Paternal Family Tree: Smith aka Smijth
On 22nd April 1814 William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet was born to [his father] Edward Bowyer-Smijth 10th Baronet [aged 29].
In 1838 [his uncle] John Smijth 9th Baronet [aged 56] died. His brother [his father] Edward [aged 52] succeeded 10th Baronet Smith of Hill Hall in Essex.
On 2nd April 1839 William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 24] and Marianne Frances Meux Lady Bowyer-Smijth were married. They had two sons and a daughter.
On 1st September 1840 [his son] William Bowyer-Smijth 12th Baronet was born to William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 26] and [his wife] Marianne Frances Meux Lady Bowyer-Smijth.
Around 1845 William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 30] and Eliza Fechnie Malcolm were married bigamously. She, around sixteen years old, believed his first wife was dead.
On 15th August 1850 [his father] Edward Bowyer-Smijth 10th Baronet [aged 65] died. His son William [aged 36] succeeded 11th Baronet Bowyer-Smijth of Hill Hall in Essex. [his wife] Marianne Frances Meux Lady Bowyer-Smijth by marriage Lady Smith of Hill Hall in Essex.
On 19th March 1875 Marianne Frances Meux Lady Bowyer-Smijth died. Her widower William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 60] remarried a week later his second bigamous wife Eliza Fechnie Malcolm.
Around 26th March 1875 William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 60] and Eliza Fechnie Malcolm were married, a week after the death of his first wife. They had previously married, albeit bigamously, around 1845.
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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On 20th November 1883 William Bowyer-Smijth 11th Baronet [aged 69] died. His son William [aged 43] succeeded 12th Baronet Smith of Hill Hall in Essex.
Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Smyth 1st Baronet
Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Smyth 2nd Baronet
Great x 2 Grandfather: Edward Smyth 3rd Baronet
Great x 1 Grandfather: William Smyth 6th Baronet
GrandFather: William Smijth 7th Baronet