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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On 1st April 1904 Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley was born.
On 3rd February 1927 Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper [aged 26] and Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley [aged 22] were married. He the son of Anthony Ashley-Cooper 9th Earl of Shaftesbury [aged 57] and Constance Grosvenor Countess of Shaftesbury [aged 51].
On 22nd August 1931 Arthur Stanley 5th Baron Stanley, 5th Baron Sheffield, 4th Baron Eddisbury [aged 55] died. His son [her future husband] Edward [aged 23] succeeded 6th Baron Stanley Alderley, 6th Baron Sheffield of Roscommon in Roscommon, 5th Baron Eddisbury of Winnington in Cheshire, 12th Baronet Stanley of Alderley in Cheshire.
On 28th November 1934 Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper [aged 34] and Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley [aged 30] were divorced after she began an affair with American actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr, who was named as co-respondent in the petition for divorce.
On 31st March 1937 [her former husband] Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper [aged 36] and Françoise Soulier were married. He the son of [her former father-in-law] Anthony Ashley-Cooper 9th Earl of Shaftesbury [aged 67] and [her former mother-in-law] Constance Grosvenor Countess of Shaftesbury [aged 61].
Before 18th January 1944 [her future husband] Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley, 6th Baron Sheffield, 5th Baron Eddisbury [aged 36] and Victoria Audrey Chetwynd-Talbot [aged 33] were married.
On 18th January 1944 Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley, 6th Baron Sheffield, 5th Baron Eddisbury [aged 36] and Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley [aged 39] were married. She by marriage Baroness Stanley Alderley.
On 8th March 1947 [her former husband] Major Anthony Ashley-Cooper [aged 46] died.
In 1948 Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley, 6th Baron Sheffield, 5th Baron Eddisbury [aged 40] and Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley [aged 43] were divorced.
On 3rd March 1971 [her former husband] Edward Stanley 6th Baron Stanley, 6th Baron Sheffield, 5th Baron Eddisbury [aged 63] died. His brother [her former brother-in-law] Lyulph [aged 55] succeeded 7th Baron Stanley Alderley, 7th Baron Sheffield of Roscommon in Roscommon, 6th Baron Eddisbury of Winnington in Cheshire, 13th Baronet Stanley of Alderley in Cheshire.
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.'
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On 29th June 1977 Sylvia Hawkes Baroness Stanley [aged 73] died.