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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Earl Farquhar is in Earldoms of England Alphabetically, Earldoms of England Chronologically, Extinct Earldoms of England.
Summary
9th December 1922. Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar (age 78) created.
30th August 1923. Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar extinct.
The London Gazette 32776. Whitehall, December 9, 1922. Letters Patent have passed the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland creating the undermentioned Earldoms, Viscountcies and Baronies:
The Right Honourable Frederick Edwin (age 50), Viscount Birkenhead, to be Viscount Furneaux, of Charlton, in the County of Northampton, and Earl Of Birkenhead. [Margaret Eleanor Furneaux Countess of Birkenhead (age 44) by marriage Countess Birkenhead.]
The Right Honourable Horace Brand (age 78), Viscount Farquhar, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., late Lord Steward of the Household, to be Earl Farquhar.
The Right Honourable Arthur Hamilton, Baron Lee of Fareham, G.B.E., K.C.B., to be Viscount Lee of Fareham, of Bridport, in the County of Dorset.
William Hesketh (age 71), Baron Leverhulme, to be Viscount Leverhulme, of The Western Isles, in the Counties of Inverness and Ross and Cromarty.
The Right Honourable Francis Bingham Mildmay to be Baron Mildmay Of Flete, of Totnes, in the County of Devon.
The Right Honourable Sir Joseph Paton Maclay, Baronet, to be Baron Maclay, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark.
The Right Honourable Sir Edward Alfred Goulding, Baronet, to be Baron Wargrave, of Wargrave Hall, in the County of Berks. Sir John Henry Bethell, Baronet, to be BARON BETHELL, of Romford, in the County of Essex.
On 30th August 1923 Horace Farquhar 1st Earl Farquhar (age 79) died unmarried at his home 7 Grosvenor Square, Belgravia. Earl Farquhar, Viscount Farquhar of Saint Marylebone in London, Baron Farquhar of Saint Marylebone in London and Baronet Townsend-Farquhar of Cavendish Square in Saint Marylebone in London extinct. In his will he left many large legacies to his friends, including members of the Royal Family, but although his estate was assessed for probate at £400,000 the entire sum was taken up by debts, leaving nothing and revealing that Farquhar had been an undisclosed bankrupt.