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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Paternal Family Tree: Gorges aka Russell
Maternal Family Tree: Isabel Meade 3rd Baroness Berkeley
In or before 1565 [his father] Edward Gorges [aged 27] and [his mother] Cecily Lygon [aged 24] were married. They were fourth cousin once removed.
Around 1565 Ferdinando Gorges was born to [his father] Edward Gorges [aged 28] and [his mother] Cecily Lygon [aged 25].
On 29th August 1568 [his father] Edward Gorges [aged 31] died.
After 29th August 1568 [his mother] Cecily Lygon [deceased] died.
Around 23rd April 1593 [his son] John Gorges was born to Ferdinando Gorges [aged 28]. He married before 31st July 1620 his fifth cousin Frances Clinton, daughter of Thomas Clinton 3rd Earl Lincoln and Elizabeth Knyvet Countess Lincoln.
Before 31st December 1596 Hugh Smyth [aged 22] and [his future wife] Elizabeth Gorges [aged 18] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Gorges of Longford Castle [aged 60] and [his future mother-in-law] Helena Snakenbourg Marchioness Northampton [aged 47].
On 5th June 1600 Robert Devereux 2nd Earl Essex [aged 34] was tried by before a commission of 18 men. He had to hear the charges and evidence on his knees. Essex was convicted, was deprived of public office, and was returned to virtual confinement. Ferdinando Gorges [aged 35] testified against Robert Devereux 2nd Earl Essex.
Brief Lives: Charles Danvers 1568 1601. [711]Sir Charles Danvers [aged 33] was beheaded on Tower-hill [Map] with Robert, earle of Essex [aged 35], February the 6th, 1600[712]. I find in the register of the Tower chapell [Map] only the sepulture of Robert, earl of Essex, that yeare; wherfore I am induced to beleeve that his body was carryed to Dantesey[CX] in Wilts to lye with his ancestors. Vide Stowe's Chronicle, where is a full account of his and the earle's deportment at their death on the scaffold.
With all their faylings, Wilts cannot shew two such[713] brothers.
His familiar acquaintance were...[714], earl of Oxon [aged 50]; Sir Francis [aged 40] and Sir Horace Vere [aged 36]; Sir Walter Ralegh [aged 47], etc.-the heroes of those times.
Quaere my lady viscountesse Purbec and also the lord Norris for an account of the behaviour and advice of Sir Charles Danvers in the businesse of the earl of Essex, which advice had the earle followed he had saved his life.
[715]Of Sir Charles Danvers, from my lady viscountesse Purbec:-Sir Charles Danvers advised the earle of Essex, either to treat with the queen-hostages..., whom Sir Ferdinando Gorges [aged 36] did let goe; or to make his way through the gate at Essex house, and then to hast away to Highgate, and so to Northumberland (the earl of Northumberland maried his mother's [aged 51] sister), and from thence to the king of Scots, and there they might make their peace; if not, the queen was old and could not live long. But the earle followed not his advice, and so they both lost their heads on Tower-hill.
Note 711. MS. Aubr. 8, fol. 25v.
Note 712. i.e. 1600/1.
Note 713. Dupl. with 'shew the like two brothers,' scil. as Sir Charles Danvers and his brother Henry, earl of Danby.
Note 714. Edward Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford.
[CX] In MS. Aubr. 3, fol. 46, Aubrey writes, in reference to burials at Dantesey, 'quaere, if Sir Charles Danvers that was beheaded?-He was buryed in the Tower chapell.' Aubrey's description of the burial-place of the Danvers family (MS. Aubr. 3, fol. 46), with the inscriptions, is printed in J. E. Jackson's Aubrey's Wiltshire Collections, pp. 223-225; the pedigree of Danvers is there given at p. 216.
Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts. The 19th of February [1601] the Earl [of Essex] was arraigned (together with Southampton) in Westminster Hall before 25 peers, the Lord Treasurer [aged 66] [Buckhurst] sitting as Lord Steward. At the bar the Earl laboured to extenuate his ftiult, by denying that ever he meant any harm to her Majesty's person, and by pretending that he took arms principally to save himself from my Lord Cobham [aged 37] and Sir Walter Ralegh [aged 48], who (he gave out) should have murdered him in his house on Saturday night. He pretended also an intention he had to have removed me with some others from the Queen, as one who would sell the kingdom of England to the Infant of Spain, with such other hyperbolical inventions. But before he went out of the Hall, when he saw himself condemned, and found that Sir John Davys [aged 40], Sir Ferdinando Gorges [aged 37], Sir Charles Davers, and Sir Christopher Blunt had confessed all the conferences that were held at Drury House, by his directions, for the surprising of the Queen and the Tower, which argued a premeditated treason (which he laboured to have had it prove only a sudden putting himself into strength, and flying into the city for fear of being committed over night when the Lords sent for him, which upon my faith to you, to whom I will not lie, was only to have reproved him for his unlawful assemblies, and to have wislied him to leave the city and retire into the country), he then break out to divers gentlemen in these words, that his confederates wlio now had accused him had been principal inciters of him, and not he of them, even ever since August last, to work his access to the Queen with force.
Before 31st July 1620 [his son] John Gorges [aged 27] and [his daughter-in-law] Frances Clinton [aged 17] were married. She the daughter of Thomas Clinton 3rd Earl Lincoln and Elizabeth Knyvet Countess Lincoln [aged 42]. They were fifth cousins.
On 21st September 1629 Ferdinando Gorges [aged 64] and Elizabeth Gorges [aged 51] were married at Wraxall, Somerset [Map]. She the daughter of Thomas Gorges of Longford Castle and Helena Snakenbourg Marchioness Northampton [aged 80]. They were first cousin once removed.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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Before 31st October 1642 [his step-son] Thomas Smyth [aged 33] died of smallpox. His body was buried in the Chancel of the Church of All Saints, Long Ashton [Map].
On 24th May 1647 Ferdinando Gorges [aged 82] died.
In 1659 [his former wife] Elizabeth Gorges [aged 81] died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 16 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 13 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 19 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 14 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 15 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 22 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 17 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 20 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: Theobald Gorges 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Gorges
Great x 2 Grandfather: Edmund Gorges
Great x 1 Grandfather: Edward Gorges 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Howard 
4 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Mowbray Baroness Grey Ruthyn 
3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Howard 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Moleyns 4 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Moleyns 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
GrandFather: Edmund Gorges 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Poyntz 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Poyntz
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Cox
Great x 2 Grandfather: Anthony Poyntz 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Anthony Woodville 2nd Earl Rivers 
6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Woodville 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Gwenllian Stradling
Great x 1 Grandmother: Mary Poyntz 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Huddersfield
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Huddersfield 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Philip Courtenay 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Courtenay 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Hungerford 
9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Father: Edward Gorges 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Ferdinando Gorges 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Lygon of Madresfield Court 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Richard Lygon 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Beauchamp 1st Baron Beauchamp Powick 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Beauchamp 2nd Baron Beauchamp Powick 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Ferrers Baroness Beauchamp Powick 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Beauchamp 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Humphrey Stafford 
11 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Stafford 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Aylesbury 
GrandFather: William Lygon 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Greville 
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Greville
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Greville
Mother: Cecily Lygon 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Denys of Bradford Devon
Great x 2 Grandfather: Walter Denys
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Denys
GrandMother: Eleanor Denys 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: James Berkeley 
2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: James Berkeley 11th and 1st Baron Berkeley 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Bluet
Great x 2 Grandfather: Maurice Berkeley 3rd Baron Berkeley 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Mowbray 1st Duke of Norfolk 2 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Isabel Mowbray Baroness Berkeley 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Fitzalan Duchess Norfolk 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Berkeley 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Isabel Meade 3rd Baroness Berkeley