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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Biography of Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet 1692-1749

Paternal Family Tree: Williams Wynn

On 6th June 1687 [his father] William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet [aged 22] and [his mother] Jane Thelwall were married.

Around 1692 Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet was born to [his father] William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet [aged 27] and [his mother] Jane Thelwall.

On 11th July 1700 [his grandfather] William Williams 1st Baronet [aged 66] died. He was buried at Llansilin. His son [his father] William [aged 35] succeeded 2nd Baronet Williams of Gray's Inn.

In 1706 [his mother] Jane Thelwall died.

After 1706 [his father] William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet [aged 41] and Catherine Davies were married.

On 11th January 1719 John Wynn 5th Baronet [aged 91] died without issue. Baronet Wynn of Gwydir extinct. He bequeathed his estates, the second or third largest in Wales, to his second-cousin once-removed [his mother] Jane Thelwall, who had predeceased him, daughter of his great-aunt [his grandmother] Sydney Wynn [aged 79]. By doing so the his estates and the Williams estates of her former husband [his father] William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet [aged 54], also the second or third largest in Wales, were combined into the largest estate in Wales which far execeeded any other. At this time William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet changed his surname from Williams to Williams-Wynn.

Before 1733. Michael Dahl [aged 73]. Portrait of Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 40].

In 1740 Thomas Hudson [aged 39]. Portrait of Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 48].

On 20th October 1740 [his father] William Williams-Wynn 2nd Baronet [aged 75] died. His son Watkin [aged 48] succeeded 3rd Baronet Williams of Gray's Inn.

In March 1748 [his future wife] Ann Vaughan [aged 53] died.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke

Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.

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Before July 1748 Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 56] and Ann Vaughan were married.

In July 1748 Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 56] and Frances Shackerley Lady Williams-Wynn [aged 27] were married. She was his god-daughter. The difference in their ages was 29 years.

On 23rd September 1749 [his son] Watkin Williams-Wynn 4th Baronet was born to Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 57] and [his wife] Frances Shackerley Lady Williams-Wynn [aged 28]. He married (1) 13th April 1769 Henrietta Somerset Lady Williams-Wynn, daughter of Charles Noel Somerset 4th Duke Beaufort and Elizabeth Berkeley Duchess Beaufort, and had issue (2) December 1771 Charlotte Granville Lady Williams-Wynn and had issue.

On 26th September 1749 Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet [aged 57] died. His son Watkin succeeded 4th Baronet Williams of Gray's Inn. Henrietta Somerset Lady Williams-Wynn [aged 1] by marriage Lady Williams of Gray's Inn.

On 19th April 1750 [his son] William Watkins William-Wynn was born to Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet and [his former wife] Frances Shackerley Lady Williams-Wynn [aged 29]. He was born posthumously his father having died seven months previously.

1755. Monument [Map] to Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet.

His widow [his former wife] Lady Frances [aged 34] chose Michael Rysbrack [aged 60] to erect her husband's monument in the classical style. The Agreement was made on the 21 March 1750 and cost £485. The long Latin inscription was composed by William King [aged 69], principal of St Mary's Hall, Oxford.

The size of the monument created a problem. A Faculty was granted to Lady Frances, in 1753, to add a chapel at the south east end of the church, adjacent to the chancel "… to make erect and build a handsome convenient Isle or building… in order to erect monuments seats and pews therein and making a burying vault underneath the same or otherwise to apply the same to Godly purposes" .The work was carried out in 1755.

Frances Shackerley Lady Williams-Wynn: In 1721 she was born to George Shackerley of Hulme and Anne Bagot. In July 1748 Watkin Williams-Wynn 3rd Baronet and she were married. She was his god-daughter. The difference in their ages was 29 years. In 1803 she died.

William King: On 16th March 1685 he was born to Reverend Peregrine King and Margaret Smyth. On 30th December 1763 he died.

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