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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Lyon, France
Church of St Martin Orgar
Church of St Michael and All Angels, Edenham
St Giles' Church, Wrexham
St Edmund's Church, Warkton
Rome, Italy
Westminster Abbey
Church of St Mary, Narford
Church of St Mary, Southwick
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tittleshall
St Martin in the Fields Church
On 31st August 1702 Louis Francois Roubiliac was born in Lyon, France [Map].
Around 1729 Thomas Carter [aged 27] received a loan of £100 from Charles Jervas [aged 54] who had met him through a business connection. This permitted him to get an assistant and buy some better quality marbles. Through this action he employed Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 26], but the latter quickly found his own clients and left the business.
After 1730 Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 27] worked as an assistant to Henry Cheere 1st Baronet [aged 27].
In 1735 Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 32] and Caroline Magdalene Hélot were married at Church of St Martin Orgar [Map].
After 1739 Adrien Carpentiers [aged 26] was aquainted with Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 36].
After 1st January 1741. Church of St Michael and All Angels, Edenham [Map]. Monument to Peregrine Bertie 2nd Duke Ancaster and Kesteven [deceased]. Flat Obelisk before which stands life sized carving of the deceased leaning on an Urn, in Roman dress, a putto holding a medallion of the Duchess Jane Brownlow Duchess Ancaster and Kesteven. Sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 38].
On 8th April 1747 Mary Myddelton died. Monument in St Giles' Church, Wrexham [Map] sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 44].
Mary Myddelton: she was born to Richard Myddelton 3rd Baronet and Frances Whitmore Lady Myddelton.
On 6th July 1749 John Montagu 2nd Duke Montagu [aged 59] died without surviving male issue. Duke Montagu extinct. His estates were inherited by his daughter Mary [aged 38] and her husband George Brudenell aka Montagu 1st Duke Montagu [aged 36] who changed his name to Montagu from Brudenell. Monument in St Edmund's Church, Warkton [Map]. Sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 46]. Erected by his widow, Mary Churchill [aged 59], the daughter of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, who stands at the left hand side of the monument.
From 1750 Nicholas Read [aged 17] became an apprentice to Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 47]; the only apprentice Roubiliac, who had vowed not to take apprentices, ever had.
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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In or before 1751 [his wife] Caroline Magdalene Hélot died.
In 1751 Andrea Soldi [aged 48]. Portrait of Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 48].
On 14th May 1751 Mary Churchill Duchess of Montagu [aged 61] died. Monument in St Edmund's Church, Warkton [Map]. Sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 48]. Commissioned by her Daughter, Lady Mary Montagu. The monument is adorned with figures representing the three fates of Clotho, Atropos and Lachesis, arranged to show the cutting of Mary's life thread, and Lachesis' dismay at it being cut short. Three putti also figure on the monument, one of whom holds the spindle from which the thread was cut.
Clotho: Clotho is one of the Three Fates. She spins the thread of human life.
Atropos: Atropos is one of the Three Fates. She cuts the thread of human life.
Lachesis: Lachesis is one of the Three Fates. She measures the thread of human life.
In January 1752 Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 49] and Elizabeth Crosby of Deptford were married. She "a celebrated beauty", with £10,000. She died shortly after they were married of unknown causes.
After January 1752 Joseph Wilton [aged 29] and his friend Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 49] travelled to Rome, Italy [Map] together.
After January 1752 [his former wife] Elizabeth Crosby of Deptford died.
In 1753 Roubiliac [aged 50] completed another great sepulchral trophy in Westminster Abbey [Map] to Admiral Peter Warren.
After 4th September 1753. Church of St Mary, Narford [Map]. Monument to Andrew Fountaine [deceased]. Dark marble sarcophagus with a white marble bust - a copy of an original by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 51] now in the Norwich Museum collection.
On 8th December 1754 Thomas Middleton [aged 63] died. Monument in St Giles' Church, Wrexham [Map] sculpted by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 52].
Thomas Middleton: Around 1691 he was born to John Middleton. Before 8th December 1754 he and Arabella Hacker were married.
After 16th May 1758. Monument in the Church of St Mary, Southwick [Map] to George Lynn [deceased] commissioned by his widow Anne Bellamy attributed to Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 55]. Grey and white marble with oval medallion of deceased suspended from broad flat obelisk; drapery below with figure of his wife seated female figure to right, leaning against Urn.
Anne Bellamy: In 1680 she was born to Edward Bellamy. In August 1734 George Lynn and she were married by which he came into possession of Frinton Manor, Essex. The difference in their ages was 27 years; she, unusually, being older than him. He the son of George Lynn and Elizabeth Bellamy. On 31st August 1741 she died.
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel Volume 1 Chapters 1-60 1307-1342
The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel offer one of the most vivid and immediate accounts of 14th-century Europe, written by a knight who lived through the events he describes, and experienced some of them first hand. Covering the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, this remarkable chronicle follows the campaigns of Edward III of England, the politics of France and the Low Countries, and the shifting alliances that shaped medieval warfare. Unlike later historians, Jean le Bel writes with a strong sense of eyewitness authenticity, drawing on personal experience and the testimony of fellow soldiers. His narrative captures not only battles and sieges, but also the realities of military life, diplomacy, and the ideals of chivalry that governed noble society. A key source for Jean Froissart, Le Bel’s chronicle stands on its own as a compelling and insightful work, at once historical record and literary achievement. This translation builds on the 1905 edition published in French by Jules Viard, adding extensive translations from other sources Rymer's Fœdera, the Chronicles of Adam Murimuth, William Nangis, Walter of Guisborough, a Bourgeois of Valenciennes, Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke and Richard Lescot to enrich the original text and Viard's notes.
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On 20th April 1759 Thomas William Coke 1st Earl of Leicester [aged 61] died. Earl of Leicester and Baron Lovel of Minster Lovell extinct. Wenman Roberts aka Coke [aged 42] inherited his estates.
On 31st August 1753 Edward Coke [aged 34] died.
Monument in Church of St Mary the Virgin, Tittleshall [Map] commissioned by wife and mother Margaret Tufton Countess Leicester [aged 58]. Erected in 1760. Sculpted by Charles Atkinson. Gadrooned sarcophagus on pedestal with a carved and painted achievement above surrounded by extravagant mantling. Flanked by pair of composite columns supporting a dentilated pediment. Carved bust figures to the sides of the Earl and Countess by Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 56].
Edward Coke: On 2nd February 1719 he was born to Thomas William Coke 1st Earl of Leicester and Margaret Tufton Countess Leicester. On 1st April 1747 Edward Coke and Mary Campbell were married. She the daughter of John Campbell 2nd Duke Argyll and Jane Warburton Duchess of Argyll. He the son of Thomas William Coke 1st Earl of Leicester and Margaret Tufton Countess Leicester.
In 1762 Adrien Carpentiers [aged 49]. Portrait of Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 59].
Before 11th January 1762 Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 59] and Nicole Céleste Regnier [aged 40] were married.
On 11th January 1762 Louis Francois Roubiliac [aged 59] died. He was buried in St Martin in the Fields Church [Map]. His funeral was attended by Joshua Reynolds [aged 38] among many others. His apprentice Nicholas Read [aged 29] took over his studio at 66 St Martin's Lane.
Around 1782 [his former wife] Nicole Céleste Regnier [aged 60] died.
1896. John Benjamin Stone [aged 57]. Photograph of the "Nightingale Monument" at Westminster Abbey to Elizabeth Shirley and her husband Joseph Gascoigne who adopted the surname Nightingale following the death of his kinsman Robert Nightingale. Elizabeth and Joseph are buried in a vault in the north ambulatory nearby. The monument is by the sculptor Louis Francois Roubiliac.
Elizabeth Shirley: In 1704 she was born to Washington Shirley 2nd Earl Ferrers and Mary Levinge Countess Ferrers. On 24th June 1725 Joseph Gascoigne aka Nightingale and she were married. She the daughter of Washington Shirley 2nd Earl Ferrers and Mary Levinge Countess Ferrers. On 17th August 1734 Elizabeth Shirley died in childbirth following the premature birth of her daughter Elizabeth as a result of the shock caused by a violent flash of lightning.
Joseph Gascoigne aka Nightingale: In 1695 he was born to Joseph Gascoigne. In 1727 Joseph Gascoigne aka Nightingale was elected MP Stafford. On 16th July 1752 he died.