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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Paternal Family Tree: Obrien
Elisabeth O'Brien Baroness Gerard was born to [her father] Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond and [her mother] Mary Brereton Countess Thomond.
On 11th May 1623 Gilbert Gerard 2nd Baron Gerard died. His son [her future husband] Dutton (age 10) succeeded 3rd Baron Gerard of Gerard's Bromley.
After 18th May 1625 [her future husband] Dutton Gerard 3rd Baron Gerard (age 12) and Mary Fane Baroness Gerard (age 19) were married. She by marriage Baroness Gerard of Gerard's Bromley. She the daughter of Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland (age 45) and Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland (age 43).
On 24th June 1627 [her brother-in-law] Charles Cockayne 1st Viscount Cullen (age 24) and [her sister] Mary O'Brien Viscountess Cullen (age 18) were married at Church of St Gile's in the Fields. She the daughter of [her father] Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond (age 39) and [her mother] Mary Brereton Countess Thomond (age 47). He the son of William Cockayne and Mary Morris Countess Dover (age 62).
On 21st August 1636 Dutton Gerard 3rd Baron Gerard (age 23) and Elisabeth O'Brien Baroness Gerard were married. She by marriage Baroness Gerard of Gerard's Bromley. She the daughter of Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond (age 48) and Mary Brereton Countess Thomond (age 56).
In 1639 [her brother-in-law] Edward Somerset 2nd Marquess Worcester (age 36) and [her sister] Margaret O'Brien Marchioness of Worcester were married. She by marriage Marchioness Worcester. She the daughter of [her father] Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond (age 51) and [her mother] Mary Brereton Countess Thomond (age 59). He the son of Henry Somerset 1st Marquess Worcester (age 62) and Anne Russell Countess Worcester (age 61). They were fourth cousins.
On 26th July 1639 [her father] Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond (age 51) died. His brother [her uncle] Barnabas succeeded 6th Earl Thomond.
In 1640 [her mother] Mary Brereton Countess Thomond (age 60) died.
On 24th April 1640 [her husband] Dutton Gerard 3rd Baron Gerard (age 27) died. His son [her step-son] Charles (age 6) succeeded 4th Baron Gerard of Gerard's Bromley.
On 11th August 1642 [her brother-in-law] Charles Cockayne 1st Viscount Cullen (age 40) was created 1st Viscount Cullen. [her sister] Mary O'Brien Viscountess Cullen (age 33) by marriage Viscountess Cullen.
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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John Evelyn's Diary. 19th March 1652. Invited by Lady Gerrard, I went to London, where we had a great supper; all the vessels, which were innumerable, were of porcelain, she having the most ample and richest collection of that curiosity in England.
John Evelyn's Diary. 21st June 1653. My Lady Gerrard, and one Esquire Knight, a very rich gentleman, living in Northamptonshire, visited me.
John Evelyn's Diary. 28th October 1653. Went to London, to visit my Lady Gerrard, where I saw that cursed woman called the Lady Norton, of whom it was reported that she spit in our King's face as he went to the scaffold. Indeed, her talk and discourse was like an impudent woman.
John Evelyn's Diary. 10th May 1654. My Lady Gerrard treated us at Mulberry Garden [Map], now the only place of refreshment about the town for persons of the best quality to be exceedingly cheated at; Cromwell and his partisans having shut up and seized on Spring Garden, which, till now, had been the usual rendezvous for the ladies and gallants at this season.
Around 1657 Elisabeth O'Brien Baroness Gerard died.
[her daughter] Elizabeth Gerard was born to Dutton Gerard 3rd Baron Gerard and Elisabeth O'Brien Baroness Gerard. She married before 1687 her fourth cousin William Spencer, son of William Spencer 2nd Baron Spencer and Penelope Wriothesley Baroness Spencer Wormleighton.
Kings Wessex: Great x 17 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 14 Grand Daughter of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 18 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 15 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 18 Grand Daughter of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 8 Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 16 Grand Daughter of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 14 Grand Daughter of Louis VII King of the Franks
Kings France: Great x 16 Grand Daughter of Robert "Pious" II King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 21 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 3 Grandfather: Connor O'Brien King of Thomond
Great x 2 Grandfather: Donough O'Brien 2nd Earl of Thomond
Great x 1 Grandfather: Connor O'Brien 3rd Earl of Thomond 8 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: James Butler 
5 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: Piers "Red" Butler 8th Earl Ormonde 1st Earl Ossory 6 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Sabh Macmurrough Kavanagh
Great x 2 Grandmother: Helen Butler 7 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Gerald Fitzgerald 8th Earl of Kildare 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Fitzgerald Countess Ormonde and Ossory
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Fitzeustace Countess Kildare
GrandFather: Donogh O'Brien 4th Earl Thomond 9 x Great Grand Son of
Father: Henry O'Brien 5th Earl Thomond 7 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Fitzgerald 7th Earl of Kildare
Great x 3 Grandfather: Gerald Fitzgerald 8th Earl of Kildare
Great x 2 Grandfather: Gerald Fitzgerald 9th Earl of Kildare
Great x 4 Grandfather: Rowland Fitzeustace 1st Baron Portlester
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Fitzeustace Countess Kildare
Great x 1 Grandfather: Gerald "Wizard Earl" Fitzgerald 11th Earl of Kildare 5 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Grey 
5 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Grey 1st Marquess Dorset 6 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Woodville Queen Consort England 
6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Grey Countess Kildare 4 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Bonville 6th Baron Harington 
6 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Cecily Bonville Marchioness Dorset 3 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Katherine Neville Baroness Bonville and Hastings 
2 x Great Grand Daughter of
GrandMother: Elizabeth Fitzgerald Countess Thomond 6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Browne 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Anthony Browne 6 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Fitzalan 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 2 Grandfather: Anthony Browne 4 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu 2 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Lucy Neville 3 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Isabel Ingaldsthorpe 5 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 1 Grandmother: Mabel Browne Countess Kildare 5 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Gage
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Gage
Great x 2 Grandmother: Alice Gage
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Guildford
Great x 3 Grandmother: Philippa Guildford
Great x 4 Grandmother: Ann Pympe
Elisabeth O'Brien Baroness Gerard 8 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Andrew Brereton
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Brereton
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Brereton 7 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Savage 
5 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandmother: Alice Savage 6 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandmother: Dorothy Vernon 
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Brereton 8 x Great Grand Son of
GrandFather: William Brereton 1st Baron Brereton 9 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Warburton
Great x 2 Grandfather: Peter Warburton of Arley
Great x 1 Grandmother: Jane Warburton 14 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Winnington 11 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Winnington 12 x Great Grand Son of
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Winnington 13 x Great Grand Daughter of
Great x 4 Grandfather: Randall Grosvenor 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Catherine Anne Grosvenor
Mother: Mary Brereton Countess Thomond 10 x Great Grand Daughter of