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: Coventry
Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux was born to [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry and [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry.
Before 1764 [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 5] and Catherine Henley were married. She the daughter of Robert Henley 1st Earl Northington [aged 55] and Jane Huband. He the son of [her grandfather] George Coventry 6th Earl Coventry [aged 41] and [her grandmother] Maria Gunning Countess Coventry.
On 10th January 1783 [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 24] and [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 23] were married at St George's Church, Hanover Square. He the son of [her grandfather] George Coventry 6th Earl Coventry [aged 60] and [her grandmother] Maria Gunning Countess Coventry.
On 16th January 1808 [her brother] George Coventry 8th Earl Coventry [aged 23] and [her sister-in-law] Emma Susanna Lygon were married. She the daughter of William Lygon 1st Earl Beauchamp [aged 60] and Catherine Denn Countess Beauchamp. He the son of [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 49] and [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 48].
On 26th March 1808 Nigel Bowyer Gresley 7th Baronet [aged 55] died. His son [her future husband] Roger [aged 8] succeeded 8th Baronet Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
On 3rd September 1809 [her grandfather] George Coventry 6th Earl Coventry [aged 87] died. His son [her father] George [aged 51] succeeded 7th Earl Coventry. [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 49] by marriage Countess Coventry.
On 6th November 1811 [her brother] George Coventry 8th Earl Coventry [aged 27] and [her sister-in-law] Mary Beauclerk Countess Coventry [aged 20] were married. She the daughter of Aubrey Beauclerk 6th Duke St Albans [aged 46] and Jane Moses. He the son of [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 53] and [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 51].
On 2nd June 1821 Roger Gresley 8th Baronet [aged 21] and Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux were married at St George's Church, Hanover Square. There was no issue from the marriage. She by marriage Lady Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire. She the daughter of George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 63] and Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 61].
TO SIR ROGER GRESLEY, BART.. TO SIR [her husband] ROGER GRESLEY [aged 21], Bart. On His Marriage With Lady SOPHIA COVENTRY, Youngest Daughter Of The [her father] EARL OF COVENTRY [aged 63].
JUNE 2, 1821
IF mortals bliss can gain below,
Thou, GRESLEY, must the blessing know;
Nature at first to thee was kind,
She gave a shrewd and pregnant mind,
By taste and learning since refin'd.
Fortune, not less her pow'r to shew,
Has deign'd her favours to bestow;
Of riches an abundant store,
And, what thou now wilt value more,
To heighten ev'ry charm of life,
A nobler treasure in a wife,
Surpassing all in Plutus' pow'r,
Were e'en Peru his added dow'r;
A wife in manners, form, and mind,
The proudest would rejoice to find,
Possessing ev'ry gentler grace
That best adorns the female race.
Oh! still may Fortune prove thy friend,
And bliss on all thy course attend,
Till Nature, in a late decay,
Shall softly steal your lives away,
And angels then be hov'ring near
To waft ye to a happier sphere.
On 26th March 1831 [her father] George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry [aged 72] died at Coventry House, Piccadilly [Map]. His son [her brother] George [aged 46] succeeded 8th Earl Coventry. [her sister-in-law] Mary Beauclerk Countess Coventry [aged 39] by marriage Countess Coventry.
On 12th October 1837 [her husband] Roger Gresley 8th Baronet [aged 37] died. He was buried at St George and St Mary's Church, Church Gresley on 28th October 1837. His first cousin William [aged 31] succeeded 9th Baronet Gresley of Drakelow in Derbyshire.
On 16th July 1839 Henry William Des Voeux 3rd Baronet [aged 32] and Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux were married. She the daughter of George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry and Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 79].
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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On 15th January 1840 [her mother] Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry [aged 80] died.
On 15th May 1843 [her brother] George Coventry 8th Earl Coventry [aged 58] died. His grandson George [aged 5] succeeded 9th Earl Coventry.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. In the autumn of 1844 we went to Bretby [Map], the seat of the Earl of Chesterfield [aged 38], where we spent a most enjoyable time. There was a large house-party, among many others the Duke [aged 44] and Duchess [aged 26] of Montrose, [her husband] Mr. [aged 37] and Lady Sophia des Voeux, Lord Alvanley [aged 54], and the Count de Nieukerke, who was the recognised lover of Princess Mathilde Bonaparte [aged 23]. M. de Nieukerke was a very charming man, and he was much struck by my singing, and used to compare me with George Sand's heroine - Consuelo - for I was a very pretty girl with a slight, but fine figure, and long hair that fell in curls below my knees.
On 28th September 1858 [her father-in-law] Charles Des Voeux 2nd Baronet [aged 79] died. His son [her husband] Henry [aged 51] succeeded 3rd Baronet De Voeux of Indiaville in Queen's County. Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux by marriage Lady De Voeux of Indiaville in Queen's County.
The Times. 25th January 1865. MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE. The marriage of the Earl of Coventry [aged 26] and Lady Blanche Craven [aged 22], third daughter of Earl Craven [aged 55], was solemnized yesterday morning at St. George's Church, Hanover-square. The bridegroom and the friends of both families assembled at the church at 11 o'clock, and shortly afterwards were joined by the bride, accompanied by her mother, the Countess Craven [aged 48]. The bride was received by her father at the church door, and, attended by eight bridesmaids, proceeded at once to the communion table, in front ot which a numerous company had assembled, including the Earl [aged 65] and Countess of Clarendon [aged 54] and Lady Emily Villiers [aged 22], the Countess of Verulam [aged 40] and Lady Harriet Grimston [aged 20], Viscount [aged 49] and Viscountess Folkestone [aged 43] and Hon. Miss Bouverie, the Countess of Sefton [aged 27] and Lady Cecilia Molyneux, Viscount Chelsea [aged 24], and Lady Caroline Townley [aged 27] and Miss Townley, Viscount Uffington [aged 23], Sir [her husband] Henry [aged 58] and Lady Sophia Des Voeux, Hon. Mr. and Mrs Coventry, Hon. Gerald [aged 35] and Lady Maria Ponsonby [aged 28], Mr. Oswald andl Miss Oswald, Dr. Quin, Mr. Cecil Boothby [aged 51], Mr. James Oswald, Miss Talbot, Viscount [aged 32] and Viscountess Grey de Wilton [aged 28], Lady Evelyn Bruce [aged 25], Hon. Mrs. Grimston and Miss Grimston, &c.
The Hon. and Rev. Edward Grimston [aged 52], uncle of the bride, performed the religious rite. After the registration of the marriage the wedding party left the church, and procceded to the Earl and Countess Craven's mansion in Charles-street, Mayfair. At 2 o'clock the newly-wedded couple took their departure for Croome Court, the Earl of Coventry's seat, near Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire [Map], there to pass the honeymoon. At Croome Pirton and Severn Stoke, Worcestershire, the marriage was celebrated yesterday by the tenantry and neighbours of the Earl of Coventry. The tenantry of the Crome Pirton and Severn Stoke estates, to ths number of about 100, dined together in two parties yesterday at Severn Stoke and High-green. At Pirton and Severn Stoke garlands of evergreens and flags were hung out over the roads, and at night a bonfire was lighted at High-green. The rejoicings have extended over all his Lordship's large estates in the southern portion of Worcestershire. The inhabitants of Worcester [Map] celebrated the marriage by hoisting flags from tile windows and streamers across the streets. The bells from the various churches rang merry peals all day.
On 24th January 1865 George Coventry 9th Earl Coventry and Blanche Craven Countess Coventry were married. She by marriage Countess Coventry. She the daughter of William Craven 2nd Earl Craven and Emily Mary Grimston Countess Craven.
On 4th January 1868 [her husband] Henry William Des Voeux 3rd Baronet [aged 61] died. His half brother [her brother-in-law] Frederick [aged 20] succeeded 4th Baronet De Voeux of Indiaville in Queen's County.
On 29th March 1875 Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux died at 39 Berkeley Square, Mayfair.
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Coventry 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Walter Coventry
Great x 2 Grandfather: Walter Coventry of St Peter-le-Poor in London
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Coventry 5th Earl Coventry
Great x 3 Grandfather: Humphrey Holcombe of St Andrew's in Holborn
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Holcombe
GrandFather: George Coventry 6th Earl Coventry
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Allen of Westminster
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Allen Countess Coventry
Father: George Coventry 7th Earl Coventry
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Barnaby Gunning
GrandMother: Maria Gunning Countess Coventry
Great x 2 Grandfather: Theobald Bourke
Great x 1 Grandmother: Bridget Bourke
Sophia Catherine Coventry Lady Gresley and Des Voeux
Mother: Margaret "Peggy" Pitches Countess Coventry