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 4th July 1882 [his father] Alfred Cooper [aged 44] and [his step-mother] Agnes Cecil Emmeline Duff [aged 30] were married. She the daughter of James Duff 5th Earl Fife and Agnes Georgiana Elizabeth Hay Countess Fife.
On 22nd February 1890 Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich was born to [his father] Alfred Cooper [aged 52].
On 3rd March 1908 [his father] Alfred Cooper [aged 70] died.
On 2nd June 1919 Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich [aged 29] and Diana Manners Viscountess Norwich [aged 27] were married. She the daughter of Henry John Brinsley Manners 8th Duke Rutland [aged 67] and Violet Lindsay Duchess Rutland [aged 63].
On 8th May 1925 [his father-in-law] Henry John Brinsley Manners 8th Duke Rutland [aged 73] died. His son [his brother-in-law] John [aged 38] succeeded 9th Duke Rutland, 9th Marquess Grandby, 17th Earl of Rutland, 9th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire, 3rd Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire. Kathleen Tennant Duchess Rutland [aged 30] by marriage Duchess Rutland.
On 15th September 1929 [his son] John Julius Cooper 2nd Viscount Norwich was born to Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich [aged 39] and [his wife] Diana Manners Viscountess Norwich [aged 37]. He married (1) before 1959 Anne Frances May Clifford (2) before 1st June 2018 Mary Makins, daughter of Roger Makins 1st Baron Sherfield and Alice Brooks Davis.
Before 18th September 1937 Lois Sturt [aged 37] had relationships with Reginald Herbert 15th Earl Pembroke 12th Earl Montgomery [aged 57], Prince George Windsor 1st Duke Kent [aged 34], Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich [aged 47] and Augustus John [aged 59].
On 22nd April 1940 [his brother-in-law] John Henry Montagu Manners 9th Duke Rutland [aged 53] died of pneumonia at Belvoir Castle [Map]. His son Charles [aged 20] succeeded 10th Duke Rutland, 10th Marquess Grandby, 18th Earl of Rutland, 10th Baron Manners of Haddon in Derbyshire, 4th Baron Roos of Belvoir in Leicestershire.
On 3rd November 1946 [his sister-in-law] Victoria Marjorie Harriet Manners Marchioness Anglesey [aged 62] died. She was buried at St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen [Map].
In 1950 Count Alain Le Bailly de La Falaise [aged 45] and Maxime Birley [aged 27] were divorced following a series of her infidelities, including an affair with British ambassador Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich [aged 59].
Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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The London Gazette 39592. Whitehall, July 8, 1952
The Queen has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, bearing date the 5th instant, to confer the dignity of a Viscount of the United Kingdom upon the Right Honourable Sir Alfred Duff Cooper [aged 62], GCMG, DSO, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style and title of VISCOUNT NORWICH, of Aldwick in the County of Sussex. [[his wife] Diana Manners Viscountess Norwich [aged 60] by marriage Viscountess Norwich of Aldwick in Sussex.]
On 1st January 1954 Alfred Duff Cooper 1st Viscount Norwich [aged 63] died. His son John [aged 24] succeeded 2nd Viscount Norwich of Aldwick in Sussex.
In 1986 [his former wife] Diana Manners Viscountess Norwich [aged 94] died.