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.
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Paternal Family Tree: Rossetti
In 1826 [her father] Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti [aged 42] and [her mother] Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 25] were married.
On 5th December 1830 Christina Georgina Rossetti was born to [her father] Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti [aged 47] and [her mother] Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 30].
Around 1848 James Collinson [aged 22] and Christina Rossetti [aged 17] were engaged; he had converted to Anglicanism. The engagement ended in 1850 when he reverted to Catholicism.
Between 1848 and 1849. [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 19]. "The Girlhood of Mary". Model for St Anne [her mother] Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 47], model for Mary Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 17]. Note the initials PRB bottom left under his name. First exhibited at the Free Exhibition at the Hyde Park Corner Gallery. It was bought for £80 by Harriet Baring Marchioness Bath [aged 43] who subsequently gifted it to her daughter Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne [aged 14].
Harriet Baring Marchioness Bath: On 3rd May 1804 she was born to Alexander Baring 1st Baron Ashburton and Ann Louisa Bingham Baroness Ashburton. On 19th April 1830 Henry Frederick Thynne 3rd Marquess of Bath and she were married. He the son of Thomas Thynne 2nd Marquess of Bath and Isabella Elizabeth Byng Marchioness Bath. On 2nd January 1892 Harriet Baring Marchioness Bath died.
Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne: In 1834 she was born to Henry Frederick Thynne 3rd Marquess of Bath and Harriet Baring Marchioness Bath. On 29th April 1862 General Percy Feilding and she were married. She the daughter of Henry Frederick Thynne 3rd Marquess of Bath and Harriet Baring Marchioness Bath. He the son of William Feilding 6th Earl Desmond 7th Earl Denbigh and Mary Elizabeth Kitty Moreton Countess Desmond and Denbigh. On 26th June 1919 Louisa Isabella Harriet Thynne died.
March 1850. [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 21]. "Ecce Ancilla Domini!" aka The Annunciation. Models: Angel William Michael Rossetti [aged 20], Mary Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 19].
On 5th April 1853 Ford Madox Brown [aged 31] and Emma Matilda Hill [aged 23] were married at St Dunstan's in the West, Fleet Street [Map]. The witnesses were [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 24] and Thomas Seddon [aged 31]. Rector Edward Auriol [aged 48] performed the ceremony.
Edward Auriol: On 27th February 1805 he was born to James Peter Auriol. On 28th September 1829 Edward Auriol and Georgina Morris were married. On 7th January 1842 he was appointed Rector of St Dunstan's in the West, Fleet Street [Map]. On 10th July 1880 Edward Auriol died.
On 26th April 1854 [her father] Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti [aged 71] died. He was buried in the Rossetti Family Grave at Highgate Cemetery.
On 23rd May 1860 [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 32] and [her sister-in-law] Elizabeth Siddal [aged 30] were married at St Clement's Church, Hastings.
On 11th February 1862 at twenty past seven in the morning [her sister-in-law] Elizabeth Siddal [aged 32] overdosed on laudanum at 14 Chatham Place. Possibly suicide - there may have been a note that said "look after Harry (her invalid brother)" which Ford Madox Brown [aged 40] persuaded Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 33] to burn. Shortly after her death Sarah Cox aka Fanny Cornforth [aged 27] moved into the family home to become housekeeper to Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
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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1866. [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 37]. Drawing of Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 35].
Letters of Christina Rossetti. Christina Rossetti to Macmillan and Company, 2 July 1866
Penkill, 2nd July [1866]
C. Rossetti [aged 35] requests that a copy of Prince's Progress be sent to
Mrs Gilchrist
Brookbank
Shottermill
Haslemere:-
and encloses stamps for postage
Letters of Christina Rossetti. 56 Euston Square, N.W.
Friday afternoon, 14th. [May 1869]1
My dear Miss Boyd [aged 44]
Thank you warmly for so exceedingly kind an invitation, concerning which I will only put forward one regret, that Mrs Epps [Note. Not clear who Mrs Epps is since Laura Theresa Epps [aged 17] didn't marry Lawrence Alma-Tadema [aged 33] until 1871] should lose what might so have refreshed her both in mind and in body. And indeed, if I may, I will say that should it after all turn out that she could visit lovely Penkill you will without hesitation let me know your altered plans to which I shall most readily conform mine. On the other hand if I go, it will be a special indulgence to travel with the Scotts [Note. William Bell Scott [aged 58] and Letitia Margery Norquoy] and as you give me so generous a latitude I will even feel housed at the Castle until a companion offers with whom to start south again;-the journey being somewhat formidably lengthy. But this, of course, only in case it brings my visit within not altogether unreasonable dimensions. How very kind you are to me, and how much I should like to make my gratitude obvious to you. Knowing what a Dear Mrs Scott is, I think she will kindly let me know her plans in due course: meanwhile I expect to run down to Gloucester next week on a little visit to my Uncle if he will have me, but to be up again in time for Penkill.
My love, please, to Mrs Scott, and a kindred sentiment to Mr Scott. We saw [her brother] Gabriel [aged 41] last night, but I know nothing at all about his summer plans.2
My [her mother] Mother [aged 69] desires her most cordial remembrances to you, and adds her thanks to mine on my behalf.
Always and affectionately yours
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 38].
I expect you will find me quite a different order of being this year as regards walking, and I mean to trim up my old hat for possible croquet.
Note 1. Endorsed: "1867." CGR returned to Penkill in 1869, from 9 June to 22 July, not in 1867.
Note 2. DGR was at Penkill from mid-August to 20 September.
Letters of Christina Rossetti. Thursday 26th [1876].
My dear Alice [aged 51]
William informs us that you are still kindly keeping open to us the road to Penkill; & therefore my [her mother] Mother [aged 75] desires me to write & tell you with our warmest thanks that we do not feel equal to so ambitious a pleasure, truly as we feel your welcome. Dear Penkill must remain our "Yarrow unvisited";1 for age gains upon us, & infirmities do not quit hold.
Please thank Mr Scott [aged 65] for me for "Deirdre"2 safely received, with a friendly card.
With much love to Mrs Scott
Always you affectionate
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 45]
Note 1. See letter no. 1811, n. 2. CGR had visited Penkill twice, in 1866 and 1869, but never returned.
Note 2. Roberts Brothers published Deirdre, by Robert Buyer Joyce, in 1876.
Letters of Christina Rossetti. [Late November 1876]
My dear Alice [aged 51]
You will not, will you? grudge me the pleasure of answering your note of loving remembrance. Every word of sympathy & of affectionate remembrance of our dear [her sister] Maria [aged 49] goes to my [her mother] Mother's [aged 76] & my heart; & such words have poured in upon us, & have assured us that a widening circle has felt the thrill of our loss.
I am so glad you are seeing & hearing from [her brother] Gabriel [aged 48] again:1 every dear person gone out of sight brings out the preciousness of those who remain.
My Mother sends you her love, & I send you mine. And recollecting old Penkill2 delights & all your kindness to me always, I claim the right to sign myself both
Your grateful & affectionate
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 45].
Note 1. After his collapse and attempted suicide in 1872 DGR became increasingly paranoid, suspicious even of many old friends, including the W. B. Scotts and Alice Boyd.
Note 2. DGR paid long visits to AB's home in Scotland, Penkill Castle, during the summers of 1866 and 1869.
1877. [her brother] Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 48]. Portraits of the artist's sister and mother Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 46] and Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 76]
On 9th April 1882 Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 53] died. He was buried at All Saints Church, Birchington on Sea [Map]. There is a Celtic Cross marking his grave commissioned by his mother Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 81], designed by Ford Madox Brown [aged 60] and erected in the presence of his brother William Michael Rossetti [aged 52] and sister Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 51] as written on the base of the cross.
Letters of Christina Rossetti. 30, Torrington Square, London. W.C., October 23. 1882.
My dear Alice [aged 57]
I think you will read my letter with both pleasure and pain. My dearest [her mother] Mother [aged 82] sends love to you and hopes it will please you to accept from her a trifling remembrance of your dear friend who so truly admired you, our own Gabriel. Among a few things yesterday divided between herself and William [aged 53] is the brass plate of a sundial-perhaps the very one in the old Cheyne Walk garden-about 5 1/2 inches square. It has its 4 corner-screws all ready to work into stone or tree-stump and is (so far as I can perceive) quite perfect in condition. May we send it you down to Penkill?-and think of it as marking time somewhere in the beautiful place where you and Miss Losh2 cared for himself and for his health so kindly.
Send me a consenting word, please. Then my Mother will have the major gratification of presenting, and I the minor gratification of packing.
Always
Your affectionate friend
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 51].
Alice Boyd (1825-97) was the companion of William Bell Scott and his wife Letitia until his death. When AB's brother died in February of 1865, she inherited Penkill Castle, which both DGR and CGR visited during the 1860s. AB was introduced to CGR late in 1847 or early in 1848. Their subsequent friendship remained strong until CGR's death.
Note 2. AB's half sister. See letter no. 1299, n. 1.
Letters of Christina Rossetti. 30 Torrington Square-W.C., Saturday 28th [?February 1885]
My dear Alice [aged 60],
My Mother & I pay you affectionate thanks-to you & to Mrs Scott-for offering us this time a friendly pleasure we can accept. With your leave we hope to be with you at 2 o'clock next Thursday, & shall be happy to see the Miss Courtneys again, & to look forward to a late view of Mr Scott. Pray observe that your memoria technica has enabled me to spell your sisters' names correctly.1 It is happy for me that you did not select Thursday in this week, as I am struggling thro' an amorphous phase thanks to a gathering in my nose! but by next Thursday I trust I may be presentable to indulgent eyes. My dearest Mother's health continues, I am thankful to say, good, & she takes her little walks despite various winds of the compass.
With my Aunt's remembrances
Always your affectionate
Christina G. Rossetti [aged 54]
Note 1. Actually AB's half sisters, born to her mother Margaret Losh Boyd who married Henry Courtney after her first husband's death. AB's brother, Spencer Boyd, thirteenth laird of Penkill Castle, left the property to Alice at his death in 1865 but with the proviso that if she died without an heir it would pass to one of his mother's remaining children. Thus, when AB died on 11 April 1897, Penkill and the title were inherited by Eleanor Margaret Courtney Boyd (fifteenth laird), the eldest of the half sisters mentioned in this letter.
On 8th April 1886 [her mother] Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori [aged 85] died. She was buried in the Rossetti Family Grave.
On 29th December 1894 Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 64] died. She was buried in the Rossetti Family Grave.
GrandFather: Gaetano Fedele Polidori
Mother: Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori
GrandMother: Anna Maria Pierce of Middlesex