William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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Paternal Family Tree: Astor
In 1829 Jane Waldo died. Her cousin, also Jane, inherited Hever Castle, Kent [Map]. Jane died in 1841. The castle as inherited by Edmund Wakefield Meade who was connected to the Waldo family by marriage, and had adopted the Waldo surname. Meade Waldo, great grandson of Edmund, sold the castle on the 27th of July 1903 to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor.
On 31st March 1848 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor was born.
On 6th June 1878 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 30] and Mary Dahlgren Paul [aged 20] were married.
On 19th May 1879 [his son] Waldorf Astor 2nd Viscount Astor was born to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 31] and [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul [aged 21]. He married 3rd May 1906 Nancy Witcher Langhorne Viscountess Astor and had issue.
On 20th May 1886 [his son] John Jacob Astor 1st Baron Astor was born to William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 38] and [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul [aged 28]. He married 28th August 1916 Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound Baroness Astor, daughter of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound 4th Earl Minto and Mary Caroline Grey Countess Minto, and had issue.
On 22nd December 1894 [his wife] Mary Dahlgren Paul [aged 36] died.
1898. Hubert von Herkomer 1849 1914 [aged 48]. Portrait of William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 49].
In On 3rd May 1906 [his son] Waldorf Astor 2nd Viscount Astor [aged 26] and [his daughter-in-law] Nancy Witcher Langhorne Viscountess Astor [aged 26] were married. The groom's father gave the couple the family estate of Cliveden, Buckinghamshire [Map]. They had met on an Atlantic voyage returning to Britain
The London Gazette 29454. Whitehall, January 28, 1916.
The King has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to confer the dignity of a Baron of the said United Kingdom upon the undermentioned gentlemen, and the heirs male of their respective bodies lawfully begotten: —
Admiral Sir Charles William de la Poer Beresford [aged 69], G.C.B., G.C.V.O. (commonly called Lord Charles William de la Poer Beresford), and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Beresford of Metemmeh, and of Curraghmore in the County of Waterford.
Sir Alexander Henderson, of Buscot Park, in the County of Berks, Baronet, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Faringdon, of Buscot Park in the County of Berks.
Sir Thomas George Shaughnessy, K.C.V.O., and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Shaughnessy, of the City of Montreal in the Dominion of Canada, and of Ashford in the County of Limerick.
William Waldorf Astor [aged 67], of Hever Castle, in the County of Kent, Esquire, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of Baron Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent.
On 28th August 1916 [his son] John Jacob Astor 1st Baron Astor [aged 30] and [his daughter-in-law] Violet Mary Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound Baroness Astor [aged 27] were married. She the daughter of Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound 4th Earl Minto and Mary Caroline Grey Countess Minto [aged 58].
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 1917 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 68] was created 1st Viscount Astor.
On 18th October 1919 William Waldorf Astor 1st Viscount Astor [aged 71] died. His son Waldorf [aged 40] succeeded 2nd Viscount Astor, 2nd Baron Astor.