Charles Wriothesley, the younger son of Sir Thomas Wriothesley, was born in London on 8th May 1508. He was educated at Cambridge University. A fellow student was his cousin, Thomas Wriothesley. (1)

In October 1524, Charles Wriothesley was appointed as a royal herald, at an annual salary of £10. About this time he is believed to have entered the service of Thomas Audley, who represent Colchester in the House of Commons. (2) With the encouragement of Audley he was trained as a lawyer at the Inner Temple.

According to his biographer, Gordon Kipling, the early 1530s marked the zenith of Wriothesley's career as a herald. For example, he attended Anne Boleyn at her coronation in 1533. During this period he began to keep a diary and recorded important political events: "Conceiving of his narrative not just as a personal document, but also as a record of the dynasty he served as perceived from the viewpoint of the city of London... Always conscious of his position as a herald and member of the king's household, Wriothesley strove to create a chronicle at once loyal and carefully observant. The events he describes are almost always seen from the point of view of a well-connected London citizen, albeit one inhabiting the margins of royal power." (3)

Charles Wriothesley recording the execution of heretics. He was also an eyewitness to those put to death in London following the Pilgrimage of Grace. (4) This included Margaret Cheyney who was burnt at the stake at Smithfield 25th May, 1537. "Margaret Cheyney, other wife of Bulmer, was drawn after them from the Tower of London into Smithfield, and there burnt, according to her judgment, God pardon her soul, being the Friday in Witsun week; she was a very fair creature and a beautiful." (5)

Wriothesley provides one of the best records of life in Tudor England. He was especially interested in strange behaviour. In December 1541 he told the story of a shoemaker's wife of St. Martin's parish, who "rode about the city with a paper on her head which feigned herself to labour with child, and had flayed a cat and conveyed it privily on her body, and said it was her child." (6)

During the reign of Henry VIII people found guilty of murder by poison were boiled to death. In March 1542 he recorded that "Margaret Davie was boiled in Smithfield... Davie, a maiden, which had poisoned 3 households that she dwelled in, one being her master's which died of the same; and one Darington and his wife, which also she dwelled with in Coleman Street, which died of the same; and also one Tinley's wife, which died of the same." (7)

Charles Wriothesley died on 25th January 1562. His diaries were not published until 1875.