Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough
A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'
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Serjeant at Law is in Sarjeant.
In 1330 Robert Parning was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 2nd January 1453 Thomas Billing was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1478 Roger Townshend (age 53) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1478 Humphrey Starkey of Wouldham in Kent (age 39) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
Around May 1478 William Hussey (age 35) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1503 Robert Brudenell (age 42) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 9th July 1507 Lewis Pollard (age 42) was appointed Serjeant at Law amidst a great celebration at Lambeth, with the king and a thousand guests in attendance.
In 1521 Robert Norwich was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1531 Roger Cholmeley (age 36) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
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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In 1540 Robert Townshend was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1547 John Pollard was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1552 Robert Keilway (age 55) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1552 William Stanford (age 42) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 18th June 1567 Christopher Wray (age 43) was appointed Serjeant at Law at Lincoln's Inn.
In 1577 Robert Bell (age 38) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1580 John Puckering (age 36) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 16th October 1580 Edward Flowerdew was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1589 John Glanville (age 47) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
In February 1604 Thomas Harries aka Harris 1st Baronet (age 54) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
After 22nd June 1623 Heneage Finch (age 43) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
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 October 1623 John Bridgeman (age 86) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
Before 1631. Unknown Painter. Portrait of Heneage Finch (age 50) in the robes of Serjeant at Law.
In 1654 Thomas Twisden 1st Baronet (age 51) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 8th November 1661 John Kelyng (age 54) was appointed Serjeant at Law.
On 20th May 1668 John Vaughan of Transgoed (age 64) was knighted and appointed Serjeant at Law.
In 1677 Thomas Strode of Parnham (age 49) was appointed Serjeant at Law.