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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Paternal Family Tree: Duncombe
Around 1695 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham was born to Anthony Duncombe.
On 4th April 1708 [his father] Anthony Duncombe died.
On 9th April 1711 [his uncle] Charles Duncombe [aged 63] died. He was at the time the richest commoner in England. His great wealth was inherited, half each, by his sister [his aunt] Mary aka Ursula Duncombe [aged 51] and his nephew Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 16]. She, Ursula, became the progenitor of Baron Feversham of Duncombe Park in Yorkshire.
In 1713 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 18] and Margaret Verney Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 1] were married.
In 1747 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 52] was created 1st Baron Feversham Downton in Wiltshire. [his wife] Margaret Verney Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 35] by marriage Baroness Feversham Downton in Wiltshire.
In October 1755 [his wife] Margaret Verney Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 43] died.
In 1756 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 61] and Frances Bathurst Baroness Feversham Downton were married. She by marriage Baroness Feversham Downton in Wiltshire.
In 1757 [his daughter] Frances Duncombe 1757 was born to Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 62] and [his wife] Frances Bathurst Baroness Feversham Downton.
In 1758 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 63] and Anne Hales Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Baroness Feversham Downton in Wiltshire. The difference in their ages was 41 years.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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After 1758 [his daughter] Anne Duncombe Countess Radnor was born to Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 63] and [his wife] Anne Hales Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 22]. She married 24th January 1777 Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie 2nd Earl Radnor, son of William Pleydell-Bouverie 1st Earl Radnor and Harriet Pleydell, and had issue.
On 18th June 1763 Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham [aged 68] died without male issue. Baron Feversham Downton in Wiltshire extinct.
In 1774 Philip Hales 5th Baronet [aged 39] was elected MP Downton. His brother-in-law Anthony Duncombe 1st Baron Feversham was influential in the result. He was successful only after petitioning against the original result; he took his seat in February 1775.
In 1795 [his former wife] Anne Hales Baroness Feversham Downton [aged 59] died.
In 1827 [his former wife] Frances Bathurst Baroness Feversham Downton died in childbirth.
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Duncombe 
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Duncombe
Great x 2 Grandfather: William Duncombe
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Duncome
GrandFather: Alexander Duncombe of Drayton Bucks
Father: Anthony Duncombe