Paternal Family Tree: Cooke
In 1467 Thomas Cooke commissioned the building of Gidea Hall, Essex [Map]. It was completed by his descendant Anthony Cooke.
In or before 1504 [his father] John Cooke of Gidea Hall and [his mother] Alice Saunders were married.
In 1504 Anthony Cooke was born to John Cooke of Gidea Hall and Alice Saunders.
In 1510 [his mother] Alice Saunders died.
On 10th October 1516 [his father] John Cooke of Gidea Hall died.
Before 1523 Anthony Cooke [aged 18] and Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 18] were married.
In 1526 [his daughter] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley was born to Anthony Cooke [aged 22] and [his wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 22]. She married 21st December 1546 William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley and had issue.
In 1527 [his daughter] Elizabeth Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke [aged 23] and [his wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 23]. She married (1) John Russell, son of Francis Russell 2nd Earl Bedford and Margaret St John Countess Bedford, and had issue (2) 27th June 1558 Thomas Hoby and had issue.
In 1527, or 1528, [his daughter] Anne Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke [aged 23] and [his wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 23]. She married 1553 Nicholas Bacon and had issue.
Around 1530 [his son] Richard Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke [aged 26] and [his wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 26]. He married in or before 1559 Anne Caunton and had issue.
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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Around 1535 [his son] Anthony Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke [aged 31] and [his wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 31].
In 1545 Anthony Cooke [aged 41] was appointed High Sheriff of Essex.
On 21st December 1546 [his son-in-law] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 26] and [his daughter] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 20] were married.
On 22nd February 1547 Thomas Fitzherbert [aged 33] was knighted. Anthony Cooke [aged 43] was created Knight of the Bath.
On 8th November 1547 Anthony Cooke [aged 43] was elected MP Lewes.
In 1553 [his son-in-law] Nicholas Bacon [aged 42] and [his daughter] Anne Cooke [aged 26] were married.
On 27th July 1553 Anthony Cooke [aged 49] was committed to the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity in Lady Jane Grey's movement.
On 27th June 1558 [his son-in-law] Ralph Rowlett of London and St Albans [aged 45] and [his daughter] Margaret Cooke were married.
On 27th June 1558 [his son-in-law] Thomas Hoby [aged 28] and [his daughter] Elizabeth Cooke [aged 31] were married.
On 3rd August 1558 [his daughter] Margaret Cooke died.
Henry Machyn's Diary. 3rd August 1558. [The iij day of August was buried the lady Rowlett], wyff of ser Raffe Rowlett [aged 45] knyght, in [saint] Mare Staynnynges, with ij goodly whyt branchys, (blank) stayff torchys, and iiij gylt candyllstykes, and iiij grett tapurs, with ij haroldes of armes, and iiij baners of saints; (blank) was cheyffe morner, and mony .... The cherche and the raylles hangyd with blake, and the street and the plasse hangyd with armes and blake, and ij song masses and a sermon, and after masse to the [place] to dener, for ther was a grett dener for vene[son, fresh] solmon, and fres sturgean, and with mony dysse (of) fy[sh.] ...
Note. Ibid. Funeral of lady Rowlett. Sir Ralph buried two wives within seven months (see before, p. 362). The second was one of the daughters of sir Anthony Cooke [aged 54], and the circumstances of the marriage are thus mentioned in the Diary of sir Thomas Hoby [aged 28]: "Monday June 27, 1558, a mariage was made and solemnised between me and Elizabeth Cooke, daughter of sir Anthony Cooke knt. The same day was also her sister Margaret the queen's maid maried to sir Rauf Rowlet knt. who (i. e. the lady) shortly after departed out of this lief." (Communicated by the Right Hon. Lord Braybrooke.) "Sir Raff Rowlett had maryed ij. wyves, and dyed withowt issue of ether at his howsse of St. Albons the xixth of Apryll 1571, and was beryed in the parish church of St. Albons by his father the xxixth of May next foloinge." His father, also sir Ralph, had been one of the masters of the mint to Henry VIII.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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In or before 1559 [his son] Richard Cooke [aged 28] and [his daughter-in-law] Anne Caunton [aged 32] were married.
On 4th November 1566 [his son-in-law] Henry Killigrew [aged 38] and [his daughter] Katherine Cooke were married at St Peter le Poer Church, Broad Street.
On 11th June 1576 Anthony Cooke [aged 72] died.
On 5th June 1588 [his former wife] Anne Fitzwilliam [aged 84] died.
[his daughter] Margaret Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam. She married 27th June 1558 Ralph Rowlett of London and St Albans.
[his son] William Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam.
[his son] Edward Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam.
[his daughter] Katherine Cooke was born to Anthony Cooke and Anne Fitzwilliam. She married 4th November 1566 Henry Killigrew and had issue.
Great x 2 Grandfather: Robert Cooke of Lavenham in Suffolk
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Cooke
Grandfather: Philip Cooke
father: John Cooke of Gidea Hall
Grandmother: Elizabeth Belnap
Grandfather: William Saunders of Banbury in Oxfordshire
mother: Alice Saunders
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Spencer of Hodnell in Warwickshire 
Grandmother: Jane Spencer