Biography of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 1634-1705

Paternal Family Tree: Palmer of Wingham

Maternal Family Tree: Aoife ni Diarmait Macmurrough Countess Pembroke and Buckingham 1145-1188

1662 Catherine of Braganza's Arrival in London

In 1634 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine was born to [his father] James Palmer [aged 48] and [his mother] Katherine Herbert.

Around 1644 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 10] educated at Eton College [Map].

Around 1649 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 15] educated at King's College, Cambridge University [Map].

In 1656 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 22] admitted at Inner Temple.

On 15th March 1658 [his father] James Palmer [aged 73] died.

On 14th April 1659 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 25] and Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 18] were married. She the daughter of William Villiers 2nd Viscount Grandison and Mary Bayning Countess Anglesey [aged 36].

Convention Parliament

In March 1660 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 26] was elected MP Windsor during the Convention Parliament.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th July 1660. Up early, the first day that I put on my black camlett coat with silver buttons. To Mr. Spong, whom I found in his night-down writing of my patent, and he had done as far as he could "for that &c". by 8 o'clock. It being done, we carried it to Worcester House to the Chancellor, where Mr. Kipps (a strange providence that he should now be in a condition to do me a kindness, which I never thought him capable of doing for me), got me the Chancellor's receipt to my bill; and so carried it to Mr. Beale [aged 28] for a dockett; but he was very angry, and unwilling to do it, because he said it was ill writ (because I had got it writ by another hand, and not by him); but by much importunity I got Mr. Spong to go to his office and make an end of my patent; and in the mean time Mr. Beale to be preparing my dockett, which being done, I did give him two pieces, after which it was strange how civil and tractable he was to me. From thence I went to the Navy office, where we despatched much business, and resolved of the houses for the Officers and Commissioners, which I was glad of, and I got leave to have a door made me into the leads. From thence, much troubled in mind about my patent, I went to Mr. Beale again, who had now finished my patent and made it ready for the Seal, about an hour after I went to meet him at the Chancellor's. So I went away towards Westminster, and in my way met with Mr. Spong, and went with him to Mr. Lilly [aged 41] and ate some bread and cheese, and drank with him, who still would be giving me council of getting my patent out, for fear of another change, and my Lord Montagu's fall. After that to Worcester House, where by Mr. Kipps's means, and my pressing in General Montagu's name to the Chancellor, I did, beyond all expectation, get my seal passed; and while it was doing in one room, I was forced to keep Sir G. Carteret [aged 50] (who by chance met me there, ignorant of my business) in talk, while it was a doing. Went home and brought my wife with me into London, and some money, with which I paid Mr. Beale £9 in all, and took my patent of him and went to my wife again, whom I had left in a coach at the door of Hinde Court, and presented her with my patent at which she was overjoyed; so to the Navy office, and showed her my house, and were both mightily pleased at all things there, and so to my business. So home with her, leaving her at her mother's door. I to my Lord's, where I dispatched an order for a ship to fetch Sir R. Honywood home, for which I got two pieces of my Lady Honywood by young Mr. Powell. Late writing letters; and great doings of music at the next house, which was Whally's; the King and Dukes there with Madame Palmer [aged 19]¹, a pretty woman that they have a fancy to, to make her husband a cuckold. Here at the old door that did go into his lodgings, my Lord, I, and W. Howe, did stand listening a great while to the music. After that home to bed. This day I should have been at Guildhall to have borne witness for my brother Hawly against Black Collar, but I could not, at which I was troubled. To bed with the greatest quiet of mind that I have had a great while, having ate nothing but a bit of bread and cheese at Lilly's to-day, and a bit of bread and butter after I was a-bed.

Note 1. Barbara Villiers, only child of William, second Viscount Grandison, born November, 1640, married April 14th, 1659, to Roger Palmer [aged 26], created Earl of Castlemaine, 1661. She became the King's [aged 30] mistress soon after the Restoration, and was in 1670 made Lady Nonsuch, Countess of Southampton, and Duchess of Cleveland. She had six children by the King, one of them being created Duke of Grafton, and the eldest son succeeding her as Duke of Cleveland. She subsequently married Beau Fielding [aged 10], whom she prosecuted for bigamy. She died October 9th, 1709, aged sixty-nine. Her life was written by G. Steinman Steinman, and privately printed 1871, with addenda 1874, and second addenda 1878.

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Samuel Pepys' Diary. 7th December 1661. Then came Mr. Moore, and he and I to Westminster and to Worcester House to see Mr. Montagu before he goes away (this night), but could not see him, nor do I think he has a mind to see us for fear of our demanding of money of him for anything. So back to Whitehall, and eat a bit of meat at Wilkinson's, and then to the Privy Seal, and sealed there the first time this month; and, among other things that passed, there was a patent for Roger Palmer [aged 27] (Madam Palmer's [aged 21] husband) to be Earl of Castlemaine and Baron of Limbricke in Ireland; but the honour is tied up to the males got of the body of this wife, the Lady Barbary: the reason whereof every body knows.

On 11th December 1661 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 27] was created 1st Earl Castlemaine, 1st Baron Limerick by King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 31] in gratitude for allowing his wife Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 21] to become the King's mistress. Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland by marriage Countess Castlemaine. The title was to descend only to children of Barbara, which in effect, constrained it to her children with Charles. See Diary of Samuel Pepys, 7th December 1661.

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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Samuel Pepys' Diary. 16th July 1662. This day I was told that my [his wife] Baroness Castlemaine's [aged 21] (being quite fallen out with her husband [aged 28]) did yesterday go away from him, with all her plate, jewels, and other best things; and is gone to Richmond to a brother [aged 42] of hers¹; which, I am apt to think, was a design to get out of town, that the King [aged 32] might come at her the better. But strange it is how for her beauty I am willing to construe all this to the best and to pity her wherein it is to her hurt, though I know well enough she is a whore.

Note 1. Note this is a mistake for her uncle Edward Villiers.

Catherine of Braganza's Arrival in London

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 23rd August 1662. Anon come the King [aged 32] and Queen [aged 23] in a barge under a canopy with 10,000 barges and boats, I think, for we could see no water for them, nor discern the King nor Queen. And so they landed at White Hall Bridge, and the great guns on the other side went off: But that which pleased me best was, that my [his wife] Baroness Castlemaine's [aged 21] stood over against us upon a piece of White Hall, where I glutted myself with looking on her. But methought it was strange to see her Lord [aged 28] and her upon the same place walking up and down without taking notice one of another, only at first entry he put off his hat, and she made him a very civil salute, but afterwards took no notice one of another; but both of them now and then would take their child, which the nurse held in her armes, and dandle it.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 3rd November 1662. Thence to my Lord Sandwich [aged 37], from whom I receive every day more and more signs of his confidence and esteem of me. Here I met with Pierce the chyrurgeon, who tells me that my Baroness Castlemaine's [aged 21] is with child; but though it be the King's, yet her Lord [aged 28] being still in town, and sometimes seeing of her, though never to eat or lie together, it will be laid to him. He tells me also how the Duke of York [aged 29] is smitten in love with my Lady Chesterfield [aged 22]¹ (a virtuous lady, daughter to my Lord of Ormond [aged 52]); and so much, that the Duchess of York [aged 25] hath complained to the King [aged 32] and her father [aged 53] about it, and my Lady Chesterfield is gone into the country for it. At all which I am sorry; but it is the effect of idleness, and having nothing else to employ their great spirits upon.

Note 1. Lady Elizabeth Butler, daughter of James Butler, first Duke of Ormond, second wife of Philip Stanhope [aged 28], second Earl of Chesterfield. She died July, 1665 (see "Memoires de Grammont", chap. viii.). Peter Cunningham thinks that this banishment was only temporary, for, according to the Grammont Memoirs, she was in town when the Russian ambassador was in London, December, 1662, and January, 1662- 63. "It appears from the books of the Lord Steward's office... that Lord Chesterfield set out for the country on the 12th May, 1663, and, from his 'Short Notes' referred to in the Memoirs before his Correspondence, that he remained at Bretby, in Derbyshire, with his wife, throughout the summer of that year" ("Story of Nell Gwyn", 1852, p. 189).

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 21st February 1665. So to the office, and after office my Lord Brunckerd [aged 45] carried me to Lincolne's Inne Fields, and there I with my Lady Sandwich [aged 40] (good lady) talking of innocent discourse of good housewifery and husbands for her daughters, and the luxury and looseness of the times and other such things till past 10 o'clock at night, and so by coach home, where a little at my office, and so to supper and to bed. My Lady tells me how my Lord Castlemayne [aged 31] is coming over from France, and is believed will be made friends with his [his wife] Lady [aged 24] again. What mad freaks the Mayds of Honour at Court have: that Mrs. Jenings [aged 18], one of the Duchesses mayds, the other day dressed herself like an orange wench, and went up and down and cried oranges; till falling down, or by such accident, though in the evening, her fine shoes were discerned, and she put to a great deale of shame; that such as these tricks being ordinary, and worse among them, thereby few will venture upon them for wives: my Baroness Castlemayne will in merriment say that her daughter (not above a year old or two) will be the first mayde in the Court that will be married. This day my Lord Sandwich [aged 39] writ me word from the Downes, that he is like to be in towne this week.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 13th March 1665. This day I saw my Lord Castlemayne [aged 31] at St. James's, lately come from France.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 12th December 1666. He tells me how the King [aged 36] hath lately paid about £30,000¹ to clear debts of my [his wife] Baroness Castlemayne's [aged 26]; and that she and her husband [aged 32] are parted for ever, upon good terms, never to trouble one another more.

Note 1. Two thousand pounds of this sum went to Alderman Edward Bakewell [aged 48] for two diamond rings, severally charged £1000 and £900, bought March 14th, 1665-66 (Second addenda to Steinman's "Memoir of the Duchess of Cleveland", privately printed, 1878, p. 4.).

In 1670 [his wife] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 29] was created 1st Duchess Cleveland, 1st Countess of Southampton and 1st Baroness Nonsuch by King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 39] for having given birth to five of his illegitimate children.

1671. William Faithorne "The Elder" [aged 55]. Portrait of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 37].

On 25th May 1671 Henry Wood 1st Baronet [aged 73] died without male issue. Baronet Wood extinct. On 31st May 1671 he was buried at Ufford, Suffolk. His daughter Mary Wood Duchess Southampton [aged 8] was his heir. In view of the great wealth she was to inherit she was betrothed to Charles Fitzroy 1st Duke Southampton 2nd Duke Cleveland [aged 8], an illegitmate son of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 40] and [his wife] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 30]. On her father's death she went to live with Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland. They, Mary Wood Duchess Southampton and Charles Fitzroy 1st Duke Southampton 2nd Duke Cleveland married 1679 but she died a year later from smallpox.

Around 1678 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 44] was imprisoned being under suspiscion of supporting a Popish Plot at Tower of London [Map].

In 1686 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 52] was appointed Privy Council.

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 1705 Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine [aged 71] died at Oswestry, Shropshire. His titles appear to not hve claimed by his children since they had been given their own peerages; Earl Castlemaine, Baron Limerick dormant.

On 25th November 1705 Robert "Beau Handsome" Fielding [aged 55] and [his former wife] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 64] were married bigamously. She the daughter of William Villiers 2nd Viscount Grandison and [his former mother-in-law] Mary Bayning Countess Anglesey.

On 9th October 1709 [his former wife] Barbara Villiers 1st Duchess of Cleveland [aged 68] died at Chiswick Mall. Her son Charles [aged 47] succeeded 2nd Duke Cleveland, 2nd Earl of Southampton and 2nd Baron Nonsuch. Anne Pulteney Duchess Southampton Duchess of Cleveland [aged 45] by marriage Duchess Cleveland.

[his father] James Palmer and [his mother] Katherine Herbert were married. They were fifth cousins.

[his father] James Palmer and Martha Garrard were married.

Robert Vaughan and [his mother] Katherine Herbert were married.

Ancestors of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 1634-1705

Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Palmer

GrandFather: Thomas Palmer 1st Baronet

Father: James Palmer 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: John Poley

GrandMother: Margaret Poley Lady Palmer 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Wentworth 4th Baron Despencer 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Wentworth 5th Baron Despencer 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Saye Baroness Despencer 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Wentworth 1st Baron Wentworth 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: James Tyrrell

Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Tyrrell Baroness Despencer 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Arundell 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Wentworth 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Fortescue

Great x 3 Grandfather: Adrian Fortescue 9 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Boleyn 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Fortescue Baroness Wentworth 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Stonor 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Stonor 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Neville 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Herbert 1st Earl Pembroke

Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Herbert

Great x 2 Grandfather: William Herbert 1st Earl Pembroke

Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Cradock

Great x 1 Grandfather: Edward Herbert 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Parr 8 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Parr 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Fitzhugh Baroness Vaux Harrowden 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Parr Countess Pembroke 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Green 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Maud Green 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan aka Jane Fogge

GrandFather: William Herbert 1st Baron Powis 7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Stanley of Dalgarth in Cumberland

Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Stanley

Great x 1 Grandmother: Mary Stanley

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Barrett of Aveley in Essex

Great x 2 Grandmother: Joyce Barrett

Mother: Katherine Herbert 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Percy 4th Earl of Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Percy 5th Earl of Northumberland 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Herbert Countess Northumberland 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Percy 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Spencer of Spencer Combe

Great x 3 Grandmother: Katherine Spencer Countess Northumberland 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Beaufort Countess Ormonde 2 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Percy 8th Earl of Northumberland 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Ralph Harbottle 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Guiscard Harbottle 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Percy 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor Harbottle 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Willoughby 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane Willoughby 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Markham

GrandMother: Eleanor Percy Baroness Herbert 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Neville 2nd Baron Latimer of Snape 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Neville 3rd Baron Latimer 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Stafford Baroness Latimer 13 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 2 Grandfather: John Neville 4th Baron Latimer of Snape 5 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: George de Vere 6 x Great Grand Son of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Dorothy de Vere 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King John of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Stafford 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 1 Grandmother: Katherine Neville Countess Northumberland 6 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Charles Somerset 1st Earl of Worcester 3 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Henry Somerset 2nd Earl of Worcester 4 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Herbert 3rd Baroness Herbert Raglan 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Lucy Somerset Baroness Latimer Snape 5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Anthony Browne 6 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Browne Countess of Worcester 4 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Lucy Neville 3 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Biography of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 1634-1705

Royal Ancestors of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 1634-1705

Ancestors of Roger Palmer 1st Earl Castlemaine 1634-1705