History of Wigan   (Help with ancient and recent history.)

Yes, it's good that we have written records/documentation, but some Roman historians and other writers often included much propaganda in their narratives.
Thanks for the interesting fact about the Earl of Derby. Similar at my school - a teacher having a strong bias to the King when teaching the English Civil War. I had to use the library to get the story from each side.
Getting back to the Anglo-Saxons, we are learning much more from archaeology and subsequently many historic representations are now outdated.