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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Paternal Family Tree: Westmacott
On 9th October 1860 [his father] Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott (age 30) and [his mother] Annette Beatrice Berners were married.
On or before 28th October 1865 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott was born to [his father] Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott (age 35) and [his mother] Annette Beatrice Berners at Whickham, County Durham [Map]. He was baptised at St Mary's Church, Whickham [Map] on 28th October 1865. He was educated at Eton College [Map].
In December 1889 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 24) was promoted to Lieutenant.
In November 1892 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 27) was appointed Adjutant 1st Battalion which position he held until 1896.
In December 1896 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 31) was promoted Captain and remained with 1st Battalion in India until August 1898.
In August 1898 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 32) came home to take up the appointment as Adjutant to 4th (Militia) Battalion (which later became 6th Battalion on formation of 3rd and 4th Regular Battalions in February, 1900). He held this appointment for five years, during which time he proceeded to South Africa on service with the 6th Battalion (Medal with 2 clasps. Mentioned in Despatches July, 1902.)
After August 1903 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 37) re-joined the 1st Battalion in Templemore.
On 14th February 1904 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 38) was promoted to Major.
In 1906 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 40) was appointed to Command the Regimental Depot.
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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In 1909 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 43) became 2nd-in-Command 1st Battalion and remained as such until March 1911.
In March 1911 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 45) was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel to command the 2nd Battalion at Jhansi in succession to Lieut.-Colonel H. de B. Hovell.
In March 1913 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 47) brought the 2nd Battalion home to Aldershot.
In August 1914 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 48) took the 2nd Battalion to France, and was in command until September, when he took over the 5th Infantry Brigade leaving the Battalion on the Aisne under Major E. B. Hankey.
On 2nd November 1914 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 49) was appointed Brigadier-General.
On February 1915 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 49) was appointed Aide de Camp to the King (extra) February 1915. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches, in October 1914, and February 1915.
On 10th September 1917 [his father] Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott (age 86) died.
In June 1919 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 53) was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
On 15th March 1948 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (age 82) died at his home Wall House, Staffordshire.
On 18th March 1948 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott (deceased) was buried with full military honours at Church of St John Wall, Staffordshire [Map]. The Colonel of the Regiment, Brigadier B. C. S. Clarke, D.S.O., who was his Adjutant 1912-1914, together with Lieut.-Colonel L. G. H. Bryant, Commanding at Norton, represented the Regiment at the funeral. A bugler of the Regiment sounded the "Last Post" and "Reveille," and a beautiful wreath was sent by the Regiment.
On 5th May 1988 Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott was gazetted to The Worcestershire Regiment from the 3rd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers Militia joining the 1st Battalion at India.
Great x 1 Grandfather: Richard "The Elder" Westmacott
GrandFather: Henry Westmacott
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Vardy
Great x 1 Grandmother: Sarah Vardy
Father: Percy Graham Buchanan Westmacott
Brigadier-General Claude Berners Westmacott
Mother: Annette Beatrice Berners