Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans

Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.

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Biography of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye 1913-2002

Paternal Family Tree: Bligh

On 25th June 1912 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 25] and [her mother] Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 21] were married. He the son of [her grandfather] Ivo Bligh 8th Earl Darnley [aged 53] and [her grandmother] Florence Bligh Countess of Darnley [aged 52].

On 24th April 1913 Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye was born to [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 26] and [her mother] Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 22].

In 1920 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 33] and [her mother] Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 29] were divorced; they had separated in 1913.

On 11th October 1923 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 37] and Nancy Ellinor Kidston Countess Darnely [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Countess Darnley. He the son of [her grandfather] Ivo Bligh 8th Earl Darnley [aged 64] and [her grandmother] Florence Bligh Countess of Darnley [aged 63].

In 1927 [her grandfather] Ivo Bligh 8th Earl Darnley [aged 68] died. His son [her father] Esme [aged 40] succeeded 9th Earl Darnley.

On 3rd August 1934 Claud Dobree Strickland [aged 25] and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 21] were married. She the daughter of Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 47] and Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 44].

1935. Yevonde Cumbers aka Madame Yevonde [aged 41]. Photograph of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 21]..

During the 1930s Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 21] modelled for advertisements for Pond's cream, Will's Gold Flake, Kirbigrips, and Horlicks. Although she was a non-smoker and rarely drank alcohol, Lady Marguerite was often featured in cigarette and alcohol advertisements of the 1930s.

In 1936 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 49] and Nancy Ellinor Kidston Countess Darnely [aged 35] were divorced.

Memoires of Jacques du Clercq

This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.

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8th January 1936. Bassano Ltd. Photograph of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 22].

1937. Paul Tanqueray [aged 31]. Photograph of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 23].

In 1937 Elizabeth Bligh 17th Baroness Clifton [aged 37] died. Her first cousin [her father] Esme [aged 50] succeeded 18th Baron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold in Huntingdonshire

1937. Paul Tanqueray [aged 31]. Photograph of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 23].

On 2nd February 1938. Cover of "Sketch" magazine with Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 24] "face-to-face with her bas-relief".

1939. Gerald Leslie Brockhurst [aged 48]. "By the Hills". Model Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 25]. The painting achieved top price at the Royal Academy summer exhibition that year.

On 27th October 1939 [her future husband] Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 30] and Ann Todd [aged 32] were married.

On 30th November 1940 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 54] and [her step-mother] Rosemary Potter Countess Darnley [aged 24] were married. She by marriage Countess Darnley. The difference in their ages was 29 years. He the son of [her grandfather] Ivo Bligh 8th Earl Darnley and [her grandmother] Florence Bligh Countess of Darnley [aged 80].

In February 1941 Claud Dobree Strickland [aged 31] and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 27] were married. She the daughter of Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 54] and Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 50].

On 27th October 1941 [her husband] Claud Dobree Strickland [aged 32] was killed by flak during a raid on targets along the Belgian/Dutch coast in Hurricane IIb Z3826. He was buried at Bredene Churchyard, Belgium.

On 30th April 1942 Gordon Stanley Keith Haywood and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 29] were married. She the daughter of Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 55] and Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 51].

On 18th January 1948 [her mother] Daphne Rachel Mulholland [aged 57] died.

Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses

Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.

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On 12th March 1949 [her future husband] Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 39] and Ann Todd [aged 42] were divorced.

On 21st May 1949 David Lean [aged 41] and Ann Todd [aged 42] were married. Both third weddings. She had divorced her second husband Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 40], his second cousin1, ten weeks before.

Note 1. Her first husband Nigel Trevithick Tangye was a great grandson of Joseph Tangye who was a grandfather of David Lean's mother Helena Tangye [aged 77].

In 1951 Gordon Stanley Keith Haywood and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 37] were divorced.

On 3rd May 1951 Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 42] and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 38] were married. She the daughter of Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 64] and Daphne Rachel Mulholland.

On 29th May 1955 [her father] Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley [aged 68] died. His son [her brother] Peter [aged 39] succeeded 10th Earl Darnley, 19th Baron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold in Huntingdonshire.

In 1964 Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 54] and Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 50] were divorced.

In 1988 [her former husband] Nigel Trevithick Tangye [aged 78] died.

On 10th October 2002 Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye [aged 89] died.

Royal Ancestors of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye 1913-2002

Kings Wessex: Great x 25 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings Gwynedd: Great x 22 Grand Daughter of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd

Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 28 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth

Kings Powys: Great x 23 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys

Kings Godwinson: Great x 26 Grand Daughter of King Harold II of England

Kings England: Great x 10 Grand Daughter of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Kings Scotland: Great x 24 Grand Daughter of King Duncan I of Scotland

Kings Franks: Great x 32 Grand Daughter of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor

Kings France: Great x 16 Grand Daughter of Charles "Beloved Mad" VI King France

Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 30 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine

Ancestors of Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye 1913-2002

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Bligh 3rd Earl Darnley 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Bligh 4th Earl Darnley 13 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Edward Bligh 5th Earl Darnley 14 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Stuart Bligh 6th Earl Darnley 12 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Parnell 2nd Baronet 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Parnell 1st Baron Congleton 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Laetitia Charlotte Brooke 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Emma Jane Parnell Countess Darnley 11 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Dawson 1st Earl Portarlington

Great x 3 Grandmother: Caroline Dawson Baroness Congleton 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandmother: Caroline Stuart Countess Portarlington 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

GrandFather: Ivo Bligh 8th Earl Darnley 8 x Great Grand Son of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Pelham 1st Earl Chichester 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Pelham 2nd Earl Chichester 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Frankland Countess Chichester 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Henry Pelham 3rd Earl Chichester 6 x Great Grand Son of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Francis Osborne 5th Duke Leeds 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Henrietta Juliana Osborne Countess Chichester 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 4 Grandmother: Amelia Darcy 12th Baroness Darcy 9th Baroness Conyers 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 1 Grandmother: Harriet Mary Pelham Countess Darnley 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Brudenell 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Brudenell 6th Earl Cardigan 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Bishopp 11 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Brudenell Countess Chichester 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland

Great x 4 Grandfather: George John Cooke 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Penelope Cooke Countess Cardigan 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Penelope Bowyer of Harefield Park, London 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Father: Esme Ivo Bligh 9th Earl of Darnley 9 x Great Grand Son of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Stephen Morphy

GrandMother: Florence Bligh Countess of Darnley

Marguerite Rose Bligh aka Tangye 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland

GrandFather: Alfred John Mulholland

Mother: Daphne Rachel Mulholland

Great x 1 Grandfather: Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson

GrandMother: Mabel Charlotte Saunderson