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: Herbert
Maternal Family Tree: Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery 1784-1856
On 8th April 1787 [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery (age 27) and Elisabeth Beauclerk (age 20) were married. He the son of [her grandfather] Henry Herbert 10th Earl Pembroke 7th Earl Montgomery (age 52) and [her grandmother] Elizabeth Spencer Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 50). They were first cousins. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.
On 25th January 1808 [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery (age 48) and [her mother] Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 23) were married. She by marriage Countess Pembroke, Countess Montgomery. The difference in their ages was 25 years. He the son of [her grandfather] Henry Herbert 10th Earl Pembroke 7th Earl Montgomery and [her grandmother] Elizabeth Spencer Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 70).
In 1813 Mary Herbert Marchioness Ailesbury was born to [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery (age 53) and [her mother] Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 28).
Before 17th September 1818 [her brother-in-law] Welbore Ellis Agar 2nd Earl Normanton (age 40) and [her half-sister] Diana Herbert Countess Normanton (age 28) were married. She by marriage Countess Normanton. She the daughter of [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery (age 59) and Elisabeth Beauclerk. He the son of Charles Agar 1st Earl Normanton and Jane Benson Countess Northampton.
On 26th October 1827 [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery (age 68) died. His son [her half-brother] Robert (age 36) succeeded 12th Earl Pembroke, 9th Earl Montgomery.
On 27th September 1836 [her brother-in-law] Alexander Murray 6th Earl Dunmore (age 32) and [her sister] Catherine Herbert Countess Dunmore (age 21) were married at Frankfurt. She by marriage Countess Dunmore. She the daughter of [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery and [her mother] Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 51). He the son of George Murray 5th Earl Dunmore (age 74) and Susan Hamilton Countess Dunmore (age 62).
On 11th May 1837 George William Frederick Brudenell 2nd Marquess Ailesbury (age 32) and Mary Herbert Marchioness Ailesbury (age 24) were married. She the daughter of George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery and Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 52). He the son of Charles Brudenell 1st Marquess Ailesbury (age 64) and Henrietta Maria Hill. They were half fifth cousin once removed.
In 1838 [her husband] George William Frederick Brudenell 2nd Marquess Ailesbury (age 33) by writ of acceleration 4th Baron Bruce of Tottenham in Wiltshire.
In 1839 [her brother-in-law] Thomas Vesey 3rd Viscount Vesci (age 35) and [her sister] Emma Herbert Viscountess Vesci (age 20) were married. She by marriage Viscountess Vesci of Abbeyleix in Queen's County. She the daughter of [her father] George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery and [her mother] Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 54).
In 1841 [her half-sister] Diana Herbert Countess Normanton (age 51) died.
Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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On 4th January 1856 [her father-in-law] Charles Brudenell 1st Marquess Ailesbury (age 82) died. His son [her husband] George (age 51) succeeded 2nd Marquess Ailesbury, 3rd Earl Ailesbury, 2nd Earl Bruce of Whorlton in Yorkshire, 2nd Viscount Savernake of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire. Mary Herbert Marchioness Ailesbury (age 43) by marriage Marchioness Ailesbury.
On 27th March 1856 [her mother] Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery (age 71) died.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. On the morning of July 12, 1858, I was awakened by a loud knocking at the front door. I looked at my watch, and saw that it was not seven o'clock; I was, needless to say, very alarmed, as I wondered whether anything had happened to my father or my brothers. The knocking continued - I heard the bolts drawn, the door opened, and a voice I knew well called impatiently for me. It was Lord Cardigan (age 60)! I had just time to slip on a dressing-gown before he came into my room, sans ceremonie, and taking me in his arms he said, "' My dearest, she's (age 60) dead ... let's get married at once". Then I knew that the trying period of our probation was over, and that we were free to be happy together at last.
When Cardigan grew calmer he told me he had just come from his wife's death-bed. The poor lady had urged him to marry me, saying she knew that I should make him happy. She had also warned him against Maria, Marchioness of Ailesbury (age 45), the extent of whose love affairs, it appears, was only known to Lady Cardigan, who told his Lordship the unvarnished truth about them.
Note A. I did not wish to insult the memory of the dead woman, who had shown me so many kindnesses, I refused to marry Cardigan until some time had elapsed. He went to Ireland in his official capacity of Inspector of Cavalry, and I lived on quietly at Norfolk Street till September, when I left London for Cowes. I then went on board Lord Cardigan's yacht the Airedale, where he and a party of friends were awaiting me, and we sailed for Gibraltar.
Nothing particular occurred en route; we were all in the best of spirits, and I felt as though I were the Princess in some delightful fairy-tale. The day after we arrived at Gibraltar there was a terrible storm, almost tropical in its violence. Roofs were torn off houses and whirled, light as dead leaves, through the air, great trees were uprooted, heavy masonry fell everywhere, and the ships tossed about like cockle-shells in the harbour. It was almost a scene from the Inferno, and our horror was intensified when we saw the signals from a French vessel in distress. Nobody seemed inclined to put out, so I begged Lord Cardigan to send the Airedale to try and save the crew. He assented, and through this timely aid from our yacht fourteen men were rescued, and we also took a French poodle off a raft to which he was clinging, his owner doubtless having been drowned.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. In January 1859, I went to the House of Lords to hear the debate from the Peeresses Gallery. I was sitting near the Duchess of Cambridge (age 61) and Princess Mary (age 25), when Maria, Marchioness of Ailesbury (age 46), made her appearance. I had not met her since my marriage, but I could see by her look that for some reasons of her own she meant to cut me, so I thought I would carry the war into the enemy's camp, and just as she was about to pass me, I said, "Oh, Lady Ailesbury, you may like to know that before Lady Cardigan died she told my Lord (age 61) all about you and your illegitimate children!".
Lady A. looked nervously round and said in an agitated whisper, "Hush, hush, my dear, I'm coming to lunch with you to-morrow". She never asked me what Lady Cardigan had particularly said, but from that day we were outwardly the best of friends.
On my return to England as Countess of Cardigan, I need hardly say that every one was very anxious to be on good terms with me, and my own family were the first to make peaceful overtures. I had no wish to keep up the quarrel. As my marriage plainly showed how right I was in trusting Cardigan, and the motives of our much-discussed friendship were now openly vindicated, I let bygones be by-gones, and we were all good friends again.
Before 2nd August 1861 [her brother] Sidney Herbert 1st Baron Herbert Lea (age 50) was created 1st Baron Herbert Lea.
On 2nd August 1861 [her brother] Sidney Herbert 1st Baron Herbert Lea (age 50) died. His son [her nephew] George (age 11) succeeded 2nd Baron Herbert Lea.
On 25th April 1862 [her half-brother] Robert Henry Herbert 12th Earl Pembroke 9th Earl Montgomery (age 70) died. His nephew [her nephew] George (age 11) succeeded 13th Earl Pembroke, 10th Earl Montgomery.
On 25th May 1864 [her husband] George William Frederick Brudenell 2nd Marquess Ailesbury (age 59) was appointed 739th Knight of the Garter by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (age 45).
On 28th March 1868 James Brudenell 7th Earl Cardigan (age 70) died from a fall from a horse. His second cousin [her husband] George (age 63) succeeded 8th Earl Cardigan, 8th Baron Brudenell of Stonton in Leicestershire. Baron Brudenell Deene in Northamptonshire extinct.
On 25th May 1915 Adeline Horsey Countess Cardigan (age 90) died.
Both were buried in St Peter's Church, Deene [Map]; he on 9th April 1868. Monument to James Brudenell 7th Earl Cardigan 1797 1868 sculpted by Joseph Boehm (age 33). Recumbent effigies on Sarcophagus, bronze sea horses (Brudenell Crest) at the bottom corners.
On 6th January 1878 [her husband] George William Frederick Brudenell 2nd Marquess Ailesbury (age 73) died at Lockeridge House Savernake, Wiltshire. His brother [her brother-in-law] Ernest (age 66) succeeded 3rd Marquess Ailesbury, 9th Earl Cardigan, 4th Earl Ailesbury, 3rd Earl Bruce of Whorlton in Yorkshire, 3rd Viscount Savernake of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, 9th Baron Brudenell of Stonton in Leicestershire. Louisa Elizabeth Horsley Beresford Marchioness Ailesbury (age 63) by marriage Marchioness Ailesbury.
In 1884 [her sister] Emma Herbert Viscountess Vesci (age 65) died.
On 12th February 1886 [her sister] Catherine Herbert Countess Dunmore (age 71) died.
Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall
The Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall (Chronicon Anglicanum) is an indispensable medieval history that brings to life centuries of English and European affairs through the eyes of a learned Cistercian monk. Ralph of Coggeshall, abbot of the Abbey of Coggeshall in Essex in the early 13th century, continued and expanded his community’s chronicle, documenting events from the Norman Conquest of 1066 into the tumultuous reign of King Henry III. Blending eyewitness testimony, careful compilation, and the monastic commitment to record-keeping, this chronicle offers a rare narrative of political intrigue, royal power struggles, and social upheaval in England and beyond. Ralph’s work captures the reigns of pivotal figures such as Richard I and King John, providing invaluable insights into their characters, decisions, and the forces that shaped medieval rule. More than a simple annal, Chronicon Anglicanum conveys the texture of medieval life and governance, making it a rich source for scholars and readers fascinated by English history, monastic authorship, and the shaping of the medieval world.
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In January 1892 Mary Herbert Marchioness Ailesbury (age 79) died at 78 Pall Mall [Map].
Kings Wessex: Great x 22 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 19 Grand Daughter of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 25 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 20 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 23 Grand Daughter of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 13 Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 21 Grand Daughter of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 28 Grand Daughter of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 23 Grand Daughter of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 26 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Philip Herbert 5th Earl Pembroke 2nd Earl Montgomery 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Susan Vere Countess Montgomery 
8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Herbert 8th Earl Pembroke 5th Earl Montgomery 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Villiers 1st Baronet 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Catherine Villiers Countess Pembroke and Montgomery
Great x 4 Grandmother: Rebecca Roper Lady Villiers 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Herbert 6th Earl Montgomery 9th Earl Pembroke 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Edmund Sawyer of Heywood Lodge in White Waltham in Berkshire
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Sawyer
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Sawyer Countess Pembroke and Montgomery
GrandFather: Henry Herbert 10th Earl Pembroke 7th Earl Montgomery 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Fitzwilliam 3rd Viscount Fitzwilliam 
12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Fitzwilliam 4th Viscount Fitzwilliam 13 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Fitzwilliam 5th Viscount Fitzwilliam 14 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 1 Grandmother: Mary Fitzwilliam Countess Pembroke and Montgomery 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet 12 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Shelley 3rd Baronet 13 x Great Grand Son of King John of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Weston 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Frances Shelley Viscountess Fitzwilliam 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Neville 
7 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Winifred Neville Lady Shelley 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Gifford 
Father: George Augustus Herbert 11th Earl Pembroke 8th Earl Montgomery 12 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry IV of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Spencer 2nd Earl of Sunderland 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Dorothy Sidney Countess Sunderland 
8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: Charles Spencer 3rd Earl of Sunderland 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: George Digby 2nd Earl Bristol 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Digby Countess Sunderland 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Russell Countess Bristol 
9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 1 Grandfather: Charles Spencer 3rd Duke of Marlborough 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Winston Churchill 
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough 14 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Drake 13 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Anne Churchill Countess Sunderland 15 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward I of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Jennings
Great x 3 Grandmother: Sarah Jennings Duchess of Marlborough
Great x 4 Grandmother: Frances Thornhurst
GrandMother: Elizabeth Spencer Countess Pembroke and Montgomery 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Trevor 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Trevor 1st Baron Trevor Bromham
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Trevor 2nd Baron Trevor Bromham
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Searle
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Trevor Duchess of Marlborough
Mary Herbert Marchioness Ailesbury 13 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
GrandFather: Semyon Romanovich Vorontsova
Mother: Yekaterina Semyonovna Vorontsova Countess Pembroke and Montgomery