Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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Maternal Family Tree: Constance Mary Beckett Baroness Aberdare
On 10th February 1880 [her father] Henry Bruce 2nd Baron Aberdare [aged 28] and [her mother] Constance Mary Beckett Baroness Aberdare were married. She by marriage Baroness Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
On 17th June 1892 Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery was born to Henry Bruce 2nd Baron Aberdare [aged 40] and Constance Mary Beckett Baroness Aberdare.
On 25th February 1895 [her grandfather] Henry Bruce 1st Baron Aberdare [aged 79] died. His son [her father] Henry [aged 43] succeeded 2nd Baron Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
On 21st July 1904 [her brother-in-law] Orlando Bridgeman 5th Earl Bradford [aged 30] and [her sister] Margaret Cecilia Bruce Countess Bradford [aged 21] were married. He the son of George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman 4th Earl Bradford [aged 59] and Ida Frances Annabella Lumley Countess Bradford [aged 55].
On 15th April 1909 [her future husband] Albert Archibald Primrose 6th Earl Rosebery 2nd Earl Midlothian [aged 27] and Dorothy Grosvenor [aged 18] were married. He the son of [her future father-in-law] Archibald Philip Primrose 5th Earl Rosebery 1st Earl Midlothian [aged 61] and Hannah Rothschild Countess of Rosebery.
On 26th April 1911 Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 27] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 18] were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map].
On 28th April 1912 [her son] Alexander Ronald George Strutt 4th Baron Belper was born to [her husband] Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 28] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 19].
In 1914 [her son] Michael Strutt was born to [her husband] Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 30] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 21].
On 26th July 1914 [her father-in-law] Henry Strutt 2nd Baron Belper [aged 74] died. His son [her husband] Algernon [aged 31] succeeded 3rd Baron Belper. Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 22] by marriage Baroness Belper.
Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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In 1915 George Cecil Orlando Bridgeman 4th Earl Bradford [aged 70] died. His son [her brother-in-law] Orlando [aged 41] succeeded 5th Earl Bradford, 5th Viscount Newport of Shropshire, 6th Baron Bradford in Shropshire, 10th Baronet Bridgeman of Great Lever in Lancashire. [her sister] Margaret Cecilia Bruce Countess Bradford [aged 32] by marriage Countess Bradford.
In 22nd March 1916 [her daughter] Lavinia Mary Strutt Duchess Norfolk was born to [her husband] Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 32] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 23]. She married 27th January 1937 Bernard Fitzalan 16th Duke of Norfolk, son of Henry Fitzalan Howard 15th Duke of Norfolk and Gwendolen Constable-Maxwell Duchess Norfolk, and had issue.
In 1919 [her future husband] Albert Archibald Primrose 6th Earl Rosebery 2nd Earl Midlothian [aged 36] and Dorothy Grosvenor [aged 28] were divorced.
Before 16th June 1919 [her brother] Clarence Bruce 3rd Baron Aberdare [aged 33] and [her sister-in-law] Margaret Bethune Black Baroness Aberdare were married. She by marriage Baroness Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
In 1924 Albert Archibald Primrose 6th Earl Rosebery 2nd Earl Midlothian [aged 41] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 31] were married. She by marriage Countess Rosebery, Countess Midlothian. He the son of Archibald Philip Primrose 5th Earl Rosebery 1st Earl Midlothian [aged 76] and Hannah Rothschild Countess of Rosebery.
On 11th February 1929 [her son] Neil Primrose 7th Earl of Rosebery 3rd Earl Midlothian was born to [her husband] Albert Archibald Primrose 6th Earl Rosebery 2nd Earl Midlothian [aged 47] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 36].
On 20th February 1929 [her father] Henry Bruce 2nd Baron Aberdare [aged 77] died. His son [her brother] Clarence [aged 43] succeeded 3rd Baron Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
On 21st May 1929 [her father-in-law] Archibald Philip Primrose 5th Earl Rosebery 1st Earl Midlothian [aged 82] died. His son [her husband] Albert [aged 47] succeeded 6th Earl Rosebery, 2nd Earl Midlothian, 2nd Viscount Mentmore of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, 2nd Baron Epsom of Hyde in Surrey.
On 11th November 1931 [her step-son] Archie Primrose [aged 21] died of blood poisoning at Oxford, Oxfordshire [Map].
On 27th January 1937 [her son-in-law] Bernard Fitzalan 16th Duke of Norfolk [aged 28] and Lavinia Mary Strutt Duchess Norfolk [aged 20] were married. She by marriage Duchess Norfolk. She the daughter of Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 53] and Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 44]. He the son of Henry Fitzalan Howard 15th Duke of Norfolk and Gwendolen Constable-Maxwell Duchess Norfolk [aged 60].
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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The Times. 28th January 1937. The Duke Of Norfolk And Miss Strutt.
Princess Alice Countess of Athlone [aged 53] and Major-General the Earl of Athlone [aged 63], and Prince Arthur of Connaught [aged 54] were present yesterday afternoon at the marriage at Brompton Oratory of the Duke of Norfolk, Premier Peer and Hereditary Earl Marshal of England, and the Hon. Lavinia Mary Strutt [aged 20], only daughter of Lord Belper [aged 53] and the Countess of Rosebery [aged 44].
Princess Alice wore a mink coat over a dress of burgundy-red crepe, with a small red hat to match.
The Oratory was decorated with four large stands of flowers, placed at the chancel steps. They were in mixed shades of red and included amaryllis lilies, poinsettia, anthuriums, roses, carnations, and red leaves. While the guests were arriving the organist played Mendelssohn's Allegretto from the Fourth Sonata, Elgar's Allegro Maestoso from the First Sonata, and the prelude and fugue in E flat, and the organ choral "Mortify us by Thy Goodness" by J. S. Bach.
The bride arrived with her father, Lord Belper, and was loudly cheered by the crowd outside the Oratory, who broke through the police cordon. She walked up the nave to Handel's March from the Occasional Oratorio, and was met by Father Talbot and Father John Cuddon. Miss Strutt wore a classically simple dress of silver lame, cut on straight sheath lines with long tight sleeves and a high round roll collar. The skirt just touched the ground and was continued at the back to form a long square train. She wore a girdle of silver cord knotted in front. Her long veil of white tulle fell from a simple coronet of orange-blossom and green leaves, and she carried a sheaf of arum lilies. She was followed by six little pages-Robin Herbert, Timothy Hunloke, Bob McCreery, John Scrope, George Vivian-Smith, and Michael Watt; and by six bridesmaids-Lady Katharine [aged 25] and Lady Winefride Howard [aged 23] (sisters of the bridegroom), Lady Anne Bridgeman [aged 23], the Hon. Pamela Digby [aged 16], Miss Gillian Drummond, and Miss Nancy Malcolmnson. The bridegroom's [aged 28] racing colours, pale blue and scarlet, were introduced into the dresses and suits of the attendants. The pages were in pale blue satin suits piped with scarlet, and the bridesmaids wore dresses of sky-blue corded crepe, with touches of scarlet at the waistline. They had high rounded necklines with long bell sleeves and their headdresses of red bavardia were massed in front. They carried bouquets of red flowers, including tulips, amaryllis lilies, carnations, and euphorbia. The bridegroom gave them brooches showing his and his bride's initials in rubies and diamonds. The Earl of Eldon [aged 37] was best man.
The marriage service was very short and non-choral, as the bride is not a Roman Catholic. After they had plighted their troth Father Ronald Knox gave an address from the centre of the transept. The bride and bridegroom remained kneeling at the chancel steps, facing the altar. They then went in procession to the vestry, where the registrar, Mr. J. P. Bond, conducted the civil ceremony.
Afterwards the bride and bridegroom left for 38, Mayfair (the residence of the Earl of Rosebery [aged 55]), where the Countess of Rosebery held a reception. The bride went away for the honeymoon in a dress of black and red shot silk taffeta, under a broadtail coat with a fur cap to match.
Among those present at the Oratory were:
The Earl and Countess of Rosebery.
The Duchess of Norfolk [aged 60].
Lady Rachel Howard [aged 32].
Lady Belper.
the Hon. Alexander [aged 24] and the Hon. Michael Strutt [aged 23], the Hon. Mrs. Parry-Evans. Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Vernon Malcolmsonson, Lord and Lady Aberdare, the Hon. Margaret Strutt, the Hon. Mrs. Frank Hormsby, etc.
On 25th August 1942 the Dunbeath Air Crash at Eagle's Rock [Map] near Dunbeath killed 14 of 15 passengers and crew, including Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was on duty as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force on a mission to Reykjavik. A Royal Air Force Board of Inquiry determined that the crash was the result of a navigational error by the crew.
Prince George Windsor 1st Duke Kent [aged 39] died in a plane crashEdward Windsor 2nd Duke Kent [aged 6] succeeded 2nd Duke Kent.
Also killed were:
Lt. John Crowther, RNVR Private Secretary.
LAC. John Walter Holes, Batman.
Flt Lt. Frank McKenzie Goyen, 42057 RAF, Captain (Pilot).
Wg Cdr. Thomas Lawton Moseley, 33064 RAF, CO of 228 Squadron, 1st pilot.
Pilot Officer Sydney Wood Smith, 403961 RAAF, 2nd pilot.
Pilot Officer George Richard Saunders, 126975 RAFVR, Navigator.
Pilot Officer [her son] Michael Strutt [aged 28] J15062 RCAF, Air Gunner.
Flight Sargeant William Royston Jones 523047 RAF, Flight Mechanic Engineer / Air Gunner.
Flight Sargeant Charles Norman Lewis 517386 RAF, Airframe Fitter.
Flight Sargeant Ernest James Hewerdine 566884 RAF, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner.
Flight Sargeant Andrew Simpson Wilson Jack 970168 RAFVR, Air Gunner (Rear).
Sgt. Edward Francis Blacklock 405467 RNZAF, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner.
Sgt. Arthur Rowland Catt 1252994 RAFVR, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner.
Sgt. Leonard Edward Sweett 570678 RAF, Fitter.
On 16th April 1949 [her sister] Margaret Cecilia Bruce Countess Bradford [aged 66] died.
On 20th May 1956 [her husband] Algernon Strutt 3rd Baron Belper [aged 73] died. His son Alexander [aged 44] succeeded 4th Baron Belper.
On 12th September 1957 [her brother] Clarence Bruce 3rd Baron Aberdare [aged 72] and [her sister-in-law] Griselda Hervey Baroness Aberdare were married. She by marriage Baroness Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
On 4th October 1957 [her brother] Clarence Bruce 3rd Baron Aberdare [aged 72] died in a car accident. He and his wife [her sister-in-law] Griselda Hervey Baroness Aberdare were returning from Yugoslavia where he had attended the 53rd Session of the International Olympic Committe in Sofia, as part of their honeymoon. Their car left the road near Risan and fell into the sea. He was drowned, his wife injured.
[her nephew] Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce 4th Baron Aberdare [aged 38] succeeded 4th Baron Aberdare of Duffryn in Glamorganshire.
On 13th March 1967 [her sister-in-law] Margaret Etrenne Hannah "Peggy" Primrose Marchioness Crewe [aged 86] died.
On 31st May 1974 [her husband] Albert Archibald Primrose 6th Earl Rosebery 2nd Earl Midlothian [aged 92] died. His son Neil [aged 45] succeeded 7th Earl Rosebery, 3rd Earl Midlothian, 3rd Viscount Mentmore of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, 3rd Baron Epsom of Hyde in Surrey.
On 29th January 1987 Eva Isabel Countess Rosebery [aged 94] died and [her mother] Constance Mary Beckett Baroness Aberdare.
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Knight
Great x 1 Grandfather: John Knight aka Bruce aka Bruce-Pryce
Great x 3 Grandfather: William Bruce
Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Bruce
GrandFather: Henry Bruce 1st Baron Aberdare
Father: Henry Bruce 2nd Baron Aberdare
GrandFather: Hamilton Beckett
Mother: Constance Mary Beckett Baroness Aberdare