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.
In 1630 Mary Gifford was born to [her father] 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 (age 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 (age 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 (age 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 (age 38).
Before 21st April 1665 George Neville (age 50) and Mary Gifford (age 35) were married.
On 21st April 1665 [her son] George Neville 1st Baron Abergavenny was born to [her husband] George Neville (age 50) and Mary Gifford (age 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 (age 51) died.
After 2nd June 1666 Charles Shelley 2nd Baronet and Mary Gifford (age 36) were married. His son John Shelley 3rd Baronet (age 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 (age 19) succeeded 3rd Baronet Shelley of Mitchelgrove in Sussex.
Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
Before 15th June 1685 [her son-in-law] John Shelley 3rd Baronet (age 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 (age 55) were married meaning her step-father became her father-in-law.
Before 24th May 1687 [her daughter] Winifred Neville Lady Shelley died.
Before 26th March 1695 [her son] George Neville 1st Baron Abergavenny (age 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 (age 29) died. Baron Abergavenny extinct..
Before 14th November 1699, the date she was buried, Mary Gifford (age 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.