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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MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis is in Member Parliament.
In 1586 Edward Phelips (age 29) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1593 Thomas Stafford (age 19) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1597 Francis Leigh (age 18) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1604 Robert Myddelton (age 41) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1614 Robert Bateman (age 52) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the Addled Parliament.
In 1621 John Freke (age 30) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. He was re-elected in 1624.
In 1624 Thomas Myddelton of Chirk Castle (age 38) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until 1625.
In 1625 John Melbury Sampford Strangeways (age 39) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In April 1640 Giles Strangeways (age 24) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis during the Short Parliament.
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 14th April 1660. My Lord is chosen at Waymouth this morning; my Lord had his freedom brought him by Captain Tiddiman of the port of Dover, by which he is capable of being elected for them. This day I heard that the Army had in general declared to stand by what the next Parliament shall do. At night supped with my Lord.
In June 1660 Colonel Bullen Reymes (age 46) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
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 1661 Colonel Bullen Reymes (age 47) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1747 Welbore Ellis 1st Baron Mendip (age 33) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until 1761.
In 1774 Welbore Ellis 1st Baron Mendip (age 60) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until 1790.
In 1786 George Jackson aka Duckett 1st Baronet (age 60) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until 1788.
In 1790 Thomas Tyrwhitt aka Tyrwhitt-Jones 1st Baronet (age 24) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until Jun 1791.
In 1791 James Johnstone 4th Baronet (age 64) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis which seat he held until his death in 1794. His brother William Johnstone aka Pulteney 5th Baronet (age 61) had requested the sitting MP Thomas Tyrwhitt aka Tyrwhitt-Jones 1st Baronet (age 25) to stand down forcing a by-election which James won.
In 1813 James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil 2nd Marquess Salisbury (age 21) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
In 1818 Thomas Fowell Buxton 1st Baronet (age 31) was elected MP Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.