son of James Edward Harris 2nd Earl Malmesbury [aged 51] and Harriet Susan Dashwood.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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In 1836 [his mother] Emma Colebrooke Countess Tankerville [aged 84] died.
On 28th August 1836 [his father-in-law] Antoine 8th Duke Gramont [aged 81] died. His son [his brother-in-law] Antoine [aged 47] succeeded 9th Duke Gramont.
On 29th January 1850 Charles Bennet 6th Earl Tankerville [aged 40] and Olivia Montagu Countess Tankerville [aged 19] were married at Kimbolton Castle [Map]. The difference in their ages was 20 years. She the daughter of George Montagu 6th Duke Manchester [aged 50] and Millicent Sparrow Duchess Manchester. He the son of Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 73] and Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 67].
On 4th March 1855 [his brother-in-law] Antoine Héraclius Agénor 9th Duc de Gramont [aged 65] died. His son Agénor [aged 35] succeeded 10th Duke Gramont.
On 25th June 1859 Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville [aged 83] died. His son Charles [aged 49] succeeded 6th Earl Tankerville, 7th Baron Ossulston of Ossulston in Middlesex. Olivia Montagu Countess Tankerville [aged 28] by marriage Countess Tankerville.
On 23rd January 1865 [his former wife] Corisande Armandine Sophie Léonie Hélène Gramont Countess Tankerville [aged 82] died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 22 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 19 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 25 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 20 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 22 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 12 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 21 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 28 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 22 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 26 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Bennet
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Bennet 1st Baron Ossulston 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Dorothy Crofts 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Charles Bennet 1st Earl Tankerville 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Grobham Howe
Great x 3 Grandmother: Bridget Howe Baroness Ossulston 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Annabella Scrope 
8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Charles Bennet 2nd Earl Tankerville 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Grey 2nd Baron Grey Werke 
9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Ford Grey 1st Earl Tankerville 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Catherine Anna Ford 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Grey Baroness Ossulston 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Berkeley 1st Earl Berkeley 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Berkeley Countess Tankerville 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Massingberd Couness Berkeley
GrandFather: Charles Bennet 3rd Earl Tankerville 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Edward Colville
Great x 1 Grandmother: Camilla Colville Countess Tankerville
Father: Charles Bennet 4th Earl Tankerville 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Astley 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Astley 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Astley 1st Baronet 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Francis Trentham of Rocester Priory in Staffordshire
Great x 3 Grandmother: Grace Trentham
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Astley 2nd Baronet 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
GrandMother: Alice Astley Countess Tankerville 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Charles Augustus Bennet 5th Earl Tankerville 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: James Colebrooke
GrandFather: James Colebrooke 1st Baronet