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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Lord Keeper of the Great Seal is in Miscellaneous.
On 6th July 1310 Archbishop Walter Reynolds was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and Lord Chancellor.
In 1344 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield [aged 34] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal which office he held until July 1345.
In 1381 Hugh Segrave [aged 85] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
In 1443 Bishop Thomas Beckington [aged 53] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
Around 1456 Archbishop Lawrence Booth [aged 36] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal which position he held until 1460.
In 1470 Bishop John Hales [aged 70] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal by King Henry VI of England and II of France [aged 48] during his re-adeption but lost it again when King Edward IV of England [aged 27] was restored in 1471.
On 26th January 1533 Thomas Audley 1st Baron Audley Walden [aged 45] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. and Lord Chancellor as well.
In 1558 Nicholas Bacon [aged 47] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal following Elizabeth I's accession. He was supported in the appointment by his brother-in-law William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 37].
Around 1590 Unknown Painter. Portrait of Mary Egerton Baroness Leigh as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
Mary Egerton Baroness Leigh: Around 1595 she was born to Thomas Egerton and Isabella Venables. On 11th November 1610 Thomas Leigh 1st Baron Leigh and she were married. On 1st July 1643 Thomas Leigh 1st Baron Leigh was created 1st Baron Leigh of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire. She by marriage Baroness Leigh of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire. In 1669 Mary Egerton Baroness Leigh died.
In 1592 John Puckering [aged 48] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
In 1621 Archbishop John Williams [aged 38] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal by King James I [aged 54].
Around 1626 Cornelius Janssens aka Johnson [aged 32]. Portrait of Thomas Coventry 1st Baron Coventry [aged 48] as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. Charlecote Park.
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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In 1641 Edward Littleton 1st Baron Lyttelton [aged 52] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
On 13th April 1641 Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford [aged 48] was attainted by 204 votes to 59 ostensibly for his authoritarian rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Despite his promise not to King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland [aged 40] signed the death warrant on the 10th May 1641 in the light of increasing pressure from Parliament and the commons.
Wenceslaus Hollar [aged 33]. Engraving of the Trial of Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford with the following marked:
A. King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland.
C. Henrietta Maria Bourbon Queen Consort England [aged 31].
D. King Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland [aged 10].
E. Thomas Howard 14th or 21st Earl of Arundel 4th Earl of Surrey 1st Earl Norfolk [aged 55], Lord High Steward.
F. Henry Montagu 1st Earl Manchester [aged 78], Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
G. John Paulet 5th Marquess Winchester [aged 43].
H. Robert Bertie 1st Earl Lindsey [aged 58], Lord Chamberlain.
I. Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery [aged 56], Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
V. Thomas Wentworth 1st Earl Strafford.
Z. Alethea Talbot Countess Arundel, Surrey and Norfolk [aged 56].
John Evelyn's Diary. 26th May 1671. The Earl of Bristol's [aged 58] house in Queen's Street was taken for the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and furnished with rich hangings of the King's [aged 40]. It consisted of seven rooms on a floor, with a long gallery, gardens, etc. This day we met the Duke of Buckingham [aged 43], Earl of Lauderdale [aged 55], Lord Culpeper, Sir George Carteret [aged 61], Vice-Chamberlain, and myself, had the oaths given us by the Earl of Sandwich [aged 45], our President. It was to advise and counsel his Majesty, to the best of our abilities, for the well-governing of his Foreign Plantations, etc., the form very little differing from that given to the Privy Council. We then took our places at the Board in the Council-Chamber, a very large room furnished with atlases, maps, charts, globes, etc. Then came the Lord Keeper, Sir Orlando Bridgeman [aged 65], Earl of Arlington [aged 53], Secretary of State, Lord Ashley, Mr. Treasurer [aged 40], Sir John Trevor [aged 34], the other Secretary, Sir John Duncomb [aged 49], Lord Allington [aged 31], Mr. Grey, son to the Lord Grey, Mr. Henry Broncher, Sir Humphrey Winch [aged 49], Sir John Finch, Mr. Waller [aged 65], and Colonel Titus [aged 48], of the bedchamber, with Mr. Slingsby, Secretary to the Council, and two Clerks of the Council, who had all been sworn some days before. Being all set, our Patent was read, and then the additional Patent, in which was recited this new establishment; then, was delivered to each a copy of the Patent, and of instructions: after which, we proceeded to business.
On 15th March 1672. The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II's [aged 41] attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics. It was highly controversial. Sir Orlando Bridgeman [aged 66] resigned as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal because he refused to apply the Great Seal to it.
John Evelyn's Diary. 10th May 1700. The great trial between Sir Walter Clarges [aged 46] and Mr. Sherwin concerning the legitimacy of the late Duke of Albemarle, on which depended an estate of £1,500 a year; the verdict was given for Sir Walter, 19th. Serjeant Wright [aged 46] at last accepted the Great Seal.
John Evelyn's Diary. 1st October 1705. Mr. Cowper [aged 40] made Lord Keeper. Observing how uncertain great officers are of continuing long in their places, he would not accept it, unless £2,000 a year were given him in reversion when he was put out, in consideration of his loss of practice. His predecessors, how little time soever they had the Seal, usually got £100,000 and made themselves Barons. A new Secretary of State. Lord Abington [aged 32], Lieutenant of the Tower, displaced, and General Churchill [aged 49], brother to the Duke of Marlborough [aged 55], put in. An indication of great unsteadiness somewhere, but thus the crafty Whig party (as called) begin to change the face of the Court, in opposition to the High Churchmen, which was another distinction of a party from the Low Churchmen. The Parliament chose one Mr. Smith, Speaker. There had never been so great an assembly of members on the first day of sitting, being more than 450. The votes both of the old, as well as the new, fell to those called Low Churchmen, contrary to all expectation.
1763. William Hoare [aged 56]. Portrait of Philip Yorke 1st Earl of Hardwicke [aged 72] wearing the Robes of Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and holding the Great Seal.
On 17th January 1770 Charles Yorke [aged 47] was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
Bulstrode Whitelocke was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
