Paternal Family Tree: Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley
Maternal Family Tree: Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley
In or before 1573 [her father] Thomas Leigh 1st Baronet [aged 30] and [her mother] Katharine Spencer were married.
In 1578 Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley was born to Thomas Leigh 1st Baronet [aged 36] and Katharine Spencer at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire [Map].
Around 1591 [her future husband] Robert Dudley [aged 16] and Margaret Cavendish [aged 21] were married. He the illegitmate son of Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester and [her future mother-in-law] Douglas Howard Baroness Sheffield [aged 49].
Life of Robert Dudley Part II. 1596. His much journeying threw Robert Dudley into communication with, other great navigators of the day, among whom was Thomas Cavendish, who had three young and charming sisters. With one of these the young sailor, fresh from his voyages, fell in love, and being a 'heretik' (i. e. protestant), and deeming himself free from Frances Vavasour, he married her [Margaret Cavendish [aged 26]]. The bride died soon after, in 1596 without issue, and in the same year he married Alice [aged 18] second daughter of Sir [her father] Thomas Leigh 1st Baronet [aged 54], Knight and Baronet of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.
In 1596 Robert Dudley [aged 22] and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 18] were married. He the illegitmate son of Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester and Douglas Howard Baroness Sheffield [aged 54].
On or before 25th September 1597, the date she was baptised at Kenilworth, [her daughter] Alicia Douglassia Dudley was born to [her husband] Robert Dudley [aged 23] and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 19].
In 1606 [her husband] Robert Dudley [aged 31] and Elizabeth Southwell [aged 22] were married at Lyon, France [Map]. Bigamous in his case since his second wife Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 28] was alive. She the daughter of Robert Southwell and Elizabeth Howard Countess Carrick [aged 41]. He the illegitmate son of Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester and [her mother-in-law] Douglas Howard Baroness Sheffield [aged 64]. They were first cousin once removed.
In or before 1611 [her son-in-law] Gilbert Kniveton 2nd Baronet [aged 28] and Frances Dudley were married. She the daughter of Robert Dudley [aged 36] and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 32].
On 4th March 1619 [her brother-in-law] Edmund Sheffield 1st Earl Mulgrave [aged 53] and Mariana Irwin Countess Mulgrave were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. She by marriage Baroness Sheffield of Butterwick in Lincolnshire.
In May 1621 [her daughter] Alicia Douglassia Dudley [aged 23] died.
In 1626 [her brother-in-law] Edmund Sheffield 1st Earl Mulgrave [aged 60] was created 1st Earl Mulgrave. Mariana Irwin Countess Mulgrave by marriage Countess Mulgrave.
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 February 1626 [her father] Thomas Leigh 1st Baronet [aged 84] died at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire [Map]. His succeeded grandson Thomas [aged 31] succeeded 2nd Baronet Leigh of Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.
On 23rd July 1629 [her son-in-law] Richard Leveson [aged 31] and Catherine Dudley were married. She the daughter of Robert Dudley [aged 54] and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 51].
In January 1639 [her mother] Katharine Spencer died.
On 23rd May 1644 Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 66] was created 1st Duchess Dudley by King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland [aged 43] for life. Her husband Robert Dudley [aged 69] had claimed to be the legitimate son of Robert Dudley 1st Earl of Leicester but the Star Chamber found against him. King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland disagreed with their verdict and, in compensation of her subsequent treatment, awarded her the Dukedom... See Patent of Creation.
In October 1646 [her brother-in-law] Edmund Sheffield 1st Earl Mulgrave [aged 80] died. His succeeded grandson Edmund Sheffield 2nd Earl Mulgrave [aged 34] succeeded 2nd Earl Mulgrave, 4th Baron Sheffield of Butterwick in Lincolnshire.
On 6th September 1649 [her husband] Robert Dudley [aged 75] died at Villa Rinieri. He was buried at San Pancrazio.
Before 1663 [her son-in-law] Robert Holborne and Anne Dudley were married. She the daughter of Robert Dudley and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 84].
On 22nd January 1669 Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [aged 91] died in the parish St Giles' in the Fields Church [Map]. She was buried at Church of the Virgin Mary, Stoneleigh [Map]. Duke Dudley extinct since it was created for life only.
After 22nd January 1669. Church of the Virgin Mary, Stoneleigh [Map]. Monument to Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley [deceased] and her daughter. A large elaborate memorial in black and white marble erected in 1668. Has two recumbent female figures under a canopy supported on eight Ionic columns and on either side an angel with trumpet holding back curtains. Possibly sculpted by William Wright of Charing Cross.
[her daughter] Catherine Dudley was born to Robert Dudley and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley. She married 23rd July 1629 Richard Leveson.
[her daughter] Frances Dudley was born to Robert Dudley and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley. She married in or before 1611 Gilbert Kniveton 2nd Baronet, son of William Kniveton 1st Baronet, and had issue.
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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[her daughter] Anne Dudley was born to Robert Dudley and Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley. She married before 1663 Robert Holborne.
Life of Robert Dudley Appendix VI. The Patent for creating Alice Lady Dudley a Duchess of England.
See Dugdale's Baronage, vol. II, p. 225, and the Note in the margin, which says that he copied it from the original in the possession of Catharine Lady Levison, 1670.
Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. To all Archbishops, Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Bishops, Barons, Knights and all other our loving subjects, to whom these our Letters shall come, greeting. Whereas in or about the beginning of the Reign of our dear father King James, of famous memory, there was a sute commenced, in our high Court of Star Chamber, against Sir Robert Dudley, Knight, and others, for pretending himself to be lawfull heir to the honours and lands of the Earldoms of Warwick and Leicester, as son and heir of the body of Robert Late Earl of Leicester, lawfully begotten upon the Lady Douglasse his mother, wife to the late Earl of Leicester, and all proceedings stayed in the Ecclesiastical Courts, in which the said sute depended, for proof of his legitimation: yet nevertheless did the said Court vouchsafe liberty to the said Sir Robert, to examine witnesses in the said Court of Star Chamber, in order to the making good of his legitimacy; divers witnesses were examined there accordingly. Whereupon, by full testimony upon oath, partly made by the said Lady Douglasse herself, and partly made by divers other persons of quality and credit, who were present at the marriage with the said late Earl of Leicester, by a lawfuU Minister, according to the form of Matrimony then by law established in the Church of England; and the said Sir Robert and his mother were owned by the said late Earl of Leicester as his lawfuU wife and son, as by many of the said depositions remaining upon record, in our said Court, still appear, which we have caused to be perused, for our better satisfation herein. But a special order being made, that the said depositions should be seal'd up and no copies thereof taken without leave, did cause him, the said Sir Robert, to leave this our kingdom; whereof his adversaries taking advantages procured a special Privy-seal to be sent unto him, commanding his return into England; which he not obeying (because his honour and lands were denied unto him), all his lands were therefore seiz'd on to the King our father's use.
Great x 4 Grandfather: Piers Legh
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Leigh
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Leigh
Great x 1 Grandfather: Roger Leigh
GrandFather: Thomas Leigh
Father: Thomas Leigh 1st Baronet
Alice Leigh 1st Duchess Dudley
Great x 4 Grandfather: Henry Spencer 
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Spencer
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Spencer
Great x 4 Grandfather: Peter Empson
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Empson
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Spencer
Great x 2 Grandmother: Isabella Graunt
GrandFather: John Spencer
Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Knightley 
Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Knightley
Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Knightley
Great x 1 Grandmother: Susan Knightley
Mother: Katharine Spencer
Great x 1 Grandfather: Thomas Kitson 
GrandMother: Katherine Kitson
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Donnington of Stoke Newington
Great x 1 Grandmother: Margaret Donnington Countess Bath