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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: Wray
Maternal Family Tree: María González Henestrosa Lady Villagera 1356
On 6th April 1580 [his father] William Wray 1st Baronet (age 25) and Lucy Montagu were married.
In or before 1595 Nicholas Clifford of Bobbing Kent and [his mother] Frances Drury Lady Glentworth (age 18) were married.
In 1601 Christopher Wray was born to [his father] William Wray 1st Baronet (age 46) and [his mother] Frances Drury Lady Glentworth (age 24).
Before May 1601 [his father] William Wray 1st Baronet (age 46) and [his mother] Frances Drury Lady Glentworth (age 24) were married. The difference in their ages was 21 years.
In 1617 [his daughter] Frances Wray was born to Christopher Wray (age 16) and [his future wife] Albinia Cecil. She married 1st July 1640 Henry Vane "The Younger" and had issue.
On 13th August 1617 [his father] William Wray 1st Baronet (age 62) died. His son [his half-brother] John (age 30) succeeded 2nd Baronet Wray of Glentworth in Lincolnshire. Grisilla Bethell Lady Glentworth (age 28) by marriage Lady Wray of Glentworth in Lincolnshire.
In 1621 Christopher Wray (age 20) was elected MP Grimsby.
On 3rd August 1623 Christopher Wray (age 22) and Albinia Cecil were married. They were fourth cousin once removed.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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On 12th November 1623 Christopher Wray (age 22) was knighted by King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland (age 57).
In 1624 Christopher Wray (age 23) was elected MP Grimsby.
In 1625 [his son] William Wray 1st Baronet was born to Christopher Wray (age 24) and [his wife] Albinia Cecil. He married in or before 1652 his sixth cousin Olympia Tufton Lady Ashby, daughter of Humfrey Tufton 1st Baronet and Margaret Morley Lady Tufton, and had issue.
In 1625 Christopher Wray (age 24) was elected MP Grimsby.
In 1627 [his son] Edward Wray was born to Christopher Wray (age 26) and [his wife] Albinia Cecil.
In 1628 Christopher Wray (age 27) was elected MP Grimsby.
On 29th July 1633 [his son] Drury Wray 9th Baronet was born to Christopher Wray (age 32) and [his wife] Albinia Cecil. He married before 1672 Anne Casey and had issue.
Around 1637 [his mother] Frances Drury Lady Glentworth (age 60) died.
In April 1640 Christopher Wray (age 39) was elected MP Grimsby during the Short Parliament.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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On 1st July 1640 [his son-in-law] Henry Vane "The Younger" (age 27) and [his daughter] Frances Wray (age 23) were married.
In November 1640 Christopher Wray (age 39) was elected MP Grimsby during the Long Parliament.
In 1643 [his son] Cecil Wray of Caistor was born to Christopher Wray (age 42) and [his wife] Albinia Cecil. He married 8th December 1662 Susan Cressy and had issue.
On 15th April 1645 Christopher Wray (age 44) was appointed Commissioner of the Admiralty.
On 6th February 1646 Christopher Wray (age 45) died.
On 13th February 1646 Christopher Wray (deceased) was buried at St Giles' in the Fields Church [Map].
John Evelyn's Diary. 23rd March 1646. In company, then, with Mr. Waller (age 40), one [his son] Captain Wray (age 21) (son of Sir Christopher (deceased), whose father had been in arms against his Majesty, and therefore by no means welcome to us), with Mr. Abdy, a modest and learned man, we got that night to Vicenza, passing by the Euganéan hills, celebrated for the prospects and furniture of rare simples, which we found growing about them. The ways were something deep, the whole country flat and even as a bowling-green. The common fields lie square, and are orderly planted with fruit trees, which the vines run and embrace, for many miles, with delicious streams creeping along the ranges.
John Evelyn's Diary. 23rd March 1646. This town is not much celebrated for beautiful women, for, even at this distance from the Alps, the gentlewomen have somewhat full throats; but our [his son] Captain Wray (age 21) (afterward Sir William, eldest son of that Sir Christopher (deceased), who had both been in arms against his Majesty for the Parliament) fell so mightily in love with one of Monsieur Saladine's daughters that, with much persuasion, he could not be prevailed on to think on his journey into France, the season now coming on extremely hot.
In 1660 [his former wife] Albinia Cecil died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 18 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 15 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 21 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 16 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 18 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 17 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 14 Grand Son of Louis VII King of the Franks
Kings France: Great x 18 Grand Son of Robert "Pious" II King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 22 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Wray
GrandFather: Christopher Wray
Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Jackson
Great x 1 Grandmother: Joan Jackson
Father: William Wray 1st Baronet
Great x 1 Grandfather: Nicholas Girlington
GrandMother: Anne Girlington
Christopher Wray 8 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Roger Drury of Hawstead in Suffolk
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Drury
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Drury 8 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Calthorpe 
9 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Calthorpe 7 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Stapleton 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 1 Grandfather: Robert Drury 9 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Sothill of Stoke Faston
Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Sothill
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Sothill
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Empson
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Empson
GrandFather: William Drury 10 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Rich 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Rich
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Rich 1st Baron Rich
Great x 4 Grandfather: Edward Dinley
Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Dinley
Great x 1 Grandmother: Audrey Rich
Great x 4 Grandfather: Rowland Jenks
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Jenks
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Jenks Baroness Rich
Mother: Frances Drury Lady Glentworth 7 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Humphrey Stafford 
11 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: Humphrey Stafford 12 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Aylesbury 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Humphrey Stafford 13 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Fray
Great x 3 Grandmother: Catherine Fray
Great x 4 Grandmother: Agnes Danvers Baroness Wenlock 
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Stafford 14 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Fogge
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Fogge
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Haute
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Haute
Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Woodville 
GrandMother: Elizabeth Stafford 6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Stafford 2nd Duke of Buckingham 3 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham 4 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Catherine Woodville Duchess Buckingham and Bedford 6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Stafford 1st Baron Stafford 5 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Eleanor Percy Duchess Buckingham 4 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Herbert Countess Northumberland 
9 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 1 Grandmother: Dorothy Stafford 5 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Geoffrey Pole 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Pole 8 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Edith St John 
7 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 2 Grandmother: Ursula Pole 4 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: George York 1st Duke of Clarence 
2 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret York aka Pole Countess of Salisbury 3 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Isabel Neville Duchess Clarence 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of