Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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Ford Madox Brown is in Painters.
In 1818 [his father] Ford Brown [aged 38] and [his mother] Caroline Madox [aged 33] were married.
1840. Ford Madox Brown [aged 18]. "Study for the Dean in the 'Execution of Mary Queen of Scots'". The model is described in some sources as the artist's father Ford Brown [aged 60].
Ford Brown: In 1780 he was born to John Brown. In 1818 he and Caroline Madox were married. In 1842 he died at Paris [Map].
1840. Ford Madox Brown [aged 18]. "Study for 'Execution of Mary Queen of Scots'".
Around 1841. Ford Madox Brown [aged 19]. "The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots". The moment the Mary tells Bishop Richard Fletcher to stop praying for her in the Protestant faith. His first wife Elizabeth [aged 22] modelled for one of the figures
Elizabeth Bromley: On 10th September 1818 she was born to Samuel Bromley and Mary Madox at Butt Lane, Deptford. She was baptised 2nd October 1818. In April 1841 Ford Madox Brown and she were married. They were half first cousins. On 5th June 1846 Elizabeth Bromley died of tuberculosis in Paris [Map]. She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery [Map].
In 1841 [his mother] Caroline Madox [aged 56] died.
In April 1841 Ford Madox Brown [aged 19] and Elizabeth Bromley [aged 22] were married. They were half first cousins.
Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.
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1842. Ford Madox Brown [aged 20]. "Manfred on the Jungfrau". Inspired by Scene II of the poem Manfred by George "Lord Byron" 6th Baron Byron.
On 19th July 1843 [his daughter] Emma Lucy Madox Brown was born to Ford Madox Brown [aged 22] and [his wife] Elizabeth Bromley [aged 24] at Paris [Map]. Coefficient of inbreeding 3.12%. She married 31st March 1874 William Michael Rossetti and had issue.
1844. Ford Madox Brown [aged 22]. "The Bromley Family". His first wife Elizabeth [aged 25] bottom right.
On 5th June 1846 [his wife] Elizabeth Bromley [aged 27] died of tuberculosis in Paris [Map]. She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery [Map].
1849-1854. Ford Madox Brown [aged 27]. "Lear and Cordelia". Model for Cordelia [his future wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 19].
1850. Ford Madox Brown [aged 28]. Self-portrait.
On 11th November 1850 [his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Emily Brown was born illegitimately to Ford Madox Brown [aged 29] and [his future wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 21].
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
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1851. Unfinished. Ford Madox Brown [aged 29]. "Take Your Son, Sir". Model [his future wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 21].
1851. Ford Madox Brown [aged 29]. "Pretty Baa Lambs". Models: the artist's future wife Emma Matilda Hill [aged 21] and their daughter Catherine Emily Brown.
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1851. 13th November 1851. After Clipstone Street spent the evening with Wells [aged 22] at John [aged 24] and Thomas Seddon's [aged 30], 7 Percy Street; G. Rossetti [aged 23], F. M. Brown [aged 30] and G. Truefitt [aged 27] were there.
1852 to 1865. Ford Madox Brown [aged 30]. "Work".
1852 to 1865. Ford Madox Brown [aged 30]. Portrait of his daughter [his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Emily Brown [aged 1].
1853. Ford Madox Brown [aged 31]. Portrait of his daughter [his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Emily Brown [aged 2].
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 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. In or before 1841 he was appointed Rector of St Dunstan's in the West, Fleet Street [Map]. In or before 1841 Edward Auriol and Georgina Morris were married. On 10th July 1880 Edward Auriol died.
1854-1855. Ford Madox Brown [aged 32]. "Carrying Corn".
Anne Boleyn. Her Life as told by Lancelot de Carle's 1536 Letter.
In 1536, two weeks after the execution of Anne Boleyn, her brother George and four others, Lancelot du Carle, wrote an extraordinary letter that described Anne's life, and her trial and execution, to which he was a witness. This book presents a new translation of that letter, with additional material from other contemporary sources such as Letters, Hall's and Wriothesley's Chronicles, the pamphlets of Wynkyn the Worde, the Memorial of George Constantyne, the Portuguese Letter and the Baga de Secrets, all of which are provided in Appendices.
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1854 to 1855. Ford Madox Brown [aged 32]. "Waiting: an English Fireside". Models: the artists wife Emma Matilda Hill [aged 24] and daughter Catherine Emily Brown [aged 3].
In 1855 [his son] Oliver Madox Brown was born to Ford Madox Brown [aged 33] and [his wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 25].
1855. Ford Madox Brown [aged 33]. "The Last of England". Modelled by himself and his wife Emma Matilda Hill [aged 25]. Inspired by the departure to Australia of his friend Thomas Woolner [aged 29].
1855-1856. Ford Madox Brown [aged 33]. "The Hayfield".
1856 to 1858. Ford Madox Brown [aged 34]. "Chaucer at the Court of Edward III".
Life of William Morris. In the early part of the Long Vacation of 1857, Rossetti [aged 28] went down to Oxford to see his friend Benjamin Woodward, the architect. Morris, always delighted to take a day at Oxford, went with him. The long battle between the Palladian and Gothic styles for the new University Museum had been at last decided by the Oxford authorities in favour of the latter. Woodward's plans, in a style of mixed Rhenish and Venetian Gothic, had been accepted, and the museum was now in progress. Besides his principal work at the museum, he was engaged in building a debating hall for the Union Society. That hall, now the principal library, was just roofed in. In formi, the hall was a long building with apsidal ends. A narrow gallery fitted with bookshelves ran completely round it, and above the shelves was a broad belt of wall divided into ten bays, pierced by twenty six-foil circular windows, and surmounted by an open timber roof. Rossetti was at once fired with the idea of painting the space thus given. In his notions of the application of painting to architedural surfaces, Woodward, an ardent admirer and a skilled imitator of the Venetian builders, cordially concurred ; and it was at once settled that the ten bays and the whole of the ceiling should be covered with painting in tempera. The Building Committee of the Union, who had a general discretion as regards the work to be done during the Long Vacation, were induced to authorize the work without waiting to refer the matter to a general meeting of the Society. It was arranged that the paintings should forthwith be designed and carried out under Rossetti's superintendence. He himself, and other artists whom he should invite to join him, were to be the executants. The Union was to defray the expense of scaffolding and materials, and the travelling and lodging expenses of the artists, who, beyond this, were to give their services for nothing. No sooner was this settled, than Rossetti went straight back to London and issued his orders: Burne-Jones [aged 23] and Morris [aged 22] were to lay aside all other work and start on the new scheme at once. He had it all planned in his mind. The ten paintings on the walls were to be a series of scenes from the "Morte d' Arthur," and the roof above them was to be covered with a floriated design. For the pidures, ten men had to be found, each of whom should execute one bay, and the work, in the first enthusiasm, was estimated as a matter of six weeks or so. Arthur Hughes [aged 24], Spencer Stanhope [aged 27], Val Prinsep [aged 18], and Hungerford Pollen [aged 36], were drawn into the scheme and agreed to take a picture each; Madox Brown [aged 35] was also asked to execute one, but declined. Rossetti undertook to do two, or if possible three, himself, and Morris and Burne-Jones were each to do one under his eye and with his guidance : eight or nine of the ten bays were thus accounted for, and the remainder of the space was for the moment left to chance.
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1857. Ford Madox Brown [aged 35]. "Stages of Cruelty". Models: the artists wife Emma Matilda Hill [aged 27] and daughter Catherine Emily Brown [aged 6].
The Diary of George Price Boyce 1855-1857. 6th June 1857. Received from [his future son-in-law] Wm. Rossetti [aged 27] circular of the New York Exhibition of British Art. Works to be in readiness by end of August. Augustus Ruxton projector. F. M. Brown [aged 36] goes with the things.
Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall
The Chronicle of Abbot Ralph of Coggeshall (Chronicon Anglicanum) is an indispensable medieval history that brings to life centuries of English and European affairs through the eyes of a learned Cistercian monk. Ralph of Coggeshall, abbot of the Abbey of Coggeshall in Essex in the early 13th century, continued and expanded his community’s chronicle, documenting events from the Norman Conquest of 1066 into the tumultuous reign of King Henry III. Blending eyewitness testimony, careful compilation, and the monastic commitment to record-keeping, this chronicle offers a rare narrative of political intrigue, royal power struggles, and social upheaval in England and beyond. Ralph’s work captures the reigns of pivotal figures such as Richard I and King John, providing invaluable insights into their characters, decisions, and the forces that shaped medieval rule. More than a simple annal, Chronicon Anglicanum conveys the texture of medieval life and governance, making it a rich source for scholars and readers fascinated by English history, monastic authorship, and the shaping of the medieval world.
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Memorials of Edward Burne-Jones 1860. After 9th June 1860. In the unsettled week before his marriage Edward [aged 26] had amused himself by painting some figures upon a plain deal sideboard which he possessed, and this in its new state was a delightful surprise to find. "Ladies and animals" he called the subjects illustrated, and there were seven pictures, three on the cupboard doors in front and two at each end, which shewed them in various relations to each other. Three kind and attentive ladies were feeding pigs, parrots and fishes; two cruel ones were tormenting an owl by forcing him to look at himself in a round mirror, and gold fish by draining them dry in a net; while two more were expiating such sins in terror at a hideous newt upon the garden path and the assault of a swarm of angry bees. Mrs. Catherwood gave us a piano, made by Priestly of Berners Street, who had patented a small one of inoffensive shape that we had seen and admired at Madox Brown's [aged 39] house; we had ours made of unpolished American walnut, a perfectly plain wood of pleasing colour, so that Edward could paint upon it. The little instrument when opened shows inside the lid a very early design for the "Chant d' Amour," and on the panel beneath the keyboard there is a gilded and lacquered picture of Death, veiled and crowned, standing outside the gate of a garden where a number of girls, unconscious of his approach, are resting and listening to music. The lacquering of this panel was an exciting process, for its colour had to be bedeepened by heat while still liquid, and Edward used a red-hot poker for the work.
On 11th February 1862 at twenty past seven in the morning 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.
1867. Dante Gabriel Rossetti [aged 38]. Drawing of Ford Madox Brown [aged 45].
2nd April 1871. Census. 37 Fitzroy Square.
Ford Madox Brown [aged 49]. Head. 49.
[his wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 41]. Wife. 36.
[his daughter] Emma Lucy Madox Brown [aged 27]. Daughter. 26.
[his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Emily Brown [aged 20]. Daughter. 20.
[his son] Oliver Madox Brown [aged 16]. Son. 16.
Charloote Kirkby. Servant. 29.
Mary Ann Edwards. Servant. 19.
Oliver Madox Brown: In 1855 he was born to Ford Madox Brown and Emma Matilda Hill. In 1874 he died.
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1872. Ford Madox Brown [aged 50]. "The Convalescent". Model [his wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 42]. When he made this pastel, the artist wrote, "Now that she is lying in bed thinned with the fever she looks very pictorial and young as ever again."
On 3rd September 1872 [his son-in-law] Francis Heuffer [aged 27] and [his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Emily Brown [aged 21] were married. She the illegitmate daughter of Ford Madox Brown [aged 51] and [his wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 43].
In 1874 [his son] Oliver Madox Brown [aged 19] died.
On 31st March 1874 [his son-in-law] William Michael Rossetti [aged 44] and Emma Lucy Madox Brown [aged 30] were married. She the daughter of Ford Madox Brown [aged 52] and Elizabeth Bromley.
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 [his son-in-law] William Michael Rossetti [aged 52] and sister Christina Georgina Rossetti [aged 51] as written on the base of the cross.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy
The Gesta Normannorum Ducum [The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy] is a landmark medieval chronicle tracing the rise and fall of the Norman dynasty from its early roots through the pivotal events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. Originally penned in Latin by the monk William of Jumièges shortly before 1060 and later expanded at the behest of William the Conqueror, the work chronicles the deeds, politics, battles, and leadership of the Norman dukes, especially William’s own claim to the English throne. The narrative combines earlier historical sources with firsthand information and oral testimony to present an authoritative account of Normandy’s transformation from a Viking settlement into one of medieval Europe’s most powerful realms. William’s history emphasizes the legitimacy, military prowess, and governance of the Norman line, framing their expansion, including the conquest of England, as both divinely sanctioned and noble in purpose. Later chroniclers such as Orderic Vitalis and Robert of Torigni continued the history, extending the coverage into the 12th century, providing broader context on ducal rule and its impact. Today this classic work remains a foundational source for understanding Norman identity, medieval statesmanship, and the historical forces that reshaped England and Western Europe between 800AD and 1100AD.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 11th October 1890 [his wife] Emma Matilda Hill [aged 61] died.
5th April 1891. Census. 1 St Edmunds Terrace.
Ford Madox Brown [aged 69]. Head. Widower.
[his illegitimate daughter] Catherine Heuffer [aged 40]. Daughter. Widow.
[his grandson] Ford Madox Ford aka Heuffer [aged 17]. Grandson. 17.
Oliver Madox Heuffer [aged 14]. Grandson. 15.
Juliet Catherine Emma Heuffer [aged 10]. Granddaughter. 10.
Charlotte Kindy. Servant. 31.
Margaret Mullin. Servant. 23.
Ford Madox Ford aka Heuffer: On 17th December 1873 he was born to Francis Heuffer and Catherine Emily Brown On 26th June 1939 he died.
Oliver Madox Heuffer: In 1877 he was born to Francis Heuffer and Catherine Emily Brown On 22nd June 1931 he died.
Juliet Catherine Emma Heuffer: In 1881 she was born to Francis Heuffer and Catherine Emily Brown In 1944 she died.
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On 6th October 1893 Ford Madox Brown [aged 72] died. He was buried at St Pancras and Islington Cemetery.
Diary of Ford Madox Brown. The Diary of Ford Madox Brown edited by Virginia Surtees. Published in 1981.
GrandFather: John Brown
Father: Ford Brown
GrandFather: Unknown Brown
Mother: Caroline Madox