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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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Colonel William Cosby 1690-1736

In 1690 Colonel William Cosby was born.

On 24th August 1705 Colonel William Cosby [aged 15] was promoted to Cornet of the 5th Dragoon Guards.

In 1710 Colonel William Cosby [aged 20] joined the army in Spain.

In 1711 Colonel William Cosby [aged 21] and Grace Montagu [aged 21] were married. They had five children.

After 1711 George Montagu 1st Earl Halifax [aged 27] and Mary Lumley Countess Halifax [aged 20] were married. She the daughter of Richard Lumley 1st Earl Scarborough [aged 61] and Frances Jones Countess Scarborough [aged 43]. They were fifth cousin once removed.

On 15th April 1711 Colonel William Cosby [aged 21] was promoted to Captain of the 2nd Dragoon Guards, Harvey's Regiment of Horse.

In 1715 George Montagu 1st Earl Halifax [aged 31] was created 1st Earl Halifax. Mary Lumley Countess Halifax [aged 24] by marriage Countess Halifax.

On 19th May 1715 Charles Montagu 1st Earl Halifax [aged 54] died. Earl Halifax extinct. His nephew George [aged 31] succeeded 2nd Baron Halifax.

On 24th December 1717 Colonel William Cosby [aged 27] was promoted to Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Ireland. The next year, this regiment was transferred to Menorca, in the Balearic Islands. Cosby acted as governor of Menorca from 1718.

In 1721 [his daughter] Elizabeth Cosby was born to Colonel William Cosby [aged 31]. She married March 1734 Augustus Fitzroy, son of Charles Fitzroy 2nd Duke Grafton and Henrietta Somerset Duchess Grafton, and had issue.

On 13th January 1732 Colonel William Cosby [aged 42] was appointed "Captain General & Governor in Chief of the Provinces of New York, New Jersey and Territories depending thereon in America".

On 2nd January 1734 Colonel William Cosby [aged 44] was granted 22,000 acres on the Mohawk River, in what is now Herkimer County, New York. The land was named Cosby's Manor in 1736, and sold in 1772 to Philip Schuyler and four other proprietors.

In March 1734 [his son-in-law] Augustus Fitzroy [aged 17] and [his daughter] Elizabeth Cosby [aged 13] were married. He the son of Charles Fitzroy 2nd Duke Grafton [aged 50] and Henrietta Somerset Duchess Grafton.

On 29th September 1735 Colonel William Cosby [aged 45] was promoted to Vice-Admiral.

On 30th November 1735 Colonel William Cosby [aged 45] was promoted to Brigadier-General.

On 10th March 1736 Colonel William Cosby [aged 46] died of tuberculosis between 1 and 2 pm, in the Governor's House at Fort George, New York, today's Battery Park, New York City. He was initially buried in a vault at Fort George's chapel. But in 1788, his remains were moved to an unmarked grave at St Paul Church's Cemetery, New York, together with the remains of the Earl of Bellomont, who served as New York governor between 1698 and 1701.

On 25th December 1767 [his former wife] Grace Montagu [aged 77] died.