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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Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford was born to [her father] Reverend Benjamin Speke.
On 10th April 1901 Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 27] and Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford were married.
On 25th February 1902 [her son] Wogan Philips 2nd Baron Milford was born to [her husband] Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 28] and Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford. He married (1) 1928 Rosamond Nina Lehmann and had issue (2) 1944 Cristina Casati Stampa di Soncino Countess Huntingdon.
On 17th September 1908 [her son] Captain William Speke Philipps was born to [her husband] Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 34] and Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford. He married 31st August 1939 Jean Meriel McDonnell, daughter of Randall McDonnell 7th Earl of Antrim and Margaret Isabel Talbot Countess of Antrim.
On 22nd September 1919 [her husband] Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 45] was created 1st Baronet Philips of Llanstephan Radnorshire. Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford by marriage Lady Philips of Llanstephan Radnorshire.
In 1922 a suspension bridge, known as Lady Milford's Bridge, was built across the nearby River Wye 1922 by David Rowell & Company at Llanstephan Suspension Bridge [Map]. The eponymous Lady Milford was Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford.
In 1928 [her son] Wogan Philips 2nd Baron Milford [aged 25] and [her daughter-in-law] Rosamond Nina Lehmann [aged 26] were married.
On 2nd February 1939 [her husband] Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 65] was created 1st Baron Milford. Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford by marriage Baroness Milford.
On 31st August 1939 [her son] Captain William Speke Philipps [aged 30] and [her daughter-in-law] Jean Meriel McDonnell [aged 24] were married. She the daughter of Randall McDonnell 7th Earl of Antrim and Margaret Isabel Talbot Countess of Antrim.
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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In 1944 [her son] Wogan Philips 2nd Baron Milford [aged 41] and [her daughter-in-law] Cristina Casati Stampa di Soncino Countess Huntingdon [aged 43] were married.
On 7th December 1962 [her husband] Laurence Philipps 1st Baron Milford [aged 88] died. His son Wogan [aged 60] succeeded 2nd Baron Milford, 2nd Baronet Philips of Llanstephan Radnorshire.
In 1971 Ethel Georgina Speke Baroness Milford died.