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All About History Books

The 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. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

Biography of Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley 1843-1920

On 27th February 1843 Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley was born illegitimately to Alexander Erskine Holmes.

On 4th June 1867 Garnet Wolseley 1st Viscount Wolseley (age 34) and Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 24) were married.

On 15th September 1872 [her daughter] Frances Garnet Wolseley 2nd Viscountess Wolseley was born to Garnet Wolseley 1st Viscount Wolseley (age 39) and Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 29).

1882. Bassano Ltd. Photograph of Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 38).

The London Gazette 25170. Whitehall, November 20, 1882. THE Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, granting the dignity of a Baron of the said United Kingdom unto General Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley (age 49), G.C.B., G.C.M.G., Adjutant General of Her Majesty's Forces, and late General Commanding-in-Chief the Expeditionary Force in Egypt, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Baron Wolseley of Cairo, and of Wolseley, in the county of Stafford. [Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 39) by marriage Baroness Wolseley of Cairo and Wolseley in Staffordshire.]

1884. Julian Russell Story (age 26). Portrait of Dowager Viscountess Wolseley, Louisa Erskine Holmes (age 40).

The London Gazette 25514. Whitehall, September 25, 1885. THE Queen has been pleased to direct Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal, granting the dignity of a Viscount of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto Garnet Joseph (age 52), Baron Wolseley, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., General and General Officer Commanding in Chief the Forces in Egypt, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, by the name, style, and title of Viscount Wolseley, of Wolseley, in the county of Stafford, and in default of such issue male the dignity of a Viscountess to [her daughter] Frances Garnet Wolseley (age 13), Spinster, only daughter of the said Garnet Joseph, Baron Wolseley, and after her decease, the dignity of a Viscount to the heirs male of her body lawfully begotten. [See Viscountcies of England Created with a Special Remainder, Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 42) by marriage Viscountess Wolseley of Wolseley in Staffordshire.]

On 20th April 1920 Louisa Erskine Holmes Viscountess Wolseley (age 77) died.

Daily Mail (Hull, Humberside, England), Friday, April 16, 1920, Page 3:

"The late Dowager Viscountess Wolseley was buried privately in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral yesterday, her expressed wish for a simple burial being fully observed. Admission to the crypt was by ticket, and only about 30 relatives and intimate friends saw the ashes, which had been brought to the cathedral overnight from Golder's Green Crematorium, interred besides Lord Wolseley's tomb."