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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In 1718 [his father] Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran and [his mother] Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran were married. She by marriage Baroness Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny.
In 1719 John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory was born to Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran and Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran.
On 9th June 1727 [his father] Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran died. His son John [aged 8] succeeded 2nd Baron Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny. Monument in St James the Apostle Church, Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire [Map]. Sculpted by Richard "The Elder" Westmacott.
Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran: On 27th April 1715 Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran was created 1st Baron Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny. In 1718 he and Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran were married. She by marriage Baroness Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny.
After 25th June 1727. St James the Apostle Church, Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire [Map]. Monument to those contained in the vault: [his father] Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran and [his mother] Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran, their son John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 8] and his wife Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 2], their son John Fitzpatrick 2nd Earl Upper Ossory and Anne Liddell Duchess Grafton. Sculpted by Richard Westmacott.
Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran: she was born to John Robinson. On 24th November 1744 she died.
On 29th June 1744 John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 25] and Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 19] were married. She by marriage Baroness Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny. She the daughter of John Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Gower [aged 49] and Evelyn Pierrepont Baroness Gower.
On 24th November 1744 [his mother] Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran died.
On 2nd May 1745 [his son] John Fitzpatrick 2nd Earl Upper Ossory was born to John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 26] and [his wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 20]. He married after 23rd March 1769 Anne Liddell Duchess Grafton, daughter of Henry Liddell 1st Baron Ravensworth, and had issue.
In 1748 [his brother-in-law] Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Marquess Stafford [aged 26] and Louisa Egerton Countess Gower [aged 24] were married. She the daughter of Scroop Egerton 1st Duke Bridgewater and Rachel Russell Duchess Bridgewater [aged 41]. He the son of [his father-in-law] John Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Gower [aged 53] and Evelyn Pierrepont Baroness Gower. They were fifth cousins.
On 24th January 1748 [his son] Richard Fitzpatrick was born to John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 29] and [his wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 22].
In or before 1750 [his daughter] Mary Fitzpatrick was born to John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 30] and [his wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 24]. She married before 21st November 1773 her sixth cousin Stephen Fox 2nd Baron Holland, son of Henry Fox 1st Baron Holland and Caroline Lennox 1st Baroness Holland, and had issue.
On 7th May 1751 John Waldegrave 3rd Earl Waldegrave [aged 33] and [his sister-in-law] Elizabeth Leveson-Gower Countess Waldegrave [aged 27] were married. She the daughter of [his father-in-law] John Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Gower [aged 56] and Evelyn Pierrepont Baroness Gower. He the son of James Waldegrave 1st Earl Waldegrave and Mary Webb. They were sixth cousins. He a great grandson of King James II of England Scotland and Ireland.
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 5th October 1751 John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 32] was created 1st Earl Upper Ossory. [his wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 26] by marriage Countess Upper Ossory.
On 25th December 1754 [his father-in-law] John Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Gower [aged 60] died. His son [his brother-in-law] Granville [aged 33] succeeded 2nd Earl Gower, 3rd Baron Gower, 7th Baronet Gower of Stittenham in Yorkshire. Louisa Egerton Countess Gower [aged 31] by marriage Countess Gower.
In 1755 [his daughter] Louisa Fitzpatrick Marchioness Lansdowne was born to John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 36] and [his wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 29]. She married after 5th January 1771 William Petty 1st Marquess Lansdowne, son of John Petty-Fitzmaurice 1st Earl Shelburne and Mary Fitzmaurice Countess Shelburne, and had issue.
On 25th September 1758 John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory [aged 39] died. His son John [aged 13] succeeded 2nd Earl Upper Ossory, 3rd Baron Gowran of Bowran in County Kilkenny.
Before August 1760 Richard Vernon [aged 34] and [his former wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 35] were married. She the daughter of [his former father-in-law] John Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Gower and Evelyn Pierrepont Baroness Gower.
On 14th April 1763 [his former wife] Evelyn Leveson-Gower Countess Upper Ossory [aged 38] died.
Father: Richard Fitzpatrick 1st Baron Gowran
John Fitzpatrick 1st Earl Upper Ossory
GrandFather: John Robinson 
Mother: Anne Robinson Baroness Gowran