Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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Paternal Family Tree: Clifton
In 1581 [his father] George Clifton [aged 14] and [his mother] Winifred Thorold [aged 13] were married.
On 1st August 1587 [his father] George Clifton [aged 21] died.
On 25th November 1587 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet was born to [his father] George Clifton and [his mother] Winifred Thorold [aged 19].
Around January 1591 [his mother] Winifred Thorold [aged 23] died.
On 23rd July 1603 King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland [aged 37] created a number Knights at the Royal Gardens Whitehall Palace:
Henry Savile 1st Baronet [aged 24], William Morgan [aged 43], George Carew, Baptist Hicks 1st Viscount Campden [aged 46], Richard Musgrave 1st Baronet [aged 18], James Calthorpe [aged 44], Thomas Gresham [aged 56], George Fane of Burston [aged 22], Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland [aged 23], Robert Chichester [aged 25], William Pope 1st Earl Downe [aged 29], Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 15], Thomas Berkeley [aged 28], Edward Montagu 1st Baron Montagu [aged 40], William Herbert 1st Baron Powis [aged 30], Anthony Irby [aged 26], Drue Drury of Eccles and Rollesby in Norfolk and Arnold Lygon [aged 45].
24th July 1603 Richard Browne [aged 64].
In 1609 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 21] was appointed Justice of the Peace Nottinghamshire.
In 1610 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 22] was appointed High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire.
After 1610 Francis Leke [aged 68] and [his future wife] Mary Egioke Lady Clifton were married.
On 22nd May 1611 the first Baronets were created by James I [aged 44]
Walter Aston 1st Baronet [aged 27] was created 1st Baronet Aston of Tixall.
Nicolas Bacon [aged 71] was created 1st Baronet Bacon of Redgrave in Suffolk. The Premier Baronet being the first creation.
Henry Belasyse 1st Baronet [aged 55] was created 1st Baronet Belasyse of Newborough.
George Booth [aged 54] was created 1st Baronet Booth of Dunham Massey. Katherine Anderson Lady Dunham Massey [aged 43] by marriage Lady Booth of Dunham Massey.
Edward Carr [aged 68] was created 1st Baronet Carr of Sleaford in Lincolnshire. Anne Dyer Lady Carr by marriage Lady Carr of Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 23] was created 1st Baronet Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire.
Moyle Finch 1st Baronet [aged 61] was created 1st Baronet Finch of Eastwell in Kent. Elizabeth Heneage 1st Countess Winchelsea [aged 54] by marriage Lady Finch of Eastwell in Kent.
Thomas Gerard 1st Baronet [aged 51] was created 1st Baronet Gerard of Bryn in Lancashire.
Henry Hobart 1st Baronet [aged 51] was created 1st Baronet Hobart of Intwood in Norfolk. Dorothy Bell Lady Hobart by marriage Lady Hobart of Intwood in Norfolk.
Richard Hoghton 1st Baronet [aged 40] was created 1st Baronet Hoghton of Hoghton Tower in Lancashire.
Phillip Knyvet [aged 41] was created 1st Baronet Knyvet of Buckenham in Norfolk.
Thomas Mansel 1st Baronet [aged 55] was created 1st Baronet Mansel of Margam.
Thomas Pelham 1st Baronet [aged 71] was created 1st Baronet Pelham of Laughton. Mary Walsingham Baroness Pelham Laughton [aged 47] by marriage Lady Pelham of Laughton.
John Peyton 1st Baronet [aged 50] was created 1st Baronet Peyton of Isleham.
George Savile 1st Baronet [aged 61] was created 1st Baronet Savile of Thornhill.
John Shelley of Mitchelgrove 1st Baronet was created 1st Baronet Shelley of Mitchelgrove in Sussex.
George Shirley 1st Baronet [aged 52] was created 1st Baronet Shirley of Staunton Harold in Leicestershire. Dorothy Wroughton Lady Shirley [aged 41] by marriage Lady Shirley of Staunton Harold in Leicestershire.
John St John [aged 25] was created 1st Baronet St John Lydiard Tregoze in Wiltshire.
John Stradling 1st Baronet [aged 48] was created 1st Baronet Stradling of St Donats in Glamorganshire.
Thomas Temple 1st Baronet [aged 44] was created 1st Baronet Temple of Stowe.
Lionel Tollemache 1st Baronet [aged 48] was created 1st Baronet Talmash of Helmingham in Suffolk.
Before 1612 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 24] and Penelope Rich Lady Clifton were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. She the daughter of Robert Rich 1st Earl Warwick [aged 52] and Penelope Devereux Countess Devonshire.
In 1612 [his son] Gervase Clifton 2nd Baronet was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 24] and [his wife] Penelope Rich Lady Clifton.
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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In 1614 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 26] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
On 7th September 1615 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 27] and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. She the daughter of Francis Clifford 4th Earl of Cumberland [aged 56] and Grisold Hughes Countess Cumberland.
In 1621 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 33] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
In 1624 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 36] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
In 1625 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 37] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
In 1626 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 38] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
In 1626 [his son] Clifford Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 38] and [his wife] Frances Clifford Lady Clifton. He married 4th July 1650 Frances Finch and had issue.
In 1627 [his wife] Frances Clifford Lady Clifton died.
In 1628 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 40] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
On 5th May 1629 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 41] and Mary Egioke Lady Clifton were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire.
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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After 1630 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 42] and Isabel Meek Lady Clifton were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire.
On 19th January 1631 [his wife] Mary Egioke Lady Clifton died.
In 1637 [his wife] Isabel Meek Lady Clifton died.
On 1st January 1638 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 50] and Anne South Lady Clifton were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire.
Before 17th February 1639 [his wife] Anne South Lady Clifton died.
On 17th February 1639 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 51] and Jane Eyre Lady Clifton [aged 19] were married. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. The difference in their ages was 31 years.
In November 1640 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 52] was elected MP East Retford during the Long Parliament.
In 1641 [his son] Robert Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 53] and [his wife] Jane Eyre Lady Clifton [aged 21].
On 4th July 1650 [his son] Clifford Clifton [aged 24] and [his daughter-in-law] Frances Finch were married.
In 1655 [his wife] Jane Eyre Lady Clifton [aged 35] died.
On 17th December 1656 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 69] and Alice Hastings Lady Clifton [aged 50] were married at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map]. She by marriage Lady Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire. She the daughter of Henry Hastings 5th Earl Huntingdon and Elizabeth Stanley Countess Huntingdon.
In 1659 [his daughter] Lettice Clifton died.
On 8th May 1661 King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 30] summoned his second Parliament.
John Bennet 1st Baron Ossulston [aged 44] was elected MP Wallingford.
James Thynne [aged 56] was elected MP Wiltshire.
Adam Browne 2nd Baronet [aged 35] was elected MP Surrey.
Henry Cavendish 2nd Duke Newcastle upon Tyne [aged 30] was elected MP Northumberland.
William Compton [aged 36] was elected MP Cambridge.
Thomas Coventry 1st Earl Coventry [aged 32] was elected MP Camelford.
Charles Berkeley 2nd Viscount Fitzhardinge [aged 61] was elected MP Bath and Heytesbury.
Edward Hungerford [aged 28] was elected MP Chippenham.
Robert Pierrepont [aged 24] was elected MP Nottingham.
John Melbury Sampford Strangeways [aged 75] was elected MP Weymouth.
Giles Strangeways [aged 45] was elected MP Dorset.
John Strangeways [aged 24] was elected MP Bridport.
William Wyndham 1st Baronet [aged 29] was elected MP Taunton.
James Herbert [aged 38] was elected MP Queenborough.
William Alington 1st and 3rd Baron Alington [aged 21] was elected MP Cambridge.
William Bowes of Streatlam [aged 4] was elected MP Durham.
Robert Brooke [aged 24] was elected MP Aldeburgh.
Josiah Child [aged 30] was elected MP Dartmouth.
Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 73] was elected MP Nottinghamshire.
Thomas Crew 2nd Baron Crew [aged 37] was elected MP Brackley.
Richard Jennings [aged 42] was elected MP St Albans.
Robert Kemp 2nd Baronet [aged 33] was elected MP Norfolk.
Edward Phelips [aged 48] was elected MP Somerset.
Robert Robartes [aged 27] was elected MP Bossiney.
Hender Robartes [aged 25] was elected MP Bodmin.
Clement Fisher 2nd Baronet [aged 48] was elected MP Coventry.
William Portman 6th Baronet [aged 17] was elected MP Taunton.
John Robinson 1st Baronet [aged 46] was elected MP Rye.
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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 28th June 1666 Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet [aged 78] died. His son Gervase [aged 54] succeeded 2nd Baronet Clifton of Clifton in Nottinghamshire.
In 1667 [his former wife] Alice Hastings Lady Clifton [aged 61] died.
[his daughter] Mary Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Jane Eyre Lady Clifton.
[his son] Charles Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Jane Eyre Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Jane Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Jane Eyre Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Elizabeth Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Lettice Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Anne Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Frances Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton.
[his daughter] Margaret Clifton was born to Gervase Clifton 1st Baronet and Frances Clifford Lady Clifton.
Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Clifton 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Gervase Clifton
Great x 2 Grandfather: Gervase Clifton
Great x 1 Grandfather: Robert Clifton
GrandFather: Gervase Clifton
Father: George Clifton
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Thwaites
GrandMother: Winifred Thwaites
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Thorold
GrandFather: Anthony Thorold
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Leke of Halloughton in Nottinghamshire
Great x 1 Grandmother: Dorothy Leke
Mother: Winifred Thorold
Great x 1 Grandfather: Henry Sutton of Wellingore 
GrandMother: Margaret Sutton