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All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
On 17th January 1853 Alva Erskine Smith was born to [her father] Murray Forbes Smith at 201 Government Street.
On 20th April 1875 William Kissam Vanderbilt (age 25) and Alva Erskine Smith (age 22) were married at Calvary Church, Manhattan.
On 2nd March 1877 [her daughter] Consuelo Vanderbilt Duchess of Marlborough was born to [her husband] William Kissam Vanderbilt (age 27) and Alva Erskine Smith (age 24) at New York. She was named after her godmother Consuelo Yznaga Duchess Manchester (age 24). She married (1) 6th November 1895 Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill 9th Duke of Marlborough, son of George Charles Spencer-Churchill 8th Duke of Marlborough and Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton Duchess of Marlborough, and had issue (2) 4th July 1921 Jacques Balsan.
Around 1895 Winthrop Rutherford (age 32) proposed marriage to [her daughter] Consuelo Vanderbilt (age 17). The proposal was not approved of by Consuelo's mother Alva Erskine Smith (age 41) who took her daughter away to Europe.
In March 1895 William Kissam Vanderbilt (age 45) and Alva Erskine Smith (age 42) were divorced.
On 6th November 1895 [her son-in-law] Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill 9th Duke of Marlborough (age 23) and [her daughter] Consuelo Vanderbilt Duchess of Marlborough (age 18) were married at St Thomas' Church New York. She by marriage Duchess Marlborough. The marriage arranged by Mary "Minnie" Fiske Stevens (age 42) and encouraged by mother Alva Erskine Smith (age 42). The marriage was unhappy; they separated in 1906 and the marriage was annulled on 19th Augiust 1926. He the son of George Charles Spencer-Churchill 8th Duke of Marlborough and Albertha Frances Anne Hamilton Duchess of Marlborough (age 48).
The marriage settlement provided for the Duke to receive a $2,500,000 trust that would pay $100,000 per year. Consuelo also received a further $100,000 per year. The combined annual income of $200,000 (£40,000) more than doubled the income the Duke had enjoyed from his estates prior to the marriage. Consuelo and the Duke also acquired several large gifts from her father, William K. Vanderbilt, including a palatial London townhouse and a reported sum of $1,000,000 in cash to mark the Duke's safe return from South Africa.
On 22nd July 1920 [her former husband] William Kissam Vanderbilt (age 70) died.
In 1921 [her son-in-law] Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill 9th Duke of Marlborough (age 49) and [her daughter] Consuelo Vanderbilt Duchess of Marlborough (age 43) were divorced.
On 4th July 1921 [her son-in-law] Jacques Balsan (age 52) and [her daughter] Consuelo Vanderbilt Duchess of Marlborough (age 44) were married.
On 26th January 1933 Alva Erskine Smith (age 80) died.
GrandFather: George Smith
Father: Murray Forbes Smith