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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Paternal Family Tree: Bridgeman
On 28th September 1670 [his father] Orlando Bridgeman 1st Baronet [aged 20] and [his mother] Mary Cave Lady Bridgeman [aged 16] were married. He the son of [his grandfather] Bishop John Bridgeman.
On 27th April 1678 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet was born to [his father] Orlando Bridgeman 1st Baronet [aged 28] and [his mother] Mary Cave Lady Bridgeman [aged 24].
On 20th April 1701 [his father] Orlando Bridgeman 1st Baronet [aged 51] died. His son Orlando [aged 22] succeeded 2nd Baronet Bridgeman of Ridley in Cheshire.
Around June 1701 [his mother] Mary Cave Lady Bridgeman [aged 47] died.
On 15th April 1702 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 23] and Susanna Dashwood Lady Bridgeman [aged 17] were married. She by marriage Lady Bridgeman of Ridley in Cheshire.
On 25th February 1707 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 28] was elected MP Coventry. He was re-elected in 1708. He was defeated in 1710.
In 1715 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 36] was elected MP Calne which seat he held until 1722.
In 1716 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 37] was appointed Auditor General to George, Prince of Wales.
On 25th February 1724 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 45] was elected MP Lostwithiel at a by-election.
In 1727 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 48] was elected MP Calne and MP Bletchingley. He chose to sit for the latter.
In 1727 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 48] was appointed to the Board of Trade as a Lord of Trade which office he held until 1738.
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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Bowood park [Map] was retained by the Crown until 1727, when it was bought by the tenant, Sir Orlando Bridgeman [aged 48].
In 1734 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 55] was elected MP Dunwich.
In 1737 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 58] was appointed Governor of Barbados. He disappeared before sailing to Barbados. He left farewell letters to his family and to the king and left his clothes by the side of the Thames. On 10th June 1738, a body was found drowned in the Thames near Limehouse and because it had been disfigured by the water, the body was falsely identified as Bridgeman's.
Diary of Viscount Egmont afterwards Earl Egmont 1741. Monday, 30 [October 1738]. — I went to Court, being the King's birthday, but returned home to Charlton to dinner. I saw half the gentlemen in plain clothes, with silver and gold buttons only, and was told it was the fashion to appear so on the King's birthday in France, and that we have followed them in it.
Sir Orlando Bridgman [aged 60], who, instead of going to his Government of Barbadoes conferred on him last winter, made his escape (as he hoped) from the world, to avoid his creditors, by pretending to make himself away, and accordingly gave it out that he had drowned himself, was ferreted out of his hole by the reward advertised for whoever should discover him, and seized in an inn at Slough, where he had ever since concealed himself.
Under a Chancery decree of 1739 the park and Bowood House [Map], which Sir Orlando Bridgeman [aged 60] had built on it, were acquired by Richard Long, Sir Orlando's principal creditor, who sold them in 1754 to John Petty [aged 33], earl of Shelburne. Petty devised them to his wife Mary, who in 1761 or 1762 conveyed them to her son William Petty [aged 1], earl of Shelburne (cr. marquess of Lansdowne 1784, d. 1805).
On 5th December 1746 Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet [aged 68] died at Gloucester Gaol, Gloucestershire where he had been imprisoned six years before for faking his own death. He was buried at St Nicholas' Church, Gloucester. Baronet Bridgeman of Ridley in Cheshire extinct.
On 4th September 1747 [his former wife] Susanna Dashwood Lady Bridgeman [aged 62] died.
Kings Wessex: Great x 20 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 17 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 23 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 18 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 21 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 11 Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Kings Scotland: Great x 19 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 27 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 20 Grand Son of Hugh I King of the Franks
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 24 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 2 Grandfather: Edward Bridgeman 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Bridgeman
GrandFather: Bishop John Bridgeman
Father: Orlando Bridgeman 1st Baronet
Orlando Bridgeman 2nd Baronet 11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Cave
Great x 3 Grandfather: Roger Cave of Stanford
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Danvers 
Great x 2 Grandfather: Thomas Cave
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Cecil 
Great x 3 Grandmother: Margaret Cecil
Great x 4 Grandmother: Jane Heckington
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Cave of Croft Castle 8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John St John 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Edward I of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: Nicholas St John 6 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Carew 
5 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandmother: Eleanor St John 7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Blount of Mapledurham in Oxfordshire 
12 x Great Grand Son of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Blount 13 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England
GrandFather: Thomas Cave 1st Baronet 9 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: James Croft
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Croft
Great x 4 Grandmother: Alice Warnecombe
Great x 2 Grandfather: Herbert Croft
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Croft
Mother: Mary Cave Lady Bridgeman 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Wenman
Great x 3 Grandfather: Thomas Wenman
Great x 4 Grandmother: Isabel Williams
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Wenman 1st Viscount Wenman 10 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: William West 1st Baron De La Warr 
8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane West 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Strange Baroness De La Warr 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Wenman 2nd Viscount Wenman 11 x Great Grand Son of King Henry III of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Fermor 
Great x 3 Grandfather: George Fermor of Easton Neston
Great x 4 Grandmother: Maud Vaux 
Great x 2 Grandmother: Agnes Fermor 15 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Curzon 13 x Great Grand Son of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 3 Grandmother: Mary Curzon 14 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England
Great x 4 Grandmother: Agnes Hussey 
GrandMother: Penelope Wenman Lady Cave 12 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry III of England