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 9th September 1898, or 1895, Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm was born at Woollahra, Sydney, youngest child and only daughter of grazier Harry Chisholm and his wife Margaret Mackellar. Her family moved to Sydney in 1912, she attended Kambala School for Girls.
In 1914 Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 15) and her mother sailed to England on SS Mongolia. Their stay extended as a consequence of the outbreak of the First World War.
On 21st August 1915 John Peniston Milbanke 10th Baronet (age 42) was killed in action leading his men on Hill 70 at the farthest point reached by British troops at Suvla Bay. His body was not recovered. His son [her future husband] John (age 13) succeeded 11th Baronet Milbanke of Halnaby in Yorkshire.
Before 27th December 1915 Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 17) and her mother travelled to Cairo, Egypt. Sheila volunteered to help with the nursing; while visiting John in hospital she met [her future husband] Lord Loughborough (age 23), heir to the Earl of Rosslyn.
On 27th December 1915 Francis Edward Scudamore St Clair-Erskine (age 23) and Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 17) were married at Cairo, Egypt.
In 1918 Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 19) met the King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (age 23) during an air raid when both had taken shelter in the porch of a house in Belgravia at the same time. They started a relationship which lasted until the 1930s.
In 1926 Francis Edward Scudamore St Clair-Erskine (age 33) and Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 27) were divorced.
On 11th November 1928 John Charles Peniston Milbanke 11th Baronet (age 26) and Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 30) were married at the Savoy Chapel Royal [Map]. Their wedding 1928 caused chaos in central London with people climbing on to parked cars to get a glimpse of the couple.
On 4th August 1929 [her former husband] Francis Edward Scudamore St Clair-Erskine (age 36) died.
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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1934. Yevonde Cumbers aka Madame Yevonde (age 40). Photograph on the cover of Tatler of Lady Milbanke (age 35) i.e. Sheila Chisholm.
1935. Yevonde Cumbers aka Madame Yevonde (age 41). Photograph of Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 36) as "Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons". © The Yevonde Portrait Archive.
Around 1938. Simon Elwes (age 35). Portrait of Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 39).
On 1st June 1947 [her husband] John Charles Peniston Milbanke 11th Baronet (age 45) died. His brother [her brother-in-law] Ralph (age 40) succeeded 12th Baronet Milbanke of Halnaby in Yorkshire.
On 13th October 1969 Margaret Sheila MacKellar Chisholm (age 71) died.