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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Beddington, Surrey is in Surrey.
In May 1356 Nicholas Carew was born to Nicholas Carew (age 34) in Beddington, Surrey.
In 1405 Nicholas Carew was born to Nicholas Carew (age 48) at Beddington, Surrey. He married Margaret Fiennes and had issue.
On 4th September 1432 Nicholas Carew (age 76) died in Beddington, Surrey.
On 20th April 1458 Nicholas Carew (age 53) died at Beddington, Surrey.
In 1469 Richard Carew was born to James Carew (age 24) and Eleanor Hoo at Beddington, Surrey. He married Malyn Oxenbridge and had issue.
In 1493 James Carew (age 48) died at Beddington, Surrey.
On 23rd May 1520 Richard Carew (age 51) died at Beddington, Surrey.
In 1586 Thomas Gorges of Longford Castle (age 50) was knighted at Beddington, Surrey.
In June 1603 Nicholas Carew (age 36) was knighted at Beddington, Surrey.
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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On 28th June 1603 William Borlase of Little Marlow (age 39) was knighted at Beddington, Surrey.
John Evelyn's Diary. 1632. My eldest sister (age 17) was married to Edward Darcy, Esq, who little deserved so excellent a person, a woman of so rare virtue. I was not present at the nuptials; but I was soon afterward sent for into Surrey, and my father (age 45) would willingly have weaned me from my fondness of my too indulgent grandmother, intending to have placed me at Eton College [Map]; but, not being so provident for my own benefit, and unreasonably terrified with the report of the severe discipline there, I was sent back to Lewes [Map]; which perverseness of mine I have since a thousand times deplored. This was the first time that ever my parents had seen all their children together in prosperity. While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, where I lay one night only. The next day, I dined at Beddington, Surrey, where I was much delighted with the gardens and curiosities. Thence, we returned to the Baroness Darcy's, at Sutton; thence to Wotton, Surrey [Map]; and, on the 16th of August following, 1633, back to Lewes [Map].
John Evelyn's Diary. 27th September 1658. To Beddington, Surrey, that ancient seat of the Carews, a fine old hall, but a scambling house, famous for the first orange garden in England, being now overgrown trees, planted in the ground, and secured in winter with a wooden tabernacle and stoves. This seat is rarely watered, lying low, and environed with good pastures. The pomegranates bear here. To the house is also added a fine park. Thence, to Carshalton, excellently watered, and capable of being made a most delicious seat, being on the sweet downs, and a champaign about it full planted with walnut and cherry trees, which afford a considerable rent.
John Evelyn's Diary. 20th September 1700. I went to Beddington, Surrey, the ancient seat of the Carews, in my remembrance a noble old structure, capacious, and in form of the buildings of the age of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, and proper for the old English hospitality, but now decaying with the house itself, heretofore adorned with ample gardens, and the first orange trees that had been seen in England, planted in the open ground, and secured in winter only by a tabernacle of boards and stoves removable in summer, that, standing 120 years, large and goodly trees, and laden with fruit, were now in decay, as well as the grotto, fountains, cabinets, and other curiosities in the house and abroad, it being now fallen to a child under age, and only kept by a servant or two from utter dilapidation. The estate and park about it also in decay.
Around 1445 James Carew was born to Nicholas Carew (age 40) and Margaret Fiennes at Carew Manor Beddington, Surrey. He a great x 3 grandson of King Edward III of England. He married his fifth cousin once removed Eleanor Hoo, daughter of Thomas Hoo 1st Baron Hoo and Hastings and Eleanor Welles Baroness Hoo and Hastings, and had issue.
In February 1644 Nicholas Carew (age 77) died. He was buried at St Mary's Church Beddington, Surrey.