Text this colour links to Pages. Text this colour links to Family Trees. Text this colour are links that disabled for Guests.
Place the mouse over images to see a larger image. Click on paintings to see the painter's Biography Page.
Mouse over links for a preview. Move the mouse off the painting or link to close the popup.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 27th April 1759 Mary Wollstonecraft was born.
Around 1789 Henry Fuseli (age 47) and Mary Wollstonecraft (age 29) planned a trip with him to Paris. His wife Sophia Rawlins stopped any communication between the two.
Around 1790. John Opie (age 28). Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft (age 30).
On 7th January 1792 Mary Wollstonecroft's (age 32) Vindication of the Rights of Women was published.
Around 1797. John Opie (age 35). Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft (age 37).
On 29th March 1797 William Godwin (age 41) and Mary Wollstonecraft (age 37) were married probably because Mary Wollstonecraft was pregnant with Mary Godwin aka Shelley who was born five months later and who Mary Wollstonecraft wanted to be legitimate.
30th August 1797 [her daughter] Mary Godwin aka Shelley was born to [her husband] William Godwin (age 41) and Mary Wollstonecraft (age 38). She married 30th December 1816 Percy Bysshe Shelley, son of Timothy Shelley 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Pilfold, and had issue.
On 10th September 1797 Mary Wollstonecraft (age 38) died from childbirth eleven days after the birth of [her daughter] Mary Godwin aka Shelley.
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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 21st December 1801 [her former husband] William Godwin (age 45) and Mary Jane de Vial (age 33) were married. She was pregnant at the time; the second marriage of his precipitated by pregnancy. The child died young.
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The upshot came on the 28th of July, when [her future son-in-law] Shelley (age 21) aided [her daughter] Mary (age 16) [Mary Godwin aka Shelley] to elope from her father's house, Claire Clairmont (age 16) deciding to accompany them. They crossed to Calais, and proceeded across France into Switzerland. [her former husband] Godwin (age 58) and his wife were greatly incensed. Though he and Mary Wollstonecraft had entertained and avowed bold opinions regarding the marriage-bond, similar to Shelley's own, and had in their time acted upon these opinions, it is not clearly made out that Mary Godwin had ever been encouraged by paternal influence to think or do the like. Shelley and she chose to act upon their own likings and responsibility - he disregarding any claim which Harriet had upon him, and Mary setting at nought her father's authority. Both were prepared to ignore the law of the land and the rules of society. The three young people returned to London in September.
On 7th April 1836 [her former husband] William Godwin (age 80) died.
Cansisk's Monumental Inscriptions Volume 1 Old St Pancras Churchyard. Churchyard St Pancras Old Church [Map]. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Born 27th April 1759: Died 10th September, 1797.1
[her former husband] William Godwin, Author of Political Justice. Born March 3rd 1756: Died April 7th 1836, Aged 80 years.
Mary Jane (deceased), Second Wife of William Godwin, Died June I7th 1841, Aged 75 years.
Note 1. This well-known writer was bom in 1759. The place of her birth is uncertain, but is supposed to have been at a farm in Epping Forest. At an early age she engaged herself in the occupation of tuition, for which she was eminently qualified. Unhappily, her sentiments on religious subjects were most exceptional, and she had imbibed principles hostile to that system which has been long established for the regulation of civil society. It was well, therefore, that after a few years she declined the employment of tuition, and confined herself to her pen. Having a contempt for the institution of marriage, she entered into a connection with Mr. Imlay, an American merchant, whom she met at Paris in 1792, and made with him a tour in the north of Europe, of which she gave an account in an interesting volume of letters in 1796. In consequence of the desertion of this gentleman, she resolved upon destroying herself (having failed in the attempt a few months before); she went by water from London Bridge to Putney, and deliberately jumped off Putney Bridge in the month of October, 1795. She was baffled in her attempt this time; her clothes having buoyed her up, she was rescued 'by some watermen. In July, 1796, Mrs. Wollstonecraft took a house at Somers Town, in the parish of St. Pancras, not long after which she formed a connection with the well-known author of "Political Justice," &c. Their sentiments were perfectly in unison, and they both had so thorough a contempt for the rite of marriage, that it was only in consequence of her pregnancy, and the apprehension that she might incur that exclusion from the society of many valuable and esteemed friends which custom awards ip cases of this kind, that they were induced to comply with that ceremony. In April, 1797, Mr. and Mrs. Godwin took a house in the Polygon, Somers Town, where on the 10th of September following Mrs. Godwin died, eleven days after having given birth to a daughter. She was the mother of the future wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poet.
Become a Member via our Buy Me a Coffee page to read more.