The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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Paternal Family Tree: Gresley
On 5th April 1719 [his father] Thomas Gresley 4th Baronet [aged 20] and [his mother] Dorothy Bowyer were married at St Lawrence's Church, Biddulph.
On 11th January 1727 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet was born to [his father] Thomas Gresley 4th Baronet [aged 28] and [his mother] Dorothy Bowyer at Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire.
On 31st July 1736 [his mother] Dorothy Bowyer died. She was buried at St George and St Mary's Church, Church Gresley.
On 11th June 1739 [his father] Thomas Gresley 4th Baronet [aged 40] and Gertrude Grammer Lady Gresley were married at Haddon Chapel - unknown where this chapel is located. She by marriage Lady Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
On 21st February 1740 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 13] joined the Royal Naval Academy as a scholar.
In 1746 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 18] was serving in the 24-gun frigate HMS Bridgewater, a prison ship stationed in the Firth of Forth, as a volunteer.
In 1746 [his father] Thomas Gresley 4th Baronet [aged 47] died. His son [his brother] Thomas [aged 23] succeeded 5th Baronet Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
On 22nd April 1748 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 21] was then promoted to Lieutenant and was appointed to serve on the 22-gun frigate HMS Inverness, which he did until she was paid off on 14 November of the same year, having served only in home waters.
On 18th May 1752 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 25] and Elizabeth Wynn Lady Gresley were married.
In 1753 [his son] Nigel Bowyer Gresley 7th Baronet was born to Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 25] and [his wife] Elizabeth Wynn Lady Gresley. He married (1) 27th January 1776 his first cousin Wilmot Gresley, daughter of Thomas Gresley 5th Baronet and Wilmot Hood (2) 26th June 1796 Maria Elizabeth Garway Lady Gresley and had issue.
Annals of the six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet
Translation of the Annals of the Six Kings of England by that traces the rise and rule of the Angevin aka Plantagenet dynasty from the mid-12th to early 14th century. Written by the Dominican scholar Nicholas Trivet, the work offers a vivid account of English history from the reign of King Stephen through to the death of King Edward I, blending political narrative with moral reflection. Covering the reigns of six monarchs—from Stephen to Edward I—the chronicle explores royal authority, rebellion, war, and the shifting balance between crown, church, and nobility. Trivet provides detailed insight into defining moments such as baronial conflicts, Anglo-French rivalry, and the consolidation of royal power under Edward I, whose reign he describes with particular immediacy. The Annals combines careful year-by-year reporting with thoughtful interpretation, presenting history not merely as a sequence of events but as a moral and political lesson. Ideal for readers interested in medieval history, kingship, and the origins of the English state, this chronicle remains a valuable and accessible window into the turbulent world of the Plantagenet kings.
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On 23rd December 1753 Thomas Gresley 5th Baronet [aged 30] died of smallpox. His brother Nigel [aged 26] succeeded 6th Baronet Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire. Elizabeth Wynn Lady Gresley by marriage Lady Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
In 1755 [his daughter] Anne Gresley was born to Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 27] and [his wife] Elizabeth Wynn Lady Gresley. She married 1780 John Edensor Heathcote and had issue.
In 1759 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 31] was appointed High Sheriff of Derbyshire.
Gresley Canal. 13 George III. Cap. 16, Royal Assent 13th April, 1775.
This canal, which pursues a north-west direction, and is level throughout, was made at the expense of Sir Nigel Gresley [aged 48], Bart and Nigel Bowyer Gresley [aged 22], Esq. his son and heir-apparent, for the purpose of conveying the produce of their extensive coal mines in Apedale, in Staffordshire, to the town of Newcastle-under-Lyne, in the same county, and of facilitating their transit to other parts of the country by means of the Newcastle-under-Lyne Junction, and other navigations.
The act obtained as above, is entitled, 'An Act to enable Sir Nigel Greeley, Bart and Nigel Bowyer Gresley, Esq. his Son, to make and maintain a navigable Cut or Canal from certain Coal Mines in Apedale, to Newcastle-under-Lyne, in the county of Stafford." This act, after making the usual provisions, binds the proprietors for twenty-one years from and after the date thereof, to furnish the inhabitants of Newcastle with coals at 5s. per ton of twenty hundred weight, weighing one hundred and twenty pounds each hundred weight, and in like proportion for a single hundred weight. At the expiration of the first twenty-one years the proprietors, or their heirs, are to furnish coals at 5s. 6d. per ton for an additional term of twenty-one years; which last quoted price may, under certain conditions, be raised to 6s. per ton; the proprietors, in either case, binding themselves, under the penalty of £40 for each offence, to keep a supply of coals sufficient for the consumption of the town, at a wharf in or near the same.
There are few private works of more real utility to the public than Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal, which has added considerably to die interests of the inhabitants of Newcastle, by the regularity wherewith they are supplied with coal at a moderate charge.
On 27th January 1776 [his son] Nigel Bowyer Gresley 7th Baronet [aged 23] and [his daughter-in-law] Wilmot Gresley were married by which he acquired Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire. They were first cousins.
In 1780 [his son-in-law] John Edensor Heathcote [aged 23] and [his daughter] Anne Gresley [aged 25] were married at the Church of St John the Evangelist, Knypersley [Map].
On 17th April 1787 Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet [aged 60] died. He was buried on 21st April 1787 in Bath Abbey [Map]. His son Nigel [aged 34] succeeded 7th Baronet Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
[his daughter] Louisa Jane Gresley was born to Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet and Elizabeth Wynn Lady Gresley.
Kings Wessex: Great x 22 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 18 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 24 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 19 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 24 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 14 Grand Son of King Edward I 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: Thomas Gresley 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: George Gresley 1st Baronet 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Katharine Walsingham 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Gresley 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Humphrey Ferrers 
11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Susan Ferrers Lady Gresley 11 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Bradbourne 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Gresley 2nd Baronet 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Burdett
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Burdett 1st Baronet
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Wilson
Great x 2 Grandmother: Bridgett Burdett
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Francis
Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane Francis
GrandFather: William Gresley 3rd Baronet 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Gilbert Morewood of London and Netherseale, Leicestershire
Great x 1 Grandmother: Frances Morewood Lady Gresley
Great x 2 Grandmother: Frances Salmon
Father: Thomas Gresley 4th Baronet 13 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Walcot of Walcot in Shropshire
GrandMother: Barbara Walcot
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Clarke
Nigel Gresley 6th Baronet 14 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Bowyer 1st Baronet
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Bowyer 2nd Baronet
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Weld Lady Bowyer
Great x 2 Grandfather: Cecil Bowyer 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Charles Cecil 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Frances Cecil 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Diana Maxwell 
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Bowyer 3rd Baronet 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
GrandFather: William Bowyer 4th Baronet 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Stonhouse 1st and 3rd Baronet
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Stonhouse 2nd Baronet
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Lovelace
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Stonhouse 3rd Baronet
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Briggs Merchant of St. Paul's Churchyard London
Great x 3 Grandmother: Martha Briggs
Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Stonhouse
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Dashwood 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Dashwood 1st Baronet
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Perry
Great x 2 Grandmother: Penelope Dashwood
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Chamberlayne 2nd Baronet
Great x 3 Grandmother: Penelope Chamberlayne Lady Dashwood
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Prideaux
Mother: Dorothy Bowyer 13 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England