The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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Paternal Family Tree: Campbell
On 18th June 1903 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll was born to [his father] Douglas Walter Campbell [aged 26].
On 5th January 1926 [his father] Douglas Walter Campbell [aged 48] died.
On 12th December 1927 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 24] and Janet Gladys Aitken [aged 19] were married.
In January 1933 Hugh Houston Smiley 3rd Baronet [aged 28] and Nancy Beaton [aged 23] were married. The eight bridesmaids included the bride's sister Barbara "Baba" Beaton [aged 20], [his future wife] Margaret Whigham [aged 20], Lady Bridget Poulett [aged 20], and Lady Anne Wellesley [aged 22]
On 21st February 1933 Charles Francis Sweeny [aged 23] and [his future wife] Margaret Whigham [aged 20] were married at the Brompton Oratory, Kensington.
Barbara "Baba" Beaton [aged 21] and Bridget Poulet [aged 21] were bridesmaids.
Hartford Courant:
Miss Margaret Whigham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Hay Whifham of Ascot, England, was married in London Tuesday to Mr. Charles Sweeney, young American golfer, in Brompton Oratory. This famous Catholic church was thronged with fashionable guests. Outside another crowd, composed largely of women eager to see the brlde, was so large that forty policemen had great difficulty in maintaining traffic lines.
The bride arrived few minutes late. She wore a pearl white satin gown embroidered with pearls. The eighteen-foot train was edged with cloud-like layers or pearl-embroidered silk net. Her veil or tulle, fitted closely like a cap, was held with a narrow filet of pearl leaves interwoven with orange blossoms. She carried a bouquet or white lilies.
There were nine bridesmaids. All dressed in whitc with wreaths or red flowers. They were Lady Bridget Poulett and Miss Shelia Berry, Miss Jeanne Stourton, Miss Margaret Livingstone-Learmouth, Miss Baba Beaton, Miss Angela Brett, Miss Dawn Gold, Miss Molly Vaughan and Miss Pamela Nicholl. The ushers included the Earl of Birkenhead [aged 25] and Mr. Randolph Churchill [aged 21].
The bride was given by her father, who is connected with an American business firm. The best man was Mr. Robert Sweeney, brother of the bridegroom. Mrs. Whigham, who has a home at 55 Princeiss Gate, gave the wedding reception. The couple then departed for Paris. Later they will cruise in the West Indies.
Among the many wedding presents were a pair of gold cuff links for the bridegroom from the Prlnce of Wales, who last year selected Mr. Sweeney, then captain of the Oxford University golf team, as his partner in the Navy and Royal Marines golf tournament. Mr. Sweeney first played golf here as an American schoolboy in the boys amateur golf championship, which he was runner-up. His brother also attended Oxford and frequently was his golf partner.
In or before 1935 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 31] and Janet Gladys Aitken [aged 26] were divorced.
In 1935 William Drogo Sturges Montagu [aged 26] and [his former wife] Janet Gladys Aitken [aged 26] were married. He the son of George Charles Montagu 9th Earl Sandwich [aged 60] and Alberta Sturges Countess Sandwich [aged 57].
On 23rd November 1935 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 32] and Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 30] were married.
On 28th August 1937 [his son] Ian Campbell 12th Duke of Argyll was born to Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 34] and [his wife] Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 32]. He married 1964 Iona Colquhoun Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Ivar Iain Colquhoun 8th Baronet, and had issue.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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On 11th July 1942 Major Thomas Edward Dealtry Kidd and [his former wife] Janet Gladys Aitken [aged 34] were married.
In 1947 Charles Francis Sweeny [aged 37] and [his future wife] Margaret Whigham Duchess of Argyll [aged 34] were divorced.
On 20th August 1949 Niall Campbell 10th Duke Argyll [aged 77] died. His first cousin once removed Ian [aged 46] succeeded 11th Duke Argyll, 8th Baron Hamilton of Hameldon in Leicestershire. [his wife] Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 44] by marriage Duchess Argyll.
Before 22nd March 1951 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 47] and Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 46] were divorced.
On 22nd March 1951 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 47] and Margaret Whigham Duchess of Argyll [aged 38] were married. His third marriage, her second. She by marriage Duchess Argyll.
1953. Paul Tanqueray [aged 47]. Photograph of [his wife] Margaret Whigam Duchess of Argyll [aged 40] and Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 49].
Source: National Portrait Gallery.
In 1963 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 59] and Margaret Whigham Duchess of Argyll [aged 50] were divorced following a scandalous divorce case. He suspected the Duchess of infidelity and, while she was in New York, engaged a locksmith to break open a cupboard at their Mayfair home, 48 Upper Grosvenor Street. A list of as many as eighty-eight men with whom the Duke believed his wife had consorted was produced. The list is said to include two government ministers and three members of the British royal family.
In 1964 Ian Campbell 12th Duke of Argyll [aged 26] and Iona Colquhoun Duchess of Argyll [aged 18] were married. She by marriage Duchess Argyll. He the son of Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 60] and Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 59].
On 10th February 1970 [his former wife] Louise Clews Duchess of Argyll [aged 65] died.
On 7th April 1973 Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll [aged 69] died. His son Ian [aged 35] succeeded 12th Duke Argyll, 9th Baron Hamilton of Hameldon in Leicestershire.
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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On 18th November 1988 [his former wife] Janet Gladys Aitken [aged 80] died.
On 25th July 1993 [his former wife] Margaret Whigham Duchess of Argyll [aged 80] died at St George's Nursing Home, Pimlico. She was buried with her first husband Charles Francis Sweeny, who had died four months before, at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking.
Kings Wessex: Great x 25 Grand Son of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England
Kings Gwynedd: Great x 22 Grand Son of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd
Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 28 Grand Son of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth
Kings Powys: Great x 23 Grand Son of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys
Kings Godwinson: Great x 26 Grand Son of King Harold II of England
Kings England: Great x 13 Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Kings Scotland: Great x 24 Grand Son of King Duncan I of Scotland
Kings Franks: Great x 32 Grand Son of Charles "Charlemagne aka Great" King of the Franks King Lombardy Holy Roman Emperor
Kings France: Great x 16 Grand Son of Charles "Beloved Mad" VI King France
Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 30 Grand Son of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Campbell 4th Duke Argyll 7 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Campbell 5th Duke Argyll 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandmother: Mary Drummond Bellenden 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England
Great x 2 Grandfather: John Douglas Edward Henry Campbell 7th Duke Argyll 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandfather: John Barnaby Gunning
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Gunning Duchess Hamilton and Argyll
Great x 4 Grandmother: Bridget Bourke
Great x 1 Grandfather: George Douglas Campbell 8th Duke Argyll 10 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 3 Grandfather: John Glassel
Great x 2 Grandmother: Joan Glassel
GrandFather: Walter Campbell 11 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandfather: Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Marquess Stafford 10 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: George Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Duke Sutherland 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandmother: Louisa Egerton Countess Gower 
7 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 2 Grandfather: George Sutherland Leveson-Gower 2nd Duke Sutherland 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Sutherland 18th Earl Sutherland 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 3 Grandmother: Elizabeth Sutherland Duchess Sutherland 19th Countess Sutherland 9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Georgiana Leveson-Gower Duchess Argyll 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandfather: Frederick Howard 5th Earl Carlisle 
11 x Great Grand Son of King Edward III of England
Great x 3 Grandfather: George Howard 6th Earl Carlisle 9 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandmother: Margaret Caroline Leveson-Gower Countess Carlisle 8 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 2 Grandmother: Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard Duchess Sutherland 10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandfather: William Cavendish 5th Duke Devonshire 8 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 3 Grandmother: Georgiana Cavendish Countess Carlisle 
9 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Great x 4 Grandmother: Georgiana Spencer Duchess Devonshire 
10 x Great Grand Daughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
Father: Douglas Walter Campbell 12 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland
GrandMother: Olivia Milns
Ian Campbell 11th Duke of Argyll 13 x Great Grand Son of King Henry VII of England and Ireland