According to Dugdale, Kyneburga/Cyneburh, wife of Aldred, founded the monastery on lands donated by her brother Osric the nephew of Aethelred. She served as abbess for 29 years Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 1, 531.
Kyneburga was the founder and first abbess. She was followed by Edburga, the wife of Wulphere, king of Mercia. Eva or Gaffe became abbess after Edburga and was known for her ability to increase the revenues of the monastery. She died in 767 after 30 years of rule. After Eva/Gaffe, governance by abbesses ceeased and during the wars between Egbert, king of Wessex, and the king of Mercia, the nuns left the monastery (Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 1, 531).
This community had links to the Hwiccean royal family according to Foot (Veiled Women, vol. 1, 45).
Cronicis Gloucestrensis Coenobii --Bibl. Cottoniana, Domitiani A. VIII. fol. 126
Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 1, 531 and 541.
Monastery of St. Peter Gloucester
Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales, p. 66
The Greater Abbeys of England
Veiled Women, vol. 1
The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester4:275-88 available online ">http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42310&strquery=Glouce... [Victoria County History] (refers mainly to male establishment)
Beornulph, king of Mercia gave the lands to priests in 823. Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 1, 541.
Foundation information--des--disputed?
