Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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Chief Justice of the Common Pleas is in Common Pleas.
Between 1327 and 1337, intermittently, William de Herle was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 3rd September 1329 John Stonor [aged 48] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas which office he held until 2nd March 1331.
On 7th July 1335 John Stonor [aged 54] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for a second time. He held the office until 30th November 1341.
On 9th May 1342 John Stonor [aged 61] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for a third time. He held the office until 22nd February 1354.
On 23rd April 1520 Robert Brudenell [aged 59] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 22nd November 1530 Robert Norwich was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
In 1545 Edward Montagu [aged 60] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 23rd August 1553 Richard Morgan was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 8th October 1554 Robert Broke was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
In January 1559 James Dyer [aged 49] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 5th October 1588 Anthony Browne was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
On 28th November 1626 Thomas Richardson [aged 57] succeeded Sir Henry Hobart as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, after a vacancy of nearly a year.
In 1631 Robert Heath [aged 55] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas which post he held until Sep 1634.
In January 1640 John Bankes [aged 51] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
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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The Manuscripts of His Grace the Duke of Rutland 1640. 4th January 1640. Savoy.
F. Lord Willoughby to his uncle, the Earl of Rutland [aged 60], at Belvoir Castle [Map].
When we ate your venison my wife and I drank your health and my Lady's and did not forget little Mr. George, whom, I am glad to hear, grows towards a man. "There hath beene a marriage at the court betweene one of my Lord of Corcke [aged 73] sonnse [aged 21] and my Lady Elizabeth Feelding, about which there is a greate stur, for it seemes he did not prove eoe rite as a man should be to goo about such a business. For the report goese that his manly part had lost something in his former serviocesse, and beside that he was soe full of severall disceases ... as that it was tould the Queene [aged 30], whoe sent for my Lady Elizabeth, and tould her that she must desier her not to lett her husband lye with her that night, whoe put of, modilestly making little answere, but she seemed so lothe to understand the Queene, as that she tould her she must command her not to come in a pair of sheets with him, and tould her the reasons; soe as that he is gone out of the way some say into France, others thinks he is in London under cower. It was discovered by his sister [aged 30] Mr. Goring's [aged 31] wife, to whom he had imparted his grevancess, and she had plotted it soe, to make an excuse for him, that he should falie downe stares that day, and she would come and take him up, and soe he should complane how he had breused himselfe and strained his back with the fale, that he should be soe ill he was not fitt to goe to bed to his wife that night. But could not keepe her counsel but must tell her husband Jorge Goring, and he presently ran and tould the Queene, and soe it was discovered and then it was presently in every buddy's mouth.".
My Lord Keeper is so ill that the physicians think he cannot recover. My Lord Chief Justice Bramstone is talked of to be Lord Keeper, and Bishop Wren [aged 54]. It is known to be between those two. My Lord Finch [aged 12] will be Chief Justice of the King's Bench and the Attorney General to be Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Signet.
On 23rd May 1668 John Vaughan of Transgoed [aged 64] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He won lasting fame for his important decision in Bushell's Case, that juries were not to be fined for returning a verdict against the direction of the judge.
On 6th April 1687 Robert Wright [aged 53] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
In 1724 Thomas Wyndham 1st Baron Wyndham [aged 42] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
In November 1873 John Duke Coleridge 1st Baron Coleridge [aged 52] was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.