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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In 1584 William Button 1st Baronet was born to [his father] William Button of Alton and Tockenham Court in Lyneham in Wiltshire and [his mother] Jane Lamb.
On 13th February 1601 William Button 1st Baronet (age 17) matriculated Queen's College, Oxford University.
On 15th July 1605 William Button 1st Baronet (age 21) was knighted at Whitehall Palace [Map].
In 1611 William Button 1st Baronet (age 27) was appointed High Sheriff of Wiltshire.
Before 1614 William Button 1st Baronet (age 29) and Ruth Dunch were married.
In 1622 [his son] William Button 2nd Baronet was born to William Button 1st Baronet (age 38) and [his wife] Ruth Dunch. He married 6th April 1640 Anne Rolle.
In 1622 [his son] Robert Button 3rd Baronet was born to William Button 1st Baronet (age 38) and [his wife] Ruth Dunch.
In 1622 [his son] John Button 4th Baronet was born to William Button 1st Baronet (age 38) and [his wife] Ruth Dunch.
On 18th March 1622 William Button 1st Baronet (age 38) was created 1st Baronet Button of Alton in Wiltshire.
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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On 6th April 1640 [his son] William Button 2nd Baronet (age 18) and [his daughter-in-law] Anne Rolle (age 24) were married at St Petroc's Church, Petrockstowe [Map].
On 2nd January 1647 William Button 1st Baronet (age 63) was fined £2380 for having supported the King during the Civil War.
On 16th January 1655 William Button 1st Baronet (age 71) died. He was buried at St James the Great Church, North Wraxall. His son William (age 33) succeeded 2nd Baronet Button of Alton in Wiltshire.
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 1857 V4 Pages 307-363. "The morrow after Twelfday, Mr. Charles Seymour and Sir William Button3, mett with their packs of Hounds at the Grey-Weathers. These downes looke as if they were sowen with great Stones, very thick, and in a dusky evening, they looke like a flock of Sheep: from whence it takes its name: one might fancy it to have been the scene, where the giants fought with huge stones against the Gods. "Twas here that our game began, and the chase led us (at length) thorough the village of Aubury, into the closes there: where I was wonderfully surprized at the sight of those vast stones, of which I had never heard before: as also at the mighty Bank and graffe4" about it: I observed in the inclosure some segments of rude circles, made with these stones, whence I concluded, they had been in the old time complete. I left my company a while, entertaining myselfe with a more delightfull indagation: and then (steered by the cry of the Hounds) overtooke the company, and went with them to Kynnet, where was a good hunting dinner provided.
"Our repast was cheerfull, which being ended, we remounted, and beat over the downes with our greyhounds. In this afternoon's diversion I happened to see Wensditch (sic), and an old camp and two or three sepulchres. The evening put a period to our sport, and we returned to the Castle at Marleborough, where we were nobly entertained; juvat hec meminisse5. I thinke I am the only surviving gentleman of that company.
Note 1. It is here printed from a transcript from the original MS. taken for the purpose of the present paper, and the accompanying illustrations have been reduced from very accurate facsimiles of Aubrey's sketches, which the writer has presented to the Society's Library and Museum at Devizes.
Note 2. Then of Allingham neer Chippenham: since Ld Seymour.
Note 3. Of Tottenham, Baronet. Tockenham.
Note 4. Ditch.
Note 5. it helps to remember this.
Father: William Button of Alton and Tockenham Court in Lyneham in Wiltshire
GrandFather: John Lamb
Mother: Jane Lamb