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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Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby is in Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire [Map], Churches in Northamptonshire.
Floor tiles at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map]: Here lies the bodies of Jane the first wife of Spencer Compton 8th Earl of Northampton, Charles Compton 1st Marquess Northampton, Mary his wife also of Spencer Second Marquis of Northampton and Margaret his wife and also his grandchildren.
Jane Lawton Countess Northampton: In 1758 Spencer Compton 8th Earl of Northampton and she were married. On 18th October 1763 Charles Compton 7th Earl of Northampton died. His brother Spencer succeeded 8th Earl of Northampton. She by marriage Countess of Northampton. On 26th November 1767 she died.
Churchyard at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map] with various graves of the Compton family.










Monument to an unknown knight. Early Medieval Period. Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map].


Circa 1410. Brass at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map] to Walter Ermyn Rector He is represented vested in a cope, upon the borders of which are engraved small figures of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, and St. Lawrence on one side, and on the other St. Anne, St. Katharine, St. Margaret, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Elena.


On 2nd April 1830 Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane Marchioness Northampton [aged 38] died in Rome. She was buried in Naples. Monument at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map] sculpted by Pietro Tenerani [aged 40] in 1836.



On 17th January 1851 Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton [aged 61] died. He was buried at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map]. His son Charles [aged 35] succeeded 3rd Marquess Northampton, 11th Earl of Northampton, 3rd Earl Compton of Compton in Warwickshire, 3rd Baron Wilmington of Wilmington in Sussex.
After 17th January 1851. Monument to Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton [deceased] at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map]. Angel of the Resurrection sculpted by Pietro Tenerani [aged 61] in 1866. The quote from First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 15 Verse 52. The inscription on the side Marmoris hoc sculpti eloquens silentium spe futuri patri charissimo dicavit filius.




On 22nd May 1858 Margaret Compton [aged 28] died from childbirth. Monument at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map] erected by her husband Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower [aged 39]. Sculpted by Baron Pietro Carlo Marochetti [aged 53].
Margaret Compton: On 14th March 1830 she was born to Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton and Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane Marchioness Northampton in Rome, Italy [Map]. On 1st June 1851 Edward Frederick Leveson-Gower and she were married at St Margaret's Church, Westminster [Map]. She the daughter of Spencer Compton 2nd Marquess Northampton and Margaret Douglas-Maclean-Clephane Marchioness Northampton. He the son of Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Granville and Harriet Cavendish Countess Granville. They were half fifth cousin once removed.







After 1945. Memorial to those who died in WWII at Church of St Mary Magdalen, Castle Ashby [Map].