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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Between 20th January 1900 and 24th January 1900 General Buller [aged 60] with 30,000 men under his command attempted to capture Scion Kop hill as a step towards relieving Ladysmith. On the night of 23 January in heavy mist the British launched an attack on what they thought was Spion Kop, but it turned out to be a smaller mound some 500 m from the main peak. The following day there was bloody fighting as the British tried to force their way to the top of the main peak. By nightfall both sides thought that the other had taken the hill, so they abandoned their positions and it was only once a Boer scout realised the situation that the Boers retook the hill and the British withdrew back across the Tugela.
John Spencer Cavendish [aged 24] was present.
On 23 and 24th January 1900 the Battle of Spion Kop was fought between British and Boer forces.
Robert Calverley Bewicke fought.
On 24th January 1900 Lieutenant Neville Windsor Hill-Trevor [aged 31] was killed in action at the battle of Battle of Spion Kop serving with the 2nd Life Guards of Thornycroft's Mounted Infantry.
On 24th January 1900 Hugh Stewart McCorquodale [aged 24] was killed in action at the Battle of Spion Kop.
Hugh Stewart McCorquodale: On 18th August 1875 he was born to George McCorquodale and Emily Sanderson at Miningsby, Kirkcudbrightshire.
