Paternal Family Tree: Fox of Farley
Maternal Family Tree: Elizabeth Whittle -1696
On 8th December 1651 [her father] Stephen Fox [aged 24] and [her mother] Elizabeth Whittle were married.
Around 1669 Jane Fox Countess Northampton was born to Stephen Fox [aged 41] and Elizabeth Whittle.
On 19th October 1669 Edward Fox [aged 6] died. He is buried with his brother John in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey [Map]. The grave is inscribed "Here lie interred two Children of the right Worshipful Sir Stephen Fox [aged 42] of Farley in the County of Wilts Knight, viz. Edward Fox, his fourth Son, aged six years and one month, who died on the nineteenth day of Octob. 1669. and John Fox his sixth son of the age of one year, who deceased upon the seventeenth day of Novemb. in the year of our Lord 1667.
Before 1675 [her brother-in-law] Charles Cornwallis 3rd Baron Cornwallis [aged 19] and [her sister] Elizabeth Fox Baroness Cornwallis were married at Westminster Abbey [Map]. She by marriage Baroness Cornwallis.
On 19th November 1677 James Fox [aged 12] died of smallpox; some sources say smallpos. He is bured in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey [Map]. His mural monument is inscribed: "Here lies buried, near the ashes of Edward, John, and Stephen, three brothers, the most distinguished young man James Fox, the fifth son of the most honorable Sir Stephen Fox [aged 50], Knight, and Elizabeth his wife, a son most worthy of his parents, and parents worthy of their son. He showed the highest piety, even as a boy, towards God; a unique devotion towards his parents; old-fashioned simplicity among all; a head most dear to Venus and Apollo, a true Adonis and Hyacinth, and by the gifts of his mind and body, a beloved of God now, once of men. O parents, take pity on parents. O children, imitate this son! O descendants, mourn your loss. Cultivated in various kinds of literature, he flourished with an admirable contrast. Under the boy lay hidden another man; in the cradle of life and in death, a Hercules, while snatched away by the treachery of measles, he seemed to have flown from the fire and painful tunic to the heavens. On the 13th day before the Calends of December, in the year of our Lord 1677, aged 12 and a half."
Hic infra situs est, juxta Edwardi, Johannis, & Stephani, trium fratrum cineres, selectissimus Adolescentulus Jacobus Fox, honoratissimi Domini Steph. Fox Equiti Aurati & Elizabethae uxoris, filius natu quintus, parentes filio & filius parentibus quam dignissimus. Summa pietate, vel puer quoad Deum; singulari studio erga parentes, prisca simplicitate inter omnes, percarum Veneri & Apollini caput, indubitatus Adonis & Hyacinthus necnon per dotes animi & corporis, nunc Dei olim hominum amasius. O parentes miseremini parentum. O filii ex illo transcribite filium! O posteri vestrum deflete damnum. Vario literaturae genere excultus admirandi sua floruit Antithesis. Sub puero vir delituit alter in vitae cunabulis & in morte Hercules, dum morbillorum perfidia sublatus, videatur ex igne & tunicâ molestâ evolasse ad coelos. A. D. 13. Cal. Decemb. Anno Dom. 1677. aetatis 12. cum semisse.
On 17th April 1680 William Fox [aged 20] died. A mural monument survives in the north cloister of Westminster Abbey [Map] inscribed in Latin and translated as follows: "Near this place, among the ashes of their three brothers Edward, John and Stephen, sleep William and James Fox, sons of the Honorable Sir Stephen Fox [aged 53], Kt. and Elizabeth his wife. Parents and sons worthy each other, whom love made one in life, one distemper in death and one grave in burial. Each of them was embellished with useful learning, which their modesty seemed to conceal, and in their youth the man grew up with them. They were born for their country and to honours, which the eldest, being Captain in the army, acquired by his fatigues over all England. William died April 17, 1680 aged 20.
John Evelyn's Diary. 6th September 1680. [her father] He is generous, and lives very honourably, of a sweet nature, well-spoken, well-bred, and is so highly in his Majesty's [aged 50] esteem, and so useful, that being long since made a knight, he is also advanced to be one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and has the reversion of the Cofferer's place after Harry Brouncker [aged 53]. He has married his eldest daughter [aged 11] to my [her future husband] Lord Cornwallis [aged 15], and gave her £12,000, and restored that entangled family besides. He matched his son to Mrs. Trollop [aged 19], who brings with her (besides a great sum) near, if not altogether, £2,000 per annum. Sir Stephen's [her mother] lady (an excellent woman) is sister to [her uncle] Mr. Whittle [aged 49], one of the King's chirurgeons. In a word, never was man more fortunate than Sir Stephen; he is a handsome person, virtuous, and very religious.
On 28th February 1681 [her sister] Elizabeth Fox Baroness Cornwallis died.
John Evelyn's Diary. 16th May 1681. Came my Lady Sunderland [aged 35], to desire that I would propose a match to Sir Stephen Fox [aged 54] for her son [aged 6], Lord Spencer, to marry Mrs. Jane [aged 12], Sir Stephen's daughter. I excused myself all I was able; for the truth is, I was afraid he would prove an extravagant man: for, though a youth of extraordinary parts, and had an excellent education to render him a worthy man, yet his early inclinations to extravagance made me apprehensive, that I should not serve Sir Stephen by proposing it, like a friend; this being now his only daughter, well-bred, and likely to receive a large share of her father's opulence. Lord Sunderland [aged 39] was much sunk in his estate by gaming and other prodigalities, and was now no longer Secretary of State, having fallen into displeasure of the King [aged 50] for siding with the Commons about the succession; but which, I am assured, he did not do out of his own inclination, or for the preservation of the Protestant religion, but by mistaking the ability of the party to carry it. However, so earnest and importunate was the Countess, that I did mention it to Sir Stephen, who said it was too great an honor, that his daughter was very young, as well as my Lord, and he was resolved never to marry her without the parties' mutual liking; with other objections which I neither would or could contradict. He desired me to express to the Countess the great sense he had of the honor done him, that his daughter and her son were too young, that he would do nothing without her liking, which he did not think her capable of expressing judiciously, till she was sixteen or seventeen years of age, of which she now wanted four years, and that I would put it off as civilly as I could.
John Evelyn's Diary. 2nd June 1681. I went to Hampton Court [Map], when the Surrey gentlemen presented their addresses to his Majesty [aged 51], whose hand I kissed, introduced by the Duke of Albemarle [aged 27]. Being at the Privy Council, I took another occasion of discoursing with [her father] Sir Stephen Fox [aged 54] about his daughter [aged 12] and to revive that business, and at least brought it to this: That in case the young people liked one the other, after four years, he first desiring to see a particular of my Lord's [aged 39] present estate if I could transmit it to him privately, he would make her portion £14,000, though to all appearance he might likely make it £50,000 as easily, his eldest son [aged 15] having no child and growing very corpulent.
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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On 15th December 1681 James Compton 3rd Earl of Northampton [aged 59] died. His son [her future husband] George [aged 17] succeeded 4th Earl of Northampton, 5th Baron Compton of Compton in Warwickshire.
In 1686 George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 21] and Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 17] were married. He the son of James Compton 3rd Earl of Northampton and Mary Noel Countess Northampton.
On 2nd May 1687 [her son] James Compton 5th Earl of Northampton was born to [her husband] George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 22] and Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 18]. He married 1716 Elizabeth Shirley Countess Northampton and had issue.
John Evelyn's Diary. 18th August 1688. My lady [aged 42] carried us to see [her husband] Lord Northampton's [aged 23] Seat, a very strong, large house, built with stone, not altogether modern. They were enlarging the garden, in which was nothing extraordinary, except the iron gate opening into the park, which indeed was very good work, wrought in flowers painted with blue and gilded. There is a noble walk of elms toward the front of the house by the bowling green. I was not in any room of the house besides a lobby looking into the garden, where my Lord and his new Countess [aged 19] (Sir [her father] Stephen Fox's [aged 61] daughter, whom I had known from a child) entertained the Countess and her daughter the Countess of Arran [aged 21] (newly married to the son [aged 30] of the Duke of Hamilton [aged 53]), with so little good grace, and so dully, that our visit was very short, and so we returned to Althorpe [Map], twelve miles distant.
On 6th August 1691 [her sister-in-law] Mary Compton Countess Dorset and Middlesex [aged 22] died of smallpox.
In 1692 [her son] George Compton 6th Earl of Northampton was born to [her husband] George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 27] and Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 23].
After 1692 [her son] Charles Compton was born to [her husband] George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 27] and Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 23]. He married Mary Lucy, daughter of Berkeley Lucy 3rd Baronet and Catherine Cotton, and had issue.
On 11th August 1696 [her mother] Elizabeth Whittle died. She was buried at All Saints' Church, Farley where she has a monument:, an elegant aedicule, grey and white marbles. Corinthian columns supporting a curved pediment. Flaming urn and lamps connected by garlands over. Within, a curtained niche revealing swathed bust of Dame Elizabeth Fox, died 1696. Gadrooned base. Inscription in Latin on shaped apron, terminating in conjoined putti.
On 11th July 1703 [her father] Stephen Fox [aged 76] and [her step-mother] Christiana Hope were married.
In 1716 James Compton 5th Earl of Northampton [aged 28] and Elizabeth Shirley Countess Northampton [aged 21] were married. She by marriage Baroness Compton of Compton in Warwickshire. He by marriage Baron Ferrers of Chartley. He the son of George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 51] and Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 47].
On 28th October 1716 [her father] Stephen Fox [aged 89] died. He was buried in the Ilchester Chapel of All Saints' Church, Farley which church he had commissioned. His mural monument being Carrara marble aedicule with composite columns carrying segmental pediment. Coloured arms with suspended garlands and lamps over. Gadrooned base on consoles, all on limestone brackets. Inscription in antique French.
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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On 10th June 1721 Jane Fox Countess Northampton [aged 52] died.
On 3rd July 1726 [her former husband] George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 61] and Elizabeth Rushout Countess Northampton were married. She by marriage Countess of Northampton. He the son of James Compton 3rd Earl of Northampton and Mary Noel Countess Northampton.
On 15th April 1727 [her former husband] George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton [aged 62] died. His son James [aged 39] succeeded 5th Earl of Northampton. Elizabeth Shirley Countess Northampton [aged 32] by marriage Countess of Northampton.
[her daughter] Anne Compton Lady Rushout was born to George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton and Jane Fox Countess Northampton. She married 1729 John Rushout 4th Baronet, son of James Rushout 1st Baronet and Alice Pitt Lady Rushout, and had issue.
[her daughter] Mary Compton was born to George Compton 4th Earl of Northampton and Jane Fox Countess Northampton. She married before 1739 William Gore, son of William Gore, and had issue.
Grandfather: William Whittle of the City of London
mother: Elizabeth Whittle
