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.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Maternal Family Tree: Jane Coe
On 28th April 1583 [her father] Benedict Barnham [aged 24] and [her mother] Dorothy Smith were married at St Clements Church. They had seven girls and one boy. Three girls and a boy died in infancy.
In 1592 Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban was born to Benedict Barnham [aged 33] and Dorothy Smith.
In 1598 [her father] Benedict Barnham [aged 39] died. He left an estate of £20,000 of whom the chief beneficiaries were his wife [her mother] Dorothy Smith and her daughters [her sister] Elizabeth Barnham Countess Castlehaven [aged 6], Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban [aged 6].
In November 1598 [her step-father] John "Lusty" Pakington [aged 49] and [her mother] Dorothy Smith were married. They had two daughters and a son.
On 10th May 1606 Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban [aged 45] and Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban [aged 14] were married. The difference in their ages was 30 years.
Before 1612 [her brother-in-law] Mervyn Tuchet 2nd Earl Castlehaven [aged 18] and [her sister] Elizabeth Barnham Countess Castlehaven [aged 19] were married. He the son of George Tuchet 1st Earl Castlehaven [aged 60] and Lucy Mervyn Baroness Audley and Tuchet.
On 29th June 1612 Robert Crichton 8th Lord Sanquhar was hanged in Westminster Palace Yard for having arranged the murder of his fencing Master John Painter Turner who had previously disfigured him during practice. At his trial [her husband] Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban [aged 51] read the charges.
In 1617 George Tuchet 1st Earl Castlehaven [aged 66] died. His son [her brother-in-law] Mervyn [aged 24] succeeded 2nd Earl Castlehaven, 12th Baron Audley of Heighley in Staffordshire, 9th Baron Tuchet, 2nd Baron Audley of Orier in England. [her sister] Elizabeth Barnham Countess Castlehaven [aged 25] by marriage Countess Castlehaven.
In 1618 [her husband] Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban [aged 56] was created 1st Baron Verulam. Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban [aged 26] by marriage Baroness Verulam.
Letters of John Chamberlain Volume 2.310. [19th December 1618] Yt is growne altogether in fashion to burie now by night, as on Sonday last the Lady Haddington1 had a solemne convoy of almost an hundred coaches (and torches in aboundance), that accompanied her from Westminster to White-chappell on her way to New-hall in Essex where she is to be buried: in this troupe besides the countesses of Bedford [aged 38], Excester [aged 38], and Devonshire [aged 50] was the Lady Verulam [aged 26] with a world of other Ladies. The countesse of Salisburie [aged 28] the Friday before made a great feast and a play, though her husband [aged 27] were absent at court, and the rest of her house and frends in sorow about a lewde libell, that (excepting the highest) runs over all the court and countrie almost that followes not theyre faction, and though the author cannot be found out, yet notice is taken that the Lady of Wallingford [aged 35] was one of the first that sunge yt, and the King thinckes of her yt may be required. I heare of another crosse libell that shold pay her and all hers in the same coine, but for my part I protest I have neither seene nor seeke after any of them, but only heare the generall buzze abrode.
Note 1. Cf. Letters 309.
On 9th February 1619 [her brother-in-law] Humphrey Ferrers and [her half-sister] Anne Pakington [aged 20] were married at Kensington.
In 1622 [her sister] Elizabeth Barnham Countess Castlehaven [aged 30] died.
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel Volume 1 Chapters 1-60 1307-1342
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel offer one of the most vivid and immediate accounts of 14th-century Europe, written by a knight who lived through the events he describes, and experienced some of them first hand. Covering the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, this remarkable chronicle follows the campaigns of Edward III of England, the politics of France and the Low Countries, and the shifting alliances that shaped medieval warfare. Unlike later historians, Jean le Bel writes with a strong sense of eyewitness authenticity, drawing on personal experience and the testimony of fellow soldiers. His narrative captures not only battles and sieges, but also the realities of military life, diplomacy, and the ideals of chivalry that governed noble society. A key source for Jean Froissart, Le Bel’s chronicle stands on its own as a compelling and insightful work, at once historical record and literary achievement. This translation builds on the 1905 edition published in French by Jules Viard, adding extensive translations from other sources Rymer's Fœdera, the Chronicles of Adam Murimuth, William Nangis, Walter of Guisborough, a Bourgeois of Valenciennes, Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke and Richard Lescot to enrich the original text and Viard's notes.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 27th January 1626 [her husband] Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban [aged 65] was created 1st Viscount St Alban. Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban [aged 34] by marriage Viscountess St Alban.
On 9th April 1626 [her husband] Francis Bacon 1st Viscount St Alban [aged 65] died of pneumonia. He was buried at St Paul's Walden Bury, Hertfordshire. Viscount St Alban and Baron Verulam extinct.
After 1636 [her brother-in-law] Philip Stanhope 1st Earl Chesterfield [aged 52] and [her half-sister] Anne Pakington Countess Chesterfield [aged 37] were married. She by marriage Countess Chesterfield.
Around 1639 [her mother] Dorothy Smith died.
On 29th June 1650 Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban [aged 58] died.
GrandFather: Francis Barnham
Father: Benedict Barnham
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Bradbridge
GrandMother: Alice Bradbridge
Alice Barnham Viscountess St Alban
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Smith of Withcote in Leicestershire
GrandFather: Ambrose Smith of Withcote in Leicestershire
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Cave of Stanford in Northamptonshire
Great x 1 Grandmother: Dorothy Cave
Great x 2 Grandmother: Elizabeth Mervin
Mother: Dorothy Smith
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Coe of Coggleshall in Essex
GrandMother: Jane Coe