Annals of the six Kings of England by Nicholas Trivet
Translation of the Annals of the Six Kings of England by that traces the rise and rule of the Angevin aka Plantagenet dynasty from the mid-12th to early 14th century. Written by the Dominican scholar Nicholas Trivet, the work offers a vivid account of English history from the reign of King Stephen through to the death of King Edward I, blending political narrative with moral reflection. Covering the reigns of six monarchs—from Stephen to Edward I—the chronicle explores royal authority, rebellion, war, and the shifting balance between crown, church, and nobility. Trivet provides detailed insight into defining moments such as baronial conflicts, Anglo-French rivalry, and the consolidation of royal power under Edward I, whose reign he describes with particular immediacy. The Annals combines careful year-by-year reporting with thoughtful interpretation, presenting history not merely as a sequence of events but as a moral and political lesson. Ideal for readers interested in medieval history, kingship, and the origins of the English state, this chronicle remains a valuable and accessible window into the turbulent world of the Plantagenet kings.
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In 1630 Mary Gifford was born to Thomas Gifford.
On 14th November 1644 John Shelley of Mitchelgrove 1st Baronet died. His son [her future husband] Charles succeeded 2nd Baronet Shelley of Mitchelgrove in Sussex.
Before 1662 [her future husband] Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Weston were married. She the daughter of Benjamin Weston and Elizabeth Sheldon Countess Anglesey [aged 53].
Samuel Pepys' Diary. 19th February 1664. After dinner I to the office, where we should have met upon business extraordinary, but business not coming we broke up, and I thither again and took my wife; and taking a coach, went to visit my Ladys Jemimah and Paulina Montagu, and Mrs. Elizabeth Pickering [aged 22], whom we find at their father's new house1 in Lincolne's Inn Fields; but the house all in dirt. They received us well enough; but I did not endeavour to carry myself over familiarly with them; and so after a little stay, there coming in presently after us my Lady Aberguenny [aged 34] and other ladies, we back again by coach, and visited, my wife did, my she cozen Scott, who is very ill still, and thence to Jaggard's again, where a very good supper and great store of plate; and above all after supper Mrs. Jaggard did at my entreaty play on the Vyall, but so well as I did not think any woman in England could and but few Maisters, I must confess it did mightily surprise me, though I knew heretofore that she could play, but little thought so well.
Note 1. The Earl of Sandwich had just moved to a house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Elizabeth Dickering, who afterwards married John Creed, was niece to Lord Sandwich [aged 38].
Before 21st April 1665 George Neville [aged 50] and Mary Gifford [aged 35] were married.
On 21st April 1665 [her son] George Neville 1st Baron Abergavenny was born to [her husband] George Neville [aged 50] and Mary Gifford [aged 35]. He married before 26th March 1695 Honora Belasyse Baroness Bergavenny, daughter of John Belasyse 1st Baron Belasyse and Anne Paulett Baroness Belasyse.
On 2nd June 1666 [her husband] George Neville [aged 51] died.
After 2nd June 1666 Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet and Mary Gifford [aged 36] were married. His son John Shelley 3rd Baronet [aged 4] subsequently married her daughter Winifred Neville Lady Shelley.
In 1681 [her husband] Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet died. His son [her future son-in-law] John [aged 19] succeeded 3rd Baronet Shelley of Mitchelgrove in Sussex.
Before 15th June 1685 [her son-in-law] John Shelley 3rd Baronet [aged 23] and [her daughter] Winifred Neville Lady Shelley were married. She by marriage Lady Shelley of Mitchelgrove in Sussex. His father [her former husband] Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet and her mother Mary Gifford [aged 55] were married meaning her step-father became her father-in-law.
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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Before 24th May 1687 [her daughter] Winifred Neville Lady Shelley died.
Before 26th March 1695 [her son] George Neville 1st Baron Abergavenny [aged 29] and [her daughter-in-law] Honora Belasyse Baroness Bergavenny were married. She by marriage Baroness Abergavenny.
On 26th March 1695 [her son] George Neville 1st Baron Abergavenny [aged 29] died. Baron Abergavenny extinct..
Before 14th November 1699, the date she was buried, Mary Gifford [aged 69] died.
Cansisk's Monumental Inscriptions Volume 1 Old St Pancras Churchyard. Churchyard St Pancras Old Church [Map]. The Right Hon. Mary [deceased], Lady Dowager Abergavenny, buried Nov. 14, 1699.
[her daughter] Winifred Neville Lady Shelley was born to George Neville and Mary Gifford. She married before 15th June 1685 John Shelley 3rd Baronet, son of Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet and Elizabeth Weston, and had issue.