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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Paternal Family Tree: Clive
On 18th February 1753 [his father] Robert Clive "Clive of India" [aged 27] and [his mother] Margaret Maskelyne were married at St Mary's Church, Madras.
On 7th March 1754 Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis was born to [his father] Robert Clive "Clive of India" [aged 28] and [his mother] Margaret Maskelyne.
On 22nd November 1774 [his father] Robert Clive "Clive of India" [aged 49] died.
In 1784 Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 29] and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 25] were married. She the daughter of Henry Herbert 1st Earl Powis and Barbara Herbert Countess Powis [aged 48].
On 22nd March 1785 [his son] Edward Herbert 2nd Earl Powis was born to Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 31] and [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 26]. He a great x 4 grandson of King James II of England Scotland and Ireland. He married 9th February 1818 Lucy Graham Countess Powis, daughter of James Graham 3rd Duke Montrose and Caroline Maria Montagu Duchess Montrose, and had issue.
On 12th September 1787 [his daughter] Charlotte Herbert Duchess Northumberland was born to Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 33] and [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 29]. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King James II of England Scotland and Ireland. She married 29th April 1817 Hugh Percy 3rd Duke Northumberland, son of Hugh Percy 2nd Duke Northumberland and Frances Julia Burrell Duchess Northumberland.
On 15th January 1789 [his son] Robert Henry Herbert was born to Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 34] and [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 30] at the parish of St George's Church, Hanover Square. He a great x 4 grandson of King James II of England Scotland and Ireland. He married 1819 Harriet Windsor, daughter of Other Windsor 5th Earl Plymouth and Sarah Archer Countess Plymouth and Amherst, and had issue.
In 1798 Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 43] was appointed Governor of Madras.
On 16th January 1801 [his brother-in-law] George Edward Henry Arthur Herbert 2nd Earl Powis [aged 45] died at York House Hotel Albermarle Street. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Welshpool. Earl Powis extinct. In 1784 his sister [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 42] had married Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 46] who was created Earl Powis in 1784.
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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On 14th May 1804 Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 50] was created 1st Earl Powis. [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 45] by marriage Countess Powis.
On 4th February 1817 [his son-in-law] Watkin Williams-Wynn 5th Baronet [aged 44] and Henrietta Antonia Clive Lady Williams-Wynn were married. She by marriage Lady Williams of Gray's Inn. She the daughter of Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 62] and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 58].
On 29th April 1817 [his son-in-law] Hugh Percy 3rd Duke Northumberland [aged 32] and Charlotte Herbert Duchess Northumberland [aged 29] were married at Northumberland aka Suffolk House Strand. She the daughter of Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 63] and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 58]. He the son of Hugh Percy 2nd Duke Northumberland [aged 74] and Frances Julia Burrell Duchess Northumberland [aged 64].
On 28th December 1817 [his mother] Margaret Maskelyne died.
On 9th February 1818 Edward Herbert 2nd Earl Powis [aged 32] and Lucy Graham Countess Powis [aged 24] were married. She the daughter of James Graham 3rd Duke Montrose [aged 62] and Caroline Maria Montagu Duchess Montrose. He the son of Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 63] and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 59].
In 1819 Robert Henry Herbert [aged 29] and Harriet Windsor [aged 21] were married. She the daughter of Other Windsor 5th Earl Plymouth and Sarah Archer Countess Plymouth and Amherst [aged 57]. He the son of Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 64] and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 60].
On 3rd June 1830 [his wife] Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis [aged 71] died.
On 22nd December 1835 [his daughter] Henrietta Antonia Clive Lady Williams-Wynn died.
On 16th May 1839 Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis [aged 85] died at 45 Berkeley Square, Mayfair. He was buried at St Mary the Virgin Church, Bromfield. His son Edward [aged 54] succeeded 2nd Earl Powis. Lucy Graham Countess Powis [aged 45] by marriage Countess Powis.
[his daughter] Henrietta Antonia Clive Lady Williams-Wynn was born to Edward Clive 1st Earl Powis and Henrietta Antonia Herbert 3rd Countess Powis. She a great x 4 granddaughter of King James II of England Scotland and Ireland. She married 4th February 1817 Watkin Williams-Wynn 5th Baronet, son of Watkin Williams-Wynn 4th Baronet and Charlotte Granville Lady Williams-Wynn, and had issue.
Great x 1 Grandfather: Robert Clive
GrandFather: Richard Clive
Father: Robert Clive "Clive of India"
Great x 1 Grandfather: Nathaniel Gaskell of Manchester
GrandMother: Rebecca Gaskell
GrandFather: Edmund Maskelyne of Purton in Wiltshire
Mother: Margaret Maskelyne