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 1879 Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter was born to Levi Zeigler Leiter (age 44) in Chicago.
1898. John Singer Sargent (age 41). Portrait of Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 19).
On 31st March 1898 Henry Charles Howard 18th Earl Suffolk 11th Earl Berkshire (age 64) died. His son [her future husband] Henry (age 20) succeeded 19th Earl Suffolk, 12th Earl Berkshire, 12th Viscount Andover in Hampshire, 12th Baron Howard of Charlton in Wiltshire.
After 1900. Bassano Ltd. Photograph of Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 21)
On 9th June 1904 [her father] Levi Zeigler Leiter (age 69) died.
On 26th December 1904 Henry Molyneux Paget Howard 19th Earl Suffolk 12th Earl Berkshire (age 27) and Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 25) were married. She a wealthy American heiress, one of many who married into English nobilty around the time. He the son of Henry Charles Howard 18th Earl Suffolk 11th Earl Berkshire and Mary Eleanor Coventry Countess Suffolk and Berkshire (age 57).
1905. John Singer Sargent (age 48). Portrait of Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 26).
On 2nd March 1906 Charles Howard 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl Berkshire was born to [her husband] Henry Molyneux Paget Howard 19th Earl Suffolk 12th Earl Berkshire (age 28) and Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 27). He married March 1934 Minnie "Mimi" Forde-Pigott Countess of Suffolk and Berkshire and had issue.
On 21st April 1917 [her husband] Henry Molyneux Paget Howard 19th Earl Suffolk 12th Earl Berkshire (age 39) was killed in action when a piece of shrapnel entered his heart. His son [her son] Charles (age 11) succeeded 20th Earl Suffolk, 13th Earl Berkshire.
In March 1934 [her son] Charles Howard 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl Berkshire (age 27) and [her daughter-in-law] Minnie "Mimi" Forde-Pigott Countess of Suffolk and Berkshire (age 36) were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk, Countess Berkshire. He the son of [her former husband] Henry Molyneux Paget Howard 19th Earl Suffolk 12th Earl Berkshire and (age 55).
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 12th May 1941 [her son] Charles Howard 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl Berkshire (age 35) was killed. He had successfully defused thirty-four bombs. The thirty-fifth exploded at Erith Marshes, Kent bomb cemetery. The 250kg bomb, dropped six months earlier, contained a Zus 40 booby trap that detonated when the Type 17 fuse was withdrawn. The explosion killed fourteen people: the Earl, his chauffeur Fred Hards, his secretary Eileen Beryl Morden (who died in the ambulance), and eleven other people who were nearby.
[her grandson] Michael Howard 21st Earl of Suffolk, 14th Earl Berkshire (age 6) succeeded 21st Earl Suffolk, 14th Earl Berkshire, 13th Viscount Andover in Hampshire, 13th Baron Howard of Charlton in Wiltshire.
On 5th March 1968 Margaret Hyde "Daisy" Leiter (age 89) died.