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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On 12th February 1828 George Meredith was born.
In January 1844 Edward Nicolls and [his future wife] Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 22] were married.
On 11th March 1844 Edward Nicolls, a naval officer in command of the HMS Dwarf, drowned in the Shannon estuary while rescuing people in distress. His wife of two months Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 22], who was with Edward aboard the vessel, had encouraged him to undertake the rescue attempt in which he lost his life. She was pregnant at the time of her husband's death.
On 9th August 1849 George Meredith [aged 21] and Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 28] were married at St George's Church, Hanover Square. Their honeymoon was to the Rhine Valley where George had been to school.
1856. Henry Wallis [aged 25]. "The Death of Chatterton" depicting the death of the 17-year-old English early Romantic poet Thomas Chatterton, 1752–1770, who is believed to have poisoned himself with arsenic. Wallis sold the painting to Augustus Egg in 1856. The model used for the painting was the young George Meredith [aged 27], a 19th-century English novelist and poet.
Thomas Chatterton: On 20th November 1752 he was born
In 1857 Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 35], wife of George Meredith [aged 28], eloped with Henry Wallis [aged 26].
On 29th September 1857 [his wife] Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 36] wrote to Henry Wallis [aged 27]:
"If we have to stay in England let us be at Clifton. I have no answer from George [aged 29]. I imagine he wants to see Darvall [Henry Darvall] before writing. If he gives no reply in a week I shall take his silence for freedom and go abroad without another word, if you will like it, and where you will… I am always dreading to lose you because I feel I have no right to you, and I love you so really, so far beyond anything I have known of love, that there are ways in which I believe I could bear to lose you. God knows how hard it would be; but I believe I could bear it. Not by Death or weariness or anger. By Death I could not lose you
The love where Death has set his seal
Nor age can chill, nor rival steal
Nor falsehood disavow, (Lord Byron, Elegy on Thyrza)
But I do not fear your Death, because I feel how much you owe to Life, how much Life has for you, and surely I shall in no shape lead you Delilah-like to Death, since it is my one aim to add to your strength, my one prayer 'God grant that I may do this man no harm'. And for weariness or anger, if we begin to thread either of those paths we will part before they possess us."
1858. Henry Wallis [aged 27]. Portrait of Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 36], wife of George Meredith [aged 29], with whom Henry Wallis had eloped the previous year.
In October 1861 [his wife] Mary Ellen Peacock [aged 40] died.
The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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In 1871 [his daughter] Marie Eveleen Meredith was born to George Meredith [aged 42].
1893. Frederick Sandes [aged 63]. Portrait of Marie Meredith [aged 22], daughter of his friend the novelist George Meredith [aged 64], (who sat for Henry Wallis's Death of Chatterton). This drawing was done in 1893, when Marie was 23, and just married. Sandys was fond of her and called her by the affectionate names of 'Marietta' or 'Riette', while her father called her 'Dearie'. In December 1894 Meredith wrote to Sandys 'I have bidden the Dearie march to the finish of her portrait, and she has vowed over again that she wished to and would. Your call will compel her. She has had visitings and receivings to do since her marriage'.
Marie Eveleen Meredith: In 1871 she was born to George Meredith. In 1933 she died.
1893. George Frederick Watts [aged 75]. Portrait of George Meredith [aged 64].
On 18th May 1909 George Meredith [aged 81] died.