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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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On 14th December 1828 Henry Tanworth Wells was born to [his father] Henry Tanworth Wells.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1851. 4th June 1851. Called on Wells (age 22). Miss Guyson, the model, was with him, a good looking girl. She gave him a ticket for the Portland Gallery, National Institution, which I made use of. A fine picture [See Painting] there by Collinson (age 26), P.R.B., from the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (price £240).
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1851. 12th November 1851. Wells (age 22) came in to see my recent sketches in Wales. Generally they pleased him much, but he found considerable fault with want of masses and realisation in the trees department. We went off to Clipstone Street. Carl Haag sitting next to me. Miss Bine as a French Fisherwoman.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1851. 13th November 1851. After Clipstone Street spent the evening with Wells (age 22) at John (age 24) and Thomas Seddon's (age 30), 7 Percy Street; G. Rossetti (age 23), F. M. Brown (age 30) and G. Truefitt (age 27) were there.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1851. 18th November 1851. Wells (age 22) and I joined in admiring the earnest and persevering study of Millais and Hunt (age 24), who have been for several months together in a retired part of the country painting minutely from nature the backgrounds to their pictures.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1852. 30th December 1852. Went down to Dante G (age 24). and William Rossetti's chambers at 14 Chatham Place, Blackfriars Bridge. Met there Wells (age 24), J. P. Seddon (age 25), Clayton (age 25), and Mr. Munro (age 27), Mr. Stephens (age 25) and Mr. Hughes (age 20). Rossetti showed me his studio but none of his works (which is his way). He had for our entertainment a series of anastatic drawings designed and coloured by the Hon. Mrs. Boyle, some of which as beautiful in feeling, natural simplicity, and colour, and in poetical treatment as almost anything I have seen. They illustrate a nursery rhyme. Also a quantity of Gavarni's works, and a grand and most striking mask of Dante taken from a caste of his face in death; a tracing of his head in Giotto's fresco with the eye imperfect; a pen and ink sketch by Millais from Keats' "Isabella." In the physical way, roast chestnuts and coffee, honey, and hot spirits. His room has a jolly balcony overhanging the river, the reflection of the lights on the bridge and quays, etc., were charming. Conversation throughout delightful, resulting methought from the happy and gentlemanly freedom of the company generally. There was only one of D. G. Rossetti's works to be seen in the room, and that was a sketch, study of a man, back view. Gabriel Rossetti invited me to his studio next Thursday.
1853. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 24). Miniature portrait of Princess Mary Adelaide Hanover (age 19).
Queen Victoria commissioned this miniature of her cousin, Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, in 1853. Her payment to the artist, Henry Tanworth Wells, is recorded in her private accounts in 1854: 'Mr Wells, miniature, Princess Mary £28.7.0.' (27 guineas). Princess Mary recorded the first sitting in her Journal on 7 December 1853: 'Breakfasted in my own room, and at eleven o'clock was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the painter, Mr. Wells, who came to take a rough sketch of me; this lasted for over an hour'. She clearly found the experience of sitting tiresome, writing to the Honourable Mrs Dalrymple on 11 December: 'I am sitting for my picture for the collection of Miniatures at Windsor; and as this is no very pleasing task I thought you might perhaps kindly take pity on me and 'run away' to Kew some morning …'. Further sittings took place on 17 December 1853 and 4 January 1854, and the picture was pronounced finished on 13 January. The result is a miniature of which one critic commented: 'It is impossible to speak too highly' (Art Journal, 1854, new ser., V, p. 171).
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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1854. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 25). Portrait of Wilbraham Egerton 1st Earl Egerton (age 21).
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1854. 28th January 1854. To Wells (age 25); he had had an audience of the Queen, who was gracious and complimentary, liking his miniature of the Princess much. The latter [Princess Mary Adelaide Hanover (age 20)], Wells says, is a gleeful damsel, and retails to him with spirit and cleverness whole scenes from Box and Cox and other farces.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1855-1857. 26th May 1857. (at Hayward's Heath). Letter from Wells (age 28) saying he and Rossetti (age 29) had been to my studio and walked off with that sunset sketch, and the crypt of St. Niccolo at Giornico, to exhibit with a collection of Pre-Raphaelite painters' work at 4 Russell Place, Fitzroy Square. They will look ridiculously small and mindless by the side of Rossetti's and Millais' and Hunt's works. I'm very vexed I wasn't in town to have contributed better things?
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1855-1857. 7th December 1857. [his future wife] Joanna's (age 26) birthday, and the day Wells (age 28) and she desired to be married on, but in all probability they will not get the deed in time at Rome, where they now are? I call for all happiness and prosperity in store for them.
On 9th December 1857 Henry Tanworth Wells (age 28) and Joanna Mary Boyce (age 26) were married.
On 15th July 1861 [his wife] Joanna Mary Boyce (age 29) died from childbirth shortly after the birth of her third child.
1869. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 40). Portrait of Edward Gordon Douglas-Pennant 1st Baron Penrhyn (age 68).
1869. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 40). Portrait of Emma and Frederica Bankes of Soughton Hall [Map] at their dressing table.
1877. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 48). Portrait of Katherine Gordon Lady Burleigh (age 24).
Katherine Gordon Lady Burleigh: Around 16th October 1852 she was born to George John Hamilton-Gordon 5th Earl Aberdeen and Mary Bailie-Hamilton Countess Aberdeen. On 28th February 1931 Katherine Gordon Lady Burleigh died.
1880. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 51). Portrait of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (age 60) being informed she was Queen by Francis Nathaniel Conyngham 2nd Marquess Conyngham and Archbishop William Howley.Death of King William IV Succession of Queen Victoria
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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1882. Henry Tanworth Wells (age 53). Self-Portrait.
On 16th January 1903 Henry Tanworth Wells (age 74) died.