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 3rd July 1773 [his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 28) and [his mother] Elizabeth Montgomery (age 22) were married.
In 1782 Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington was born to [his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 36) and [his mother] Elizabeth Montgomery (age 31).
In 1783 [his mother] Elizabeth Montgomery (age 32) died.
On 19th September 1789 [his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 44) was created 1st Baron Mountjoy.
On 20th October 1793 [his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 48) and Margaret Wallis (age 23) were married. The difference in their ages was 24 years.
On 30th September 1795 [his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 50) was created 1st Viscount Mountjoy. Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington (age 13) succeeded 2nd Viscount Mountjoy, 2nd Baron Mountjoy.
On 5th June 1798 the Battle of New Ross was fought at New Ross between the Irish Republican insurgents called the United Irishmen and British Crown forces composed of regular soldiers, militia and yeomanry. The attack on the town of New Ross on the River Barrow, was an attempt by the recently victorious rebels to break out of county Wexford across the river Barrow and to spread the rebellion into county Kilkenny and the outlying province of Munster.
[his father] Luke Gardiner 1st Viscount Mountjoy (age 53) was killed.
In 1816 Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington (age 34) was created 1st Earl Blessington.
On 16th February 1818 Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington (age 36) and Marguerite Power Countess of Blessington (age 28) were married at St Mary's Church, Bryanston Square, Marylebone some four months after her first husband's death. She by marriage Countess Blessington.
On 25th May 1829 Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington (age 47) died of apoplexy without issue. Earl Blessington, Viscount Mountjoy, Baron Mountjoy extinct.
On 4th June 1849 [his former wife] Marguerite Power Countess of Blessington (age 59) died.
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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[his daughter] Harriet Gardiner was born to Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington and Marguerite Power Countess of Blessington.
Adeline Horsey Recollections. I remember meeting [his daughter] Lady Harriet Cowper, who first married Count d'Orsay when she was only fifteen years of age. The marriage was arranged by her stepmother, the famous Lady Blessington, who forced Lady Harriett to marry the man who was popularly supposed to be her own lover. Old Lord Blessington made a very liberal marriage settlement on his only daughter, but it really benefited the Count, and not his child bride. Their union was most disastrous and was almost immediately followed by a separation.
After Count d'Orsay's death his widow married Mr. Cowper, who owned Sandringham. She had one daughter by him, and her second matrimonial venture was a happy one. Lady Harriett was a most kind-hearted woman, and among her most charitable actions she endowed a home for twelve young working girls who needed rest and change.
Great x 1 Grandfather: Luke Gardiner
GrandFather: Charles Gardiner
Charles John Gardiner 1st Earl Blessington
GrandFather: William Montgomery 1st Baronet
Mother: Elizabeth Montgomery
GrandMother: Hannah Tomkyns