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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: paulmh on Friday 23 July 04 13:29 BST (UK)
Title: Found Anyone Famous
Post by: paulmh on Friday 23 July 04 13:29 BST (UK)
The family tree can lead to everal hundereds of entry's in different generations,maybe along the way you have found that you are related to Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone, Robin Hood or even Watt Tiler.
Maybe an ancester did something heroic but was never credited for it. Anyway I thought it may make an interesting question.
Title: Re: Found Anyone Famous
Post by: Adi1962 on Friday 23 July 04 15:33 BST (UK)
The nearest I have to any thing positive is on my Godden side, where a godden married the brother of George Washington, but at best the Godden is a distant cousin many times removed.
On the down side Piers Morgen, the ex Editor, is a 2nd or 3rd Cousin.
Post by: Kazza on Friday 23 July 04 17:15 BST (UK)
Another good question. ;D
Reminds me of an earlier thread, Are you Related to Royalty:
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3318.0
so far I have no distinguished ancestors, lots of interesting ones though. ;D
Kazza.
Post by: Darcy on Saturday 24 July 04 00:21 BST (UK)
When I started the Are you related to Royalty? thread I was bemoaning the fact that I come from a long line of servants and labourers - I was hoping for something a bit more colourful in the future.
Well. last week on a census for Gloucester I turned up a Hawker - such excitment! It's nearly as good as finding someone famous......
Post by: Jane Masri on Saturday 24 July 04 15:10 BST (UK)
Depends what you mean by famous. 'Worthy of mention', was the brother of my 5x great grandfather, a miller of some standing in the Dorking area, who was mentioned twice in a book of the area, as having been attacked by highwaymen on his way back from Horsham market :o and as having dropped down dead in his stables four days after his mill burnt down in 1843 :(
Infamous might be a possible association with the Shipley gang, a band of latter day hooligans who terrorised local communities in Sussex in the 1800s.
Not very exciting, but still fascinating to me and they're all mine ;D
Post by: philip wood on Wednesday 28 July 04 23:01 BST (UK)
Hi, I am doing something a bit different, I am putting all known entries for my village of WHITTINGTON Staffs, onto a genealogy package over 20,00 entries so far.
We have in our churchyard (St Giles) the grave of Thomas Spencer, who heck him? he was the co founder of Marks and Spencer, who got seriously rich. I have written his history available at:- www.woodswhittingtonwebsite.co.uk regards Phil.
Post by: Amy K on Friday 13 August 04 23:51 BST (UK)
I found out that i am related to George Fordham. Who?? I hear you ask. Well, actually, he was a champion jockey in the 1800's and he still has an entry in the guiness book of records. I am trying to research all the descendants of his parents. I thought it would be interesting to contact them and let them know about George.
For those of you who are interested you can read his biography on my website (i just love saying that!)
http://www.rootschat.com/~foliages/Biographies/GFordham.htm
Post by: Kazza on Saturday 14 August 04 03:38 BST (UK)
Amy,
I think that is a lovely idea, they may not know about him.
Have you managed to find out much about him yourself? As a champion jockey you may be lucky enough to find a portait of him or something.
Post by: dinkey on Saturday 14 August 04 09:14 BST (UK)
I have a distant ancestor Deborah Travis who sang in concerts around the country between 1815 & 1843. She was famous for her rendition of Handels Messiah and was indentured to the Duke of Westminster. She came from a lowly cotton family in Shaw Oldham. I would love to see a photo of her but have not found anything on Google. Her husband William Knyvett was even more famous in his time. He was a Proffessor of Music in the early 1800's. Conducted the Birmingham Festivals. He also composed songs and anthems for King George IV & Queen Victoria.
Although these are very distant ancestors, I have found a large number who have sung in various choirs.Also, a GG uncle Joseph Travis who travelled up and down the Golden Mile at Blackpool in the 1930's with a piano on a cart singing and selling sheet music . I would also like to find information on him. Singing does seem to be in our genes right up to the present day and that includes myself. Which is another reason why I am trying to find photos. of Deborah Travis/Knyvett and Gt Uncle Joe.
Any suggestions where I can look.
dinkey
Post by: Kazza on Sunday 15 August 04 02:02 BST (UK)
There is a portrait of a William Knyvett in the National Gallery. And a picture of it on their site. It is also possble to get a print of it from them. ;D
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp02588&rNo=0&role=sit
Post by: dinkey on Sunday 15 August 04 08:28 BST (UK)
I should have mentioned that I do have that photo. of William Knyvett. A very distinguished looking gent.
Pity I can't find one of my more humble Uncle Joe & Deborah.
Ohh,
Dinky, I was so excited I had found that portrait for you, I was under the impression you wanted pictures of any of them. :(
Post by: dinkey on Monday 16 August 04 08:34 BST (UK)
I am so sorry that I put you to all that trouble finding the photo. of William Knyvett when I already had it. An abject lesson to me to make sure I read through my requests before sending them, so that it is clear exactly what I already have and what I am looking for.
I have given myself a slap on the wrist.
Post by: bloomkitty on Sunday 29 August 04 23:02 BST (UK)
I am an American, and have recently discovered that, on my mother's father's mother's side, (got that?), we're directly descended from British and French monarchs, and this information came as a complete surprise. We've since discovered that we're related to the following:
• Charlemagne
• Egbert
• Alfred the Great
• Duke William I of Aquitaine
• Edward the Confessor
• William the Conqueror
• Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Henry II
• King John
• Henry III
• Edward I
• Emperor Ludwig of Bavaria
• Philippe VI of France
• Jean II Of France
• Charles V of France
• Charles VI of France
• Henry VII
• Henry VIII
• QE2
... among others. I believe we're direct descendents from all of them (i.e., they're all our umpteenth great-grandparents), except QE2 and the Henry's, who are cousins. I imagine there are 10 million other folks on earth who can claim the same heritage, but still, I find all of this fairly mind-boggling! :o
We've also discovered that on my dad's side we're related to St. Therese (the "Little Flower").
Rest assured, the bloodline has thinned out enough to where there is nothing saintly or royal about our current generation! (I'm not expecting any invitations to Buckingham Palace or the Vatican anytime soon!) ;)
-Mary
a mere peasant, really
Post by: Darcy on Monday 30 August 04 01:29 BST (UK)
Wow, Mary! ;D
methinks you can go straight to the top of the list - what a pedigree!!
I doubt it can be bettered........
Aaron ( bowing out backwards ;D ;D )
Post by: bloomkitty on Monday 30 August 04 01:45 BST (UK)
Quote from: Aaron on Monday 30 August 04 01:29 BST (UK)
what a pedigree!!
As I replied in the other thread about royalty -- That, and a dollar-twenty-five, will get me a cup of coffee! ;)
Seriously, though, I had no idea we had any English ancestors, much less royal ones. It has forced me to start reading about some of your British history! Quite a few of these monarchs were cads and scoundrels -- not so sure I'm proud to be descended from them! ::)
-Mary :)
Post by: D ap D on Monday 06 September 04 14:32 BST (UK)
I've just dug out the following at the weekend:
This Assheton family dates back to the Norman Conquest, and had fought with the Conqueror at Hastings in 1066. They had formed an alliance by marriage with the Hothams. Asshetons and Hothams were to become members in Cromwell's Long Parliament and fought at the Battle of Agincourt. Ralph Assheton knighted by Richard III in 1483 and known as The Black Knight. Later Sir John Assheton was knighted on the battlefield at Northampton by the king.
Bosworth Field 1485
The Hopwoods were subject to Sir Ralph Assheton, Vice constable of England the new Lord of Middleton at this time. Sir Ralph executed Richard Crookback's enemies with great severity. He had a reputation for cruelty and was known as the 'Black Knight'. Thomas Hopwood and his three young sons John, Robert and Ralph fought under the Black Knight's banner at Bosworth though the battle was lost owing to treachery. After the death of their royal master Richard, they fled the field, but the forces of Henry Tudor captured them and Sir Ralph was later beheaded.
Ralph Assheton was my 15x grandfather. Not sure whether I should be pleased I've managed to go back that far, or dismayed that I've found such a character.
Post by: Berlin-Bob on Monday 06 September 04 14:51 BST (UK)
Sorry BloomKitty, I think I can beat you there - if you believe all the legends, then I am related to
(the biblical one !)
see the full story on "are you related to royalty"
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3318.msg8055#msg8055
there are some more contributions & thoughts on this subject on "Blue blood" which fit in quite well here:
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=10725.0
Royal Regards to a Royal Cousin !
Is there a smiley for "Tongue Firmly in Cheek" ?
This reminds me of the man who boasted of tracing his ancestors back to Alexander the Great !
"Unfortunately," came the answer, "all of our family records were lost in the Flood !"
Post by: bloomkitty on Monday 06 September 04 15:58 BST (UK)
Quote from: Bob in Berlin (BoCo) on Monday 06 September 04 14:51 BST (UK)
...if you believe all the legends, then I am related to
Very impressive, Bob! You do have me beat! Congrats!
Post by: leagen on Sunday 31 October 04 12:47 GMT (UK)
King Cerdic of Wessex in 500's; Egbert, First King of all England; a princess whose name I can't remember; one of the men who killed Becket. And a witch burned in Salem, Mass. in 1600's. In Waterman line I have many first settlers of several towns in Ct. and Vt., U.S.A..
Post by: Minn on Sunday 31 October 04 13:20 GMT (UK)
I found a transcript on the internet of a letter written by Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra, mentioning the names of two of her aunts and a cousin - who are also my v-e-r-y d-i-s-t-a-n-t cousins. Apparently one of the aunts had hardly any teeth ;D
Minn
Post by: Jane Masri on Sunday 21 November 04 15:42 GMT (UK)
I was pretty miffed when I couldn't add someone famous to this original posting, but what a difference a few weeks make ;D I can lay claim to having connections to Sir Clement Attlee, 1st. Earl Attlee, British Prime minister 1945-1951 :P wow I impressed myself! Nobody else in my family seemed excited, so I thought I would take the news to a place where it would be appreciated...here :D
I discovered that his maternal grandmother was the niece to my 3x great grandfather. Or said another way, his great grandfather was my 4x great grandfather.
No begging letters please ;D
Post by: JillJ on Wednesday 24 November 04 19:48 GMT (UK)
I haven't discovered this - known it for a long time - but he is in my tree so worthy of a mention. Gordon McRae, star of the film "Oklahoma" is my first cousin once removed.
Post by: Geoff of Devon on Thursday 25 November 04 15:32 GMT (UK)
Not a direct descendant, but related by marriage to Sir Walter Scott, but better than him I am a direct descendant of the Collyns family originally of Devon.
This is better known as the family that Jane Austen wrote about in Pride and Prejudice! She changed quite a lot of details about them, including spelling(!), but the fact that most of them were doctors and priests rings true, as well as estates they owned and timeframes.
Hope you like this Darcy (and Minn)!!! ;D
Also related by marriage to the Gilbey family of Essex from Gilbey's Gin! Seems the entirity of my mother's line were brewers, victuallers....maybe that explains why Mum and I have a YEAST intolerance!!! :o
Geoff.
Post by: Fitty on Friday 26 November 04 13:52 GMT (UK)
Did i mention about my ancestor who was fined for riding a bike without lights?? Did i?....... :-X :P
Post by: Kazza on Friday 26 November 04 14:01 GMT (UK)
Fitty,
You are confusing infamous and famous, again. ::)
K ;D
he IS famous in my eyes Kazza..... ;D
Post by: Nick Carver on Tuesday 30 November 04 13:33 GMT (UK)
And on the subject of family legends that are downright difficult if not impossible to verify, my paternal grandmother's family is reputedly descended from St Cuthbert, he of the Lindisfarne Gospels. The link could not be direct, because chastity was the rule for monks of the time, but Cuthbert as a middle name for girls proliferates up to the 1890s when my grandmother was born.
My father seemed to think that one of his female cousins married the brother of Sir Len Hutton, the cricketer which displays a different aspect of a tenuous connection to fame.
My great grandfather was famous for other reasons though. Apparently, someone who knew him told a elderly relative that he could really sup his ale. He drank it by the barrel, not by the pint.
One of these days I may uncover somebody who can be proven as being famous for doing something worthwhile (not that I am displaying any disrespect for the consumption of beer).
Post by: Lloydy on Tuesday 30 November 04 14:04 GMT (UK)
I am not related anyone famous - well, I haven't found anyone YET, but still looking.
However, my cousin's wife is related to Ozzy Osbourne!!!!!!! :o :o :o :o :o TRUE!
Jan :)
Post by: bel_jon68 on Tuesday 14 December 04 22:00 GMT (UK)
...and my husband played round at the Osbornes as a child, and father-in-law did some rewiring for Noddy Holder (well, Noddy Holder's house, rather than Noddy's brain, if you see what I mean)
...but don't tell him I've told you!
Post by: lizdb on Thursday 06 January 05 11:10 GMT (UK)
A distant ancestor, Ellen Mary Edmonds appeared on her mother's will as a 'painter of miniatures, under the name Nellie Hepburn Edmonds' Further research found she has a miniature painting in the Victoria and Albert Museum!
Post by: Keith Sherwood on Thursday 06 January 05 19:19 GMT (UK)
Not actually descended from anyone famous, but my gt-grandmother met an Italian electrical engineer from Genoa, living in London, and as a result my grandmother was born in 1895, and then fostered and adopted. Her true parents were unable to marry - he was a Catholic, and she not a
Catholic - and five years later he married a woman of the same religious persuasion, who was also a grand-daughter of Daniel O'Connell, the "Liberator" of Ireland.
My grandmother, to prove this was not just another unhappy story of abandonment, grew up in a well-to-do family on Highgate Hill, married my grandfather, who was in the Civil Service in India; when he got knighted in 1946 she became a Lady. She died at the age of 96 in 1992, and was the most remarkable woman I have ever met...
Post by: ndedross on Thursday 06 January 05 19:44 GMT (UK)
My ancestor trained in carpentry with his cousin Thomas Chippindale, but decided there was no money in wood and became a miller instead.
Post by: minime on Friday 07 January 05 23:37 GMT (UK)
I don't know if you can really consider this famous, but finally I have good news about my family. (not just gangsters and theives..LOL!!!) I found out that my Great grandfather Birchall not only created the art work for the original Dixie Cups, but also the logo used for the Golden gloves for boxing and the Fruit of the loom design. Plus, for anyone from Mass., he created the logo still used by the Lowell Sun too. Woohooo....I have a winner!!!!! ;D
p.s. Walt Disney asked him to do artwork for Disneyland, but Great Grandpa thought he was nuts. Who's nuts now?!!!! LOL!!!! ;)
Post by: Mobo on Sunday 09 January 05 15:30 GMT (UK)
Not quite on topic - this is to Jill -
WOW ! Gordon McCrea was one of my all-time heroes (along with the late Howard Keel) - have you ever been in touch with him Jill?
Post by: JillJ on Monday 10 January 05 11:08 GMT (UK)
Mobo,
He was rather dishy wasn't he! No, I never met him but my cousin, who researched that line of the family went over to Canada and met him and all his family. She said he was a 'really nice, ordinary guy'. He died in 2001.
Post by: Mobo on Monday 10 January 05 11:17 GMT (UK)
:) :)
I'm glad he was a nice man, I thought he would be - your cousin was very lucky. I met Howard Keel once, he used to sponsor a golf tournament here each year, and he was the same very open and friendly.
Post by: RachelK on Sunday 22 May 05 08:39 BST (UK)
Sticking to the west midlands musicians theme, Ozzy, Noddy Holder etc, my cousin used to be married to Roy Wood. He of the long hair, bright make up and ever so slightly annoying xmas song. ;D
Another relation, Letitia Nuttall, was the british roller skating champion in the 60's. Not quite on a par with Torville and Dean I expect. :P
Apart from that, just an ordinary bunch of rope spinning/bricklaying/metal working/farm digging/pub singing (and drinking)/horse shoeing/clothes washing/dinner cooking/sewing/mending/baby making people that I love to find out any old bit of info about.
Post by: gillj on Sunday 22 May 05 10:29 BST (UK)
A distant cousin of my husband's did the voice of 'Zippy' on rainbow, I'm afraid on my side it's a black sheep my paternal grandmother's cousin was William Joyce (otherwise known as Lord Haw-Haw).
Gillj
Title: Famous ancestors anyone?
Post by: kat2004 on Friday 04 November 05 18:25 GMT (UK)
As I said in the Gunpowder plot post, my claim to fame is to be a descendent of the Miles Forrest who allegedly murdered the princes in the Tower for Richard III! How charming! Does anyone else have any famous connections (true or not true?)
Title: Re: Famous ancestors anyone?
Post by: 1000xlch on Friday 04 November 05 18:32 GMT (UK)
Not quite a direct descendant but partners side has a connection with JRR Tolkien and Lady companion to Anthony Trollope.
Not much more excitement yet though!
Post by: Iria on Friday 04 November 05 18:41 GMT (UK)
My Bold Ancesters are a Direct Line to The Bolds of Bold Hall Lancashire :)
Post by: Llwyd on Friday 04 November 05 18:59 GMT (UK)
My dad used to tell us and his grand children that we had a relative called Llewelyn Morris Humphreys,from mid-Wales, who was a member of Al Capone's mob in 1930's Chicago.
Yes,he existed and was known as Murry The Hump and yes he had mob connections.In fact he was a very bad man and,at one point in his criminal career,was public enemy number one.
At present I have not found any connection, but who knows.There is more often than not some truth in family stories,proving it is a different matter.
Post by: dennford on Friday 04 November 05 22:52 GMT (UK)
As a young boy I was always led to believe that my grandmother Hepzibah Daykin/Hall was related to Florence Nightingale, something that I have always kept at the back of my mind even though I viewed such statements with a grain of salt.
However I recently found that my mothers cousin while tracing the Flavell family history is of the opinion that there may be some probability behind the myth. Also the name Nightingale occurs as a middle name with several of my ancestors on the Daykin / Hall side of the family. And the Nightingale/Shore Family definately have Derbyshire connections. All facts which by themselves are meaningless as are many of the individual bits and pieces. Put together though they say to me that I should either prove or disprove it.
If anyone out there can help me to be able to brag or alternatively sit in a corner in embarresed silence please do so.
The above is from the following post
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,78881.0.html
Denn
Post by: MarieC on Saturday 05 November 05 11:09 GMT (UK)
Interesting question!
Mum always said she was descended from Captain James Cook's family (she knew he didn't have direct descendants). However, although I have found a Cook in her ancestry, and although her grandfather was a seafarer and captain of his own barque which traded all round the world, regrettably I have found no trace of the descent she claimed and think it is just not true.
I have found a connection by marriage to a very eminent chemist of the late 19th/early 20th century, Sir Walter Noel Hartley FRS, who made an original important discovery (unfortunately, not being a scientist, I cannot really appreciate what it was). We may also be connected to the Boyle who developed Boyle's Law in chemistry, but we have yet to prove that.
My cousin who is working with me reckons she has traced descent from John of Gaunt and from a long ago Scottish king (Malcolm III, I think) but I am not sure about this yet, either.
We are definitely descended from Henry Norreys who was beheaded by Henry VIII for alleged adultery with Anne Boleyn, and from his son's wife Margaret Norreys who was a favourite of Elizabeth I, referred to by her as "My Crow" because of her dark complexion.
There may be others but not proven as yet!
MarieC
Post by: kerryb on Saturday 05 November 05 11:21 GMT (UK)
I've got one that nobody has ever heard of, Jonathan Harmer who created terracotta bases on gravestones in Sussex.
People into art apparently have heard of him.
Also my partner is descended from Admiral Balchin, a famous sailor apparently.
No, you haven't heard of either of them, have you???
Post by: XPhile2868 on Saturday 05 November 05 12:01 GMT (UK)
I'm distantly related to the footballer James Scowcroft, and possibly to the PNE player Paul McKenna.
Post by: AmyUK on Saturday 05 November 05 15:22 GMT (UK)
My Great Great Great Great Grandmothers brother was John Young who moved from Scotland to Canada and founded the port of Montreal and was connected to the railways, trade and culture. There is quite a nice statue of him in the harbour of Montreal.
Post by: kat2004 on Saturday 05 November 05 17:10 GMT (UK)
This is great! Is there any inherited likenesses in those of you who have definate famous rellies?
Post by: MarieC on Sunday 06 November 05 07:47 GMT (UK)
Hi Kat,
I hope I am not good at offending the powers that be so that I might meet a sticky end, like poor old Henry Norreys!!! :D Not that I think it was at all difficult to offend Henry VIII!! ;D
I am definitely not dark of complexion like Margaret Norreys. Fair skin and freckles, reddish hair - take after the Scottish part of the family, the Camerons! :) The dark complexion would be handy in the Australian sun, actually - wouldn't have to hassle about having skin cancers burnt off!
Post by: behindthefrogs on Sunday 06 November 05 10:31 GMT (UK)
Stick your tongue firmly in your left cheek and take a large pinch of salt.
I can trace a line back to Petronious Probus Consul in 322 and from there a link to the Governor of Cyprus who interviewed St Paul on his first missionary journey to Cyprus.
Post by: kerryb on Sunday 06 November 05 10:45 GMT (UK)
Well here's another one of those!
My paternal grandmother was a Harmer and they go back to 1066, one of William's barons was Miles De Haremere who was given land at Haremere Hall, Etchingham, East Sussex and his family dropped the two extra 'e's and became Harmer.
Also my Baldwin line is reputed to come from another Lord or Baron Baldwin who was one of the Crusaders. I can't remember the exact details because I glossed over it, I'll never get my line that far back - I've got stuck in Ireland in the late 1700's!!!!!!
Post by: PrueM on Sunday 06 November 05 10:58 GMT (UK)
Let me tell you a tale.... ;D
My grandmother always told us that her grandfathers were wealthy men. One of them owned large tea plantations in Ceylon and was a wealthy tea merchant...the other owned diamond mines in the Transvaal, and was an investor in the railways in America (both were English).
HOWEVER (everyone has a "however"!!) once I started digging, the truth was revealed: the Tea Merchant was actually a Schoolteacher, and the Diamond Tycoon was an East End Warehouse-manager. ;D
I mentioned to her many years ago what I had found out, but she was adamant that her version was the truth. My great-grandmother told my grandmother these stories, probably I think she believed them herself, although they were far from reality. Great-gran's mother died when GG was only 17, and the younger siblings were farmed out to orphanages etc. Maybe to keep her sanity she made up these fantasies about lost fortunes and better times, in the hope that one day she might return to that...who knows!
I don't mind whether they were famous or not, but I do wish there'd be some hidden millions somewhere!! ;D
As for getting back to Roman consuls...like many I'm stuck in 1700s Ireland and there I'm fated to stay, I think!!
Post by: Berlin-Bob on Sunday 06 November 05 11:00 GMT (UK)
Quote from: behindthefrogs
Well, if we are including them, then I will repeat my "claim to fame" (as posted in "are you related to royalty")
The legend is, that our family is descended from the Habsburgs, and from King David (the biblical one !)
and NO !, I am not going to try and prove it ;D There are already mountains of literature on this subject.
If you don't know the story already, it's all here:
The Royal (Habsburg) Connection (http://boco.rootschat.net/i-legends.php#royal)
Habsburg, Shmabsburg ! King David Rules, OK !
(http://boco.rootschat.net/i-legends.php#david)
On the more mundane sides of the family, I am still struggling to get earlier then 1800 !!
Post by: Jean McGurn on Sunday 06 November 05 13:49 GMT (UK)
I found an island sitting in the McKenzie River which is called McGERN ISLAND. When you say McGurn out loud it sounds like McGern so naturally tried to find out more about this island. :)
All I could find was that there used to be a man named McGern connected with the island and presumably this is why the island is so called. ???
Maybe some of our Canadian Rootschatters will know? I am very intrigued and as most McGurn's in the 19th C are connected to my line it would be nice to be able to say there is some land named after the family - even if it is spelt differently. :)
Post by: linmey on Monday 07 November 05 14:06 GMT (UK)
I havnt found anyone yet in my tree who has any claims to fame, just lots of agricultural labourers and shepherds. My friend tried to cheer me up the other day by saying that I should be comforted by the fact that at least none of my forebears had exploited anyone.(only sheep).
Linmey.
Post by: stuizzy on Monday 07 November 05 14:15 GMT (UK)
I'm not sure whether my ancestor is counted as famous, unless maybe you're from Stockton-on-Tees. My granny always used to brag about her grandfather, Joseph Dodds, who was the first MP for Stockton, as well as being Mayor there at one time. His name crops up all over the place as being on this board and that organization.
However, I discovered that he had to take the appointment of Steward of the Manor of Northstead and resign as an MP in 1888. He had been caught embezzling money from a lady who had given it to him for safekeeping!! That was a part of the story that Granny never told.
I guess politicians never change!!
Post by: ger_g on Monday 07 November 05 22:48 GMT (UK)
Fellow Aussies will get more out of this than most, I fear... someone on my dad's side reportedly found a link to Kerry Packer (very rich but not the most appealing guy). Needless to say the 'ching ching gene' has not passed onto my little twig of the family tree LOL
Ger :)
Post by: MarieC on Tuesday 08 November 05 06:31 GMT (UK)
As a long lost cousin, you couldn't work out some way of appealing to Kerry's family values (if they exist) and getting him to donate some of his largesse to you as a good cause? ::)
I'm sure he wouldn't miss a hundred thou or two!! ;D ;D
Another Aussie,
Post by: PrueM on Tuesday 08 November 05 07:12 GMT (UK)
Fellow Aussies, how could I forget my g-g-grandfather John Haynes? Born 1850, he was the co-founder, along with Mr Archibald (he of Archibald Prize fame) of "The Bulletin" newspaper (now a magazine). Granted, they were thrown in jail in 1882 for not paying court costs associated with a libel case brought against them, and he went bankrupt within a year or two and the Bulletin was sold on!! John went on to run another paper with his son in the late 1890s-early 1900s and was a long-serving and very prominent MLA in NSW for a total of 30-something years. He seems to have been quite a rabble-rouser and famously almost single-handedly pressured the government to order an enquiry into some dodgy land deals in Sydney involving prominent local personalities. He even made it into the Cyril Pearl book "Wild Men of Sydney"! Must have been his Irish blood.
Here's JF Archibald (L) and John Haynes (R) while they were in Darlinghurst Jail! Looks quite cushy. ;D
(picture courtesy of National Library of Australia)
Post by: lizdb on Tuesday 08 November 05 10:14 GMT (UK)
No-one has probably ever heard of her - but I was excited when I found it!
A will of an ancestor mentioned her daughter, 'Ellen Edmonds, but known as Nellie Elizabeth Hepburn in her profession as painters of miniatures'
I went to the library and ordered a book on painters of miniatures - and sure enough Nellie Elizabeth Hepburn was mentioned, and also the fact that she had a miniature painting in the V & A museum!!! I wrote to them, they were very helpful, though the picture was being moved into storage for some time during refurbishment work.
It made a nice change for a never ending line of Ag Labs! (that branch of the family actually managed to move up in world!)
But a lesson to all rootschatters - don't leave a stone unturned, you never know when you may find something interesting.
Post by: kat2004 on Tuesday 08 November 05 10:24 GMT (UK)
What a great picture Prue! I think were all familiar with exaggerated tales of family heroics passed down as gospel! I love it! But why would my Forrests claim to be descendents of a murderer? its not something to brag about really! My New Years resolution for 2006 will be to prove or disprove this!
Post by: Shaztoni on Tuesday 08 November 05 10:59 GMT (UK)
No one famous or even infamous on my side but my husband great grand uncles were the four McNamara's of "My Name is McNamara, I'm the leader of the band" fame. The leader of the band's name was Patrick "Todsie" McNamara and he was related twice to My husband.
He married Mary Clancy who was sister to my husbands Great Grandfather Patrick Clancy, Patrick Clancy married Jane McNamara who was Patrick McNamara's sister.
Now get your head around that one.
If that wasn't strange enough they lived next door to each other all their married lives.
Post by: SooCatt on Tuesday 08 November 05 11:29 GMT (UK)
Quote from: MarieC on Saturday 05 November 05 11:09 GMT (UK)
Mum always said she was descended from Captain James Cook's family (she knew he didn't have direct descendants).
Me too!!!
My Mum (whose maiden name was Cook) told us , when we were children, that we were descended from the same family as that great man and ,being children we believed it wholeheartedly-after all aren't all Cooks related? ;D
She denies all knowledge of such conversations now of course, or else blames a distant cousin on her father's side ::)
In fact the only seafaring connection is on her mother's side and not a Cook at all! He is connected with the Rowland shipping people from Whitby though!
PS Right now I'd settle for finding anybody - famous or otherwise ;)
Post by: ger_g on Friday 11 November 05 19:49 GMT (UK)
He he MarieC... if only! Doomed to franklins brand for some years to come I fear lol
Post by: Minn on Monday 21 November 05 09:21 GMT (UK)
I am distantly related to Charles Stewart Rolls, of Rolls-Royce fame.
And these two, not sure if they are famous or infamous, or neither...
Caroline Pride, Princess Diana's best friend & godmother to the younger Prince is married to one of my distant cousins.
Nicholas Mostyn QC who represented Prince Charles in his divorce settlement, is another distant cousin. I'd never heard of either of them till I started googling their names. ???
My grt grt grt grt Aunt Elizabeth lived at Highgrove House in the 1800's where Charles & Camilla live now - more a famous house than a person :P
Post by: Nick Carver on Monday 21 November 05 10:54 GMT (UK)
I rang a friend yesterday. They were out but the phone was answered by somebody who said they were there researching a book on the life of my friend's grandmother. Now I knew she was related to John Maynard Keynes and Charles Darwin, but I felt it was rather unfair to have yet more famous relations. Some people have all the luck. Fancy having academics looking into your family tree.
Post by: tulstig on Monday 21 November 05 11:02 GMT (UK)
Found out that I am related to Cornwall's Explorer. Who we all ask. His name was Richard Lander and he traced the source of the river Niger and got 1st gold award fromRoyal Geographical Society, even has a Nelson's column style monument to him in Truro. If you're really interested checkout:
http://www.richardlander.org.uk/index.htm
Perhaps that's where my wanderlust stems from?!
Post by: Christopher on Thursday 29 November 07 13:27 GMT (UK)
Quote from: dinkey on Saturday 14 August 04 09:14 BST (UK)
Hi dinkey,
Have you looked for Deborah Knyvett?
I found Knyvett, Deborah (http://www.yorkgate.ram.ac.uk/emuweb/pages/ram/Display.php?irn=3476&QueryPage=%2Femuweb%2Fpages%2Fram%2FQuery.php) mentioned on the Royal Academy of Music website. It's on a Playbill for a Grand Morning Concert at the Royal Academy of Music which took place on Friday 4th July 1834 at the Hanover Square Rooms.
Post by: stewart_M on Thursday 29 November 07 14:43 GMT (UK)
My g/grandmother always said that her grandmother was a descendant of Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife. I have recently made contact with someone who has done a lot of research into the family and has said that he is related to her so it seems that great granny may have been right!
She was also born in the same street as Charlie Chaplin 3 days earlier than him and the family of her husband-to-be (my g/grandfather) lived next door to the Chaplins. Apparantly Chaplin was a quiet lad who was always washing cars, although there weren't too many around in those days!
I've just started looking into my partner's family tree and she is the g/g/g/g/g/g/g/g/g/g/g/granddaughter of David Nieto who was a noted Venetian rabbi born in the 1600s whose writings and influence are still apparant today in British Judaism - we've even found a portrait of him which is bizarre to be able to put a face to a 300 year old ancestor!
I'm lacking in gs :( I wonder what the chances are of finding a few more gs in Norway ???
Post by: aghadowey on Thursday 29 November 07 19:45 GMT (UK)
I'm descended from Kings of England, Scotland, France, etc., High Kings of Dalriada (Ireland), St. Louis, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, etc. (royal blood is easy to trace and so many connections there).
Also lots of Mayflower ancestors including John Howland who fell overboard and was rescued and related to Oceanus Hopkins (born at sea on voyage to New England). Again, easy as the families all intermarried in 1600s.
Descended from 'most hated and feared man in the Dutch towns of Long Island'- son of a Dutch pirate and a Moroccan woman- who married the 1st prostitute in New Amsterdam (rumour has it that she was also quite busy on the voyage to the New World).
More recently, my great-uncle was 1st person to sail around the world single-handed and very famous in his day.
Just read this through and it should be 1st person to twice sail around the world single-handed.
However, some of my most interesting ancestors/relatives have been totally un-famous (although a few were infamous).
Post by: Minn on Thursday 29 November 07 21:03 GMT (UK)
aghadowey I have most of those same royal ancestors too - you and I must be 400th cousins ???
I recently discovered Princess Diana is my 11th cousin twice removed. Our common ancestor is Sir John Popham.
Post by: mitchell on Thursday 29 November 07 21:38 GMT (UK)
Quote from: PrueM on Tuesday 08 November 05 07:12 GMT (UK)
Fellow Aussies, how could I forget my g-g-grandfather John Haynes? Born 1850, he was the co-founder, along with Mr Archibald (he of Archibald Prize fame) of "The Bulletin" newspaper (now a magazine). Granted, they were thrown in jail in 1882 for not paying court costs associated with a libel case brought against them, and he went bankrupt within a year or two and the Bulletin was sold on!! John went on to run another paper with his son in the late 1890s-early 1900s and was a long-serving and very prominent MLA in NSW for a total of 30-something years. He seems to have been quite a rabble-rouser and famously almost single-handedly pressured the government to order an enquiry into some dodgy land deals in Sydney involving prominent local personalities. He even made it into the Cyril Pearl book "Wild Men of Sydney"! Must have been his Irish blood.Prue
Prue,
I was reading through your post this evening and thought the names were familiar so, I've checked, and wanted to tell you that I'm distantly related to J F Archibald ;D
I only know what a distant cousin in New Zealand has told me, which wasn't a lot, so I'm delighted to find out more from you and to see the photo :) I'll have to google him now and find out more :)
Post by: Josephine on Thursday 29 November 07 21:58 GMT (UK)
I have nothing to add to this thread.
Perhaps I should start a thread called, "Ancestors who abandoned their children, lied on their official certificates, hid from the census-taker and didn't want to be found" or "Lives of the poor and infamous" or "How many fathers named Unknown in your tree".
Just teasing, folks. I'm enjoying reading about your discoveries. ;)
When I read on my great-grandmother's marriage certificate that her father was an actor, I had hopes of researching his career. Well, either she lied or the registrar made a very big boo-boo: her father was a brick maker. (I'm sure he was a very good brick maker.)
Post by: Jigsaw on Friday 30 November 07 19:48 GMT (UK)
My husbands Great Uncle was Reg Stone a female impersonator who entertained the troops in France in the 1st World War and afterwards was in a few films with a troup of female impersonators called 'Splinters'
Post by: KathMc on Saturday 01 December 07 11:13 GMT (UK)
I have a relative who was friends with William Shakespeare, and I think that is as good as it gets for me. ::) And a stepgrandfather who was friends with Ed Sullivan. And my husband has a great uncle who was friends with Danny Kaye. Do you see a pattern here. :D
Kath
Post by: Jean McGurn on Saturday 01 December 07 12:35 GMT (UK)
That your rellies could walk down the street without someone asking for their autograph? ;D ;D ;D
I went to school with Freddie Starr (well he was in the year below me) does this count? I remember he was always clowning around and we used to tell him he should be on the stage - catching the next boat out. If only we knew then what we know now. ;D
Post by: Josephine on Saturday 01 December 07 17:39 GMT (UK)
Six degrees of separation from fame, LOL. 8)
My husband's father (now deceased) went to broadcasting school (in Canada) with Rich Little.
In fact, my husband's father was a broadcaster and was well-known in certain cities when he worked in television and radio news.
And my husband's g-g-grandfather was kind of famous because he was a founding father of a city here in Canada. He is still remembered with pride by the citizens of that city.
But that's sort of an ordinary kind of being well-known. And they're not my relatives. Other than that...
Post by: Jayson on Saturday 01 December 07 21:48 GMT (UK)
I have a family connection - although a very distant one - with Tara Palmer Tomkinson. More interestingly to me however is that I have an ancestor, John Swynfen (an MP) referred to in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Jayson
Post by: Scottiedog on Sunday 02 December 07 13:12 GMT (UK)
Not a direct rellie, but via a second marriage on wife's side I came across Isaac Reckitt (b1793) of "Reckitt's Blue" (you have to be of a certain age) and "Reckitt and Coleman" (much later).
Led me to further research into Quaker families around Colchester and in Norfolk and I can see that some of my wife's ancestors where those who lent Isaac the money to get his business up and running in Hull after two previous failures. Ransome of the agricultural implements and machinery also turned up as involved.
And I guess that brings me to my point really. Both these names (Reckitt and Ransome) triggered some memory cells deeply buried somewhere - but I wonder how many others I've missed simply because I didn't recognise the names.
Post by: trish251 on Sunday 02 December 07 14:09 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Josephine on Thursday 29 November 07 21:58 GMT (UK)
It's the family stories generated by lies that frustrate me :( I have ancestors who say they are related to the Ross family (uncle and nephew) of artic and antarctic explorer fame. Much time and a little money later - it is nonsense, no possibility of a relationship (maybe 20th cousin :-\ )
The other almost claim to fame is the ggg uncle who worked for Royalty! He was given a right royal funeral :)
Post by: KathMc on Sunday 02 December 07 14:19 GMT (UK)
Trish,
You are so right. My father always said we were related to HG Wells. I traced my Wells branch back to the 1700s and there is definitely no link. Oh well.
Post by: tulstig on Sunday 02 December 07 14:29 GMT (UK)
I actually share gt gt gt etc grandparents with William Shakespeare , which makes us 5th or sixth cousins (many time removed). Apart from O levels I never read any of his stuff, and ain't too good at writing meself.
Post by: Sunny Boy on Monday 03 December 07 12:20 GMT (UK)
Yes, I have found some famous if not infamous ancestors/relatives. You can see them here on my website http://forbros.rootschat.net/
Post by: Jayson on Monday 03 December 07 13:06 GMT (UK)
I don't know what is worst to have in one's family tree: A celebrity or criminal? ;D
Post by: Minn on Monday 03 December 07 13:14 GMT (UK)
Or generations of politicians......I've got those too :-\
Post by: Ann Baker on Monday 03 December 07 17:39 GMT (UK)
I have found two definites - Kenneth McKellar (yes the one in a kilt) who is my 2nd cousin and my gt gt gt uncle who was Sir Robert Peel's butler and went on to be head of the shanghai municipal police.
An almost one is I am meant to be related to Billy Connolly but both having Irish ancestors I think will take some proving - But I can dream! (I am a Connolly of Irish descent whose ancestors also came to Glasgow but the link if there is one goes back to 1800s and am stuck)
Post by: debryany on Monday 03 December 07 22:25 GMT (UK)
I have John Robert Wildman he was an artist to Queens Charlotte and King George 111 he was the court painter
http://www.artnet.com/artist/664049/john-robert-wildman.html
He is my 4x Great Grandfather
Post by: Sarndra on Tuesday 04 December 07 06:24 GMT (UK)
Quote from: KathMc on Sunday 02 December 07 14:19 GMT (UK)
I had the same situation with Lord Kitchener. Because my g g g grandmother was nee Kitchener, years of family lore had it that we were related ...but of course i had to get stuck in and disprove it LOL...some weren't too happy about that!
I do have Yorkshire Wedgewood and Chippendale connections but pretty diluted.
Sarndra
www.sarndra.com
Post by: stonechat on Tuesday 04 December 07 09:34 GMT (UK)
I have one person who is mentioned on two other people's entries in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, no entry of her own though
Post by: peaches13 on Tuesday 04 December 07 10:16 GMT (UK)
As close as I can get is my 4x GGrandfather Richard Wouldhave was on board the frigate Pandora which was sent to the south seas to capture the 25 men who had 'pirated' the Bounty and cast adrift her captain, William Bligh.
Also his ancestor a cousin of sorts William Wouldhave is known for the help in the invention of the very first life boat.
Post by: XPhile2868 on Tuesday 04 December 07 21:47 GMT (UK)
I'm not claiming to be any sort of relative of these people (after all, I bet most people of British ancestry are related to these people at about the same degree of relationship), but using a cousin chart and the online documentation regarding my distant ancestors the Houghton family (who were Normans), I have found the following relationships -
Aurelia Howick is my 23x great grandmother, so that makes me -
The 22nd cousin 2 times removed of Prince Charles (told you these were going to be distant)
The 19th cousin 5 times removed of Winston Churchill
The 20th cousin 4 times removed of Princess Diana
The 24th cousin of Albert II (not sure what country he was King of though)
The 18th cousin 6 times removed of John "Osawatomie" Brown
And as Maud De Valoines is my 26x great grandmother, I am
George I of Britain's 17th cousin 10 times removed
George Washington's 19th cousin 8 times removed
Stephen :)
Post by: slowbookworm on Wednesday 05 December 07 13:07 GMT (UK)
The best I can come up with is my GGG Grandfather who discovered the Blaisdon plum (a variety of plum grown in Gloucestershire) not very impressive.
My Gran says that her mothers Napier family are connected to John Napier inventor of Logarithms. But I dont think this is likely to be true and anyway I havent even managed to trace my Napiers back to Scotland yet they all seem to live in London.
Post by: stonechat on Wednesday 05 December 07 14:00 GMT (UK)
I have an even more indirect connection with Fruit!
My ancestor was a Curate in Winkfield (for 50 years!)
The vicar was William Rham, who created the Vicar of Winkfield pear
Post by: Erato on Wednesday 05 December 07 14:33 GMT (UK)
I am about 90% sure of one pretty famous connection but since I'm not at 100% I won't mention his name as it involves a family scandal.
There is no one else whose name would be recognized today though there are a few who had limited local reknown during their lives - a Wisconsin state senator (J.F. Ware), a quite famous missionary (Robert W. Logan), a well known and admired professor (Dwight Logan Reid), a county judge in Missouri (Joseph Chapman).
Post by: kerryb on Wednesday 05 December 07 16:36 GMT (UK)
Talking of fruit, apparently my gggg grandmother's family who emigrated to Tasmania were one of the first families to export apples back to England and had 500 acres of orchards out there.
Post by: DJFRENCH on Wednesday 05 December 07 16:45 GMT (UK)
only famous person we have is Patience Cooper, my nans sister... famous Anglo Indian and first anglo Indian Bollywood star , she made 44 films 1921-1940 ish
Post by: skyblue_scarlet on Wednesday 01 July 09 10:24 BST (UK)
my only so called famous relative is thomas chippendale snr. a cousin.... oh the riddicule of having that name at school lol
Post by: NEILKE on Wednesday 01 July 09 11:34 BST (UK)
laura would that be chippendale as in chairs or the male dance varity. my unproved claim to fame is about 2 of my mams lot the flaxens one is mentioned in some writing about the fire of london (not pepys) not had any luck finding anything and the other is one of them help oliver cromwell out in berkshire and was given a cottage once again i drew a blank
Post by: XPhile2868 on Friday 03 July 09 04:05 BST (UK)
I recently found out that Sir Tom Finney is my 2nd cousin 2 times removed through his paternal grandmother.
Post by: Eyesee on Friday 03 July 09 05:16 BST (UK)
Quote from: KathMc on Saturday 01 December 07 11:13 GMT (UK)
I too have an ancestor who was friends with the Bard.
Also recently found that a certain ex British Prime Minister Tony Blair and I share a common ancestor named Mary SMITH, who died in 1773. Her claim to fame is that she was wet nurse to the future King George III c1738-39.
Ian C
Post by: Nick29 on Friday 03 July 09 09:04 BST (UK)
Well, not exactly in my family tree, but my g.g. grandfather shared a house with an artist called Roderick Coslett on the 1841 census.
Does that count ? ;D
Post by: Sarndra on Saturday 11 July 09 09:45 BST (UK)
Quote from: laura_jaye on Wednesday 01 July 09 10:24 BST (UK)
my only so called famous relative is thomas chippendale snr. my great uncle.... oh the riddicule of having that name at school lol
LOL at least it wasn't BLACKADDER like i have in mine...a cunning little name :-)
I have Chippendales from Otley, Yorkshire connected to one of my lines also. William CHIPPENDALE m Martha PAWSON 10 Oct 1830 at Otley.
Post by: skyblue_scarlet on Saturday 11 July 09 14:19 BST (UK)
LOL oooo nooo Blackadder... I have seen the records for William and Martha pop up a few times but theyre not on my tree, could you maybe tell me how they are related to Thomas? If thats ok, Not sure how far you go back :)
Post by: Maggie1895 on Saturday 11 July 09 15:30 BST (UK)
I have Sergeant Albert Mitchell of the 13th Light Dragoons, and later Kent Police in my family tree. He was one of the few who took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade and lived to tell the tale - in his case he went one better, and wrote the book. (Recollections of one of the Light Brigade)
I have the book, and have always been fascinated by the very matter of fact description as they went in of 'seeing Captain Nolan on ours fall in front of me'. It didn't look like that when David Hemmings did it!
I always understood he was my grandfather's great uncle, and my mother was very proud of the book, understandably, as her great-great uncle's work.
That's the trouble with genealogy. You go in and get the facts..
Yes, he's definitely in the tree, but he wasn't exactly my grandfather's great uncle, which would have made him Grandad's Grandmother's brother.
He was Grandad's Grandmother's first cousin, and it seems the two families were brought up very close together in Kent, so she probably thought of him as a brother.
That's my lot I'm afraid, all the rest of us are extremely boring..
Quote from: laura_jaye on Saturday 11 July 09 14:19 BST (UK)
Martha Pawson was my GGGG grandfathers 1st Cousin. I really have no other information on William Chippendale, but years back I did receive receive this:
Information from Sesame Tugnett, 51 O'Shannessy Street, Nunawading, Vic, 3131, AUSTRALIA. (received 1-8-1997)
CHIPPENDALE/CHIPPINDALE - bap. 1778 Otley, son of Benjamin, m 1805 to Hannah GRAYSON (bap. 1778 Guiseley). Their children:
Benjamin 1807 Twins or bap. at same time
Betty 1807
Hannah 1808
Joseph 1809
Sarah 1812 Twins or bap. at same time
John 1815
Jabez 1818
All baptised at Guiseley.
I don't know if Sesame still lives in that location or is indeed alive!
I also have a nice photo of the houses in Otley that once belonged to Thomas Chippendale - furnituremaker.
Post by: James R. Yeowell on Thursday 16 July 09 05:40 BST (UK)
Quote from: Jayson on Saturday 01 December 07 21:48 GMT (UK)
I also am distantly related to Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (7th Cousin 2 Times removed).
How are you related?
I'm distantly related through the Smith/Collyer/Fladgate/Yeowell families.
Helen Mary Collyer married Lindsay Eric Smith and their daughter Marion Lindsay Smith married James Edward Tomkinson (later Palmer-Tomkinson).
This also means I'm related to Sir Herbert Ingram, 3rd Baronet and via the Smiths, to James Oliver Charles Fitzroy, Earl of Euston as well as James Walter Grimston, Viscount Grimston.
Continuing on from the above post of mine:
I am still proving it but I believe I am a descendant of Isaac Lodington, Vicar of Aylesbury. He is not especially famous though.
I am however, related to the following:
3rd Cousin 4 Times Removed (all brothers):
Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee, M.R.C.V.S., F.R.S.E. (veterinary surgeon)
Dr. John Gamgee (Professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Dick Veterinary College; he was also an inventor)
Dr. Arthur Gamgee, R.M.S.E., M.D., F.R.S., F.R.C.P., LL.D. (Fullerian Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy at the Royal Institute of Great Britain)
4th Cousin 3 Times Removed:
Prof. Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, D.Litt., D.Sc., D.C.L., C.B., F.R.S., F.R.S.E., H.F.E.M.S. (author of "On Growth and Form" and Chair of Natural History at the University of St. Andrews and previously Professor of Biology and Natural History at University College, Dundee)
I may also be (I am fairly sure I am, I just need to prove a link) related to James Yeowell (1800?-1875) who has an entry in the DNB.
Post by: janut on Sunday 23 August 09 02:21 BST (UK)
Tom Finney eh!!! I would pass his house on my way to school and pat the head of his dog at his gates!!
When he had a plumbing business close to where I lived I would often see him getting out of his car...how I wish I'd had the courage to ask him for his autograph!
Post by: alftabor on Sunday 23 August 09 07:33 BST (UK)
Although it is tenuous
My third cousin's Great grandmothers brothers Daughter in Law was Daphne Du Maurier and one of her daughters married the 2nd Viscount Montgomery,Monty's Son
How is that for stretching to include celebrity
Post by: tofgem on Sunday 23 August 09 09:13 BST (UK)
Hi Maggie
Quote from: Maggie1895 on Saturday 11 July 09 15:30 BST (UK)
I have the book, and have always been fascinated by the very matter of fact description as they went in of 'seeing Captain Nolan on ours fall in front of me'.
I have another survivor of The Charge of the Light Brigade - William Whiteley born circa 1836 in England (I know not where). I know that he served in the British army against the Russians in the Crimea and fought at both Balaclava (the Charge of the Light Brigade) and at the Alma. However, I know very little more (his direct descendants have mislaid his medals). I found his name in a book online, but the only details gave his date of enlistment in the 17th Lancers as 17th July 1855?????
I was wondering whether you know of any accessible resources which could enlighten me a little more about his actual service. He was serving in St. Helena in 1863.
Tofgem
Post by: Charles IX on Sunday 23 August 09 13:06 BST (UK)
All these posts makes for good reading :) I wish I could be like some of you getting back to my 23xgreats! My only claim is Griffith Charles one of the 1st settlers in Logan, Utah. and his daughter Margaret Charles was the 1st white child to be born in that there....
Post by: skyblue_scarlet on Tuesday 25 August 09 09:49 BST (UK)
I agree its great reading! Im just wondering though as some of these relations are, ermmmmm distant....... I was wondering how some of you end up researching so far out of your direct lines???
Post by: Windsor87 on Tuesday 25 August 09 14:06 BST (UK)
I have many famous ancestors and relations due to the fact that I have two seperate sets of lower gentry having illegitimate children (one from my father's side, and one from my mother's side).
My two favourites at the moment are:
1) William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun of Abernethy (1654-1715).
My 9xgreat grandfather. He held a seat in the old Scottish Parliament from 1695-1707. As such he voted in the Union debates of 1706/07 - consistantly voting against Union with England. He wasn't a great politician - more a backbencher. His fame is limited in that it was he who warned his political allies that the Duke of Hamilton - who was supposed to be leading the opposition to the Union Bill - was on the pay of the English. Anyway, nobody listened and Hamilton remained leader. If you read any moderned history book on the topic, you will find that most say that the Duke of Hamilton was on English pay which accounted for his poor role as leader of the opposition.
2) Dr. James Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrews (1618-1679).
My 10xgreat grandfather, and father-in-law to the above. He is seen as a traitor to Scotland and to the Presbyterian establishment of the Church of Scotland. He himself started off as a Presbyterian minister even signing the famous covenant. He changed his mind however, favouring Episcopacy after he had helped restore King Charles II to the throne. He was made Archbishop by Charles in 1661 and charged with reintroducing Episcopacy in Scotland. He is responsible for many deaths in carrying out his remit. He was murdered by a group of Covenanters on Magnus Muir in May 1679 - hacked to death. These 'religious' covenanters had been waiting to murder someone else, but got lucky by bumping in to Sharp.
Post by: XPhile2868 on Tuesday 25 August 09 23:50 BST (UK)
Quote from: laura_jaye on Tuesday 25 August 09 09:49 BST (UK)
Personally, I like to trace the desendants of the siblings of ancestors as well, so I know of quite a few cousins of various degrees, ages and nationalities.
Post by: MarieC on Wednesday 26 August 09 04:33 BST (UK)
Im just wondering though as some of these relations are, ermmmmm distant....... I was wondering how some of you end up researching so far out of your direct lines???
Sometimes the side branches are really fascinating - even quite tragic on occasion! As well as this, I like to research them because they may shed light on the lives of my direct ancestors, and because I live in hope that one day, a remote cousin will contact me with some information on my Martin brick walls! Because there aren't any other direct descendants who will know about these!
Post by: kizmiaz on Wednesday 26 August 09 14:08 BST (UK)
The only famous name I have so far discovered hidden among the various twigs and offshoots of my tree occurs far out in the distant leaves, a third or fourth cousin a few times removed, and belonged to the late, great and sadly missed punk and new wave legend that was Ian Dury (Ian Robins Dury to be exact!)
Glen (of the not famous in any way whatsoever Sussex Robins family)
Post by: skyblue_scarlet on Wednesday 26 August 09 22:26 BST (UK)
i hope i didnt sound a bit off in asking :) just had to ask ive just started a mad tracing sesh that seems to be turning into the start of a one name study almost :-\ really hard work as i dont have access to a lot of things i need.. eeek
Post by: janeyanne on Thursday 03 September 09 18:08 BST (UK)
According to LDS i have in my family tree, Henry 8th , Fitzherbert the Strongbow and others all the way back to Cladiuos born year 006.Please excuse me i have to dust the throne room .The servants are having a day off. ::)
Post by: danuslave on Thursday 03 September 09 19:24 BST (UK)
I don't have anyone famous, infamous or even moderately wealthy in my tree. The best I can manage is a couple of 'well known residents' in their (very small) towns.
On the other hand, I do have lots of really interesting people who married, had children (lots of children!) and spent half their time looking after each others children
... and the lady who, between 2 censuses, went to another county and had three illegitimate children. Much later on she married the man she had been working for as a domestic servant
... and a different lady who married someone 15 years older than herself, who had sons only a few years younger than her, and who may have been too closely related for the marriage to be legal!
... and - but you get the drift
And let's not forget my ex - who to date has racked up 3 wives, 3 sons, 2 step-sons, 1 step-
daughter and who is about to become a step-grandad. And I used to think he was boring :-\
It's all about people :D :D
Post by: asgaard on Thursday 03 September 09 21:24 BST (UK)
I've found Dr William Joseph Simmonite in my tree. He was a well known Herbalist and wrote at least 6 books, which you can still buy copies of at least 2 of them.
Post by: tofgem on Thursday 03 September 09 21:43 BST (UK)
I have found several 'interesting' characters (not all in the direct line, but related all the same):
a 'Catholic' monk ;D ;D ;D who was at Croxden Abbey at the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII (1538).
a Hebrew scholar who corresponded with John Wesley in the 1760s.
an agricultural labourer who was sentenced to transportation to Australia in 1820, but didn't leave the country!!!
his brother born 1780, who was transported to Australia (for 7 years) in 1821 after being convicted of stealing wheat (this was thought to have been a set up by other members of his family).
another who was transported to Australia (for life) in 1830 for the theft of 3cwt of cheese (it was thought that he had been involved in a violent robbery where a priest had been bludgeoned and left to die, this was never proved).
another born 1811 who joined the Mormons and who sailed to New Orleans on April 16th 1860 with his family and travelled to Salt Lake City, Utah, by wagon train.
a poet.
pioneers in Australia who are mentioned in a book decribing the history of the town
a soldier who took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade and survived.
another born 1813, who was a celebrated Victorian clown known as the 'Queen's jester' (appeared in front of Victoria and Albert in Windsor in 1844).
his niece who was known as 'The Great Zazell' and was the first woman to be fired from a cannon (she was fired onto a trapeze where she then carried on with her act).
Finally another born 1871 who was a prolific author of books (mainly school textbooks), first secretary of the Economic History Society at the L.S.E. (founded 1926) and an eminent teacher.
Just an ordinary family, really ;D ;D ;D
Show-off :D :D
Post by: redfrog on Thursday 03 September 09 23:57 BST (UK)
There are a couple of interesting links with possible ancestors. I say 'possible' because I have yet to prove the link, but I have a fairly rare surname and I reckon all of them are tied together somehow, but proving it will be another matter.
One of the links is really stretching it as it wouldn't be a blood relative, but there was an Agnes Spourne whose step-grandson was Ambrose Rookwood, one of the Gunpowder Plotters. She's linked by her 1st and 2nd marriages to the Cloptons whose line goes back to 1066, with a bit of royalty thrown in for good measure.
Another, and this one is definitely on my tree somewhere - a very distant cousin I suspect - was married to John Fryer, Master of HMS Bounty at the time of the mutiny. He hated Bligh but ended up in the rowing boat with him. He doesn't sound particularly nice so it's probably lucky for my 'ancestor' that she died before this event, by which time he'd re-married to Mary Tinkler - and she was probably related as well as I have found Sporne/Tinkler marriages in the same area.
So far I'm only definitely back to a marriage in 1766 where we've all hit a brick wall, but I'm doing a one-name study and have masses of stuff back to 15th c. All I need to do now is tie it all together - having first mastered medieval Latin etc - so no problems there then ;D
Post by: danuslave on Friday 04 September 09 00:07 BST (UK)
Hi redfrog and welcome to RootsChat
Lots of knowledgable people on here, in all sorts of fields. If you have any specific problems, post them on the appropriate board and see what turns up :D :D
Post by: robbo43 on Friday 04 September 09 01:09 BST (UK)
Not terribly famous but my mother's cousin was Sidney Davey, a bandleader who appeared on BBC Radio programmes like "Music While You Work" & "Those Were the Days".
Then, of course there is my direct link back to Noah & the Flood in Genesis. Oh no, sorry, that should be Noah Flood born 1770ish of no fame whatsoever
Post by: Ladyfing on Tuesday 06 October 09 19:56 BST (UK)
There is a family legend that our families are/were related to:
1. A Bishop of Southwark who came over with William I (didn't they all!!)
2. Abraham Lincoln (everyone in the family claims to have his nose!)
3. Gypsy Rose Lee (I think this has something to do with a great uncle boxing in the Fairs at Thornton Heath and hanging out with gypsies)
4. Captain Oates (he went out for a bit of a walk in the South Pole. Whilst members of the family are known to be a bit 'lost', I think that's as far as that one goes)
5. W G Grace the famous cricketeer.
I find all claims a bit of a giggle really and was so pleased to disprove the cricketing Grace claim. My 2 x great grandfather was head gardener at Crystal Palace in Sydenham when Grace was Chariman of Crystal Palace cricket club and unless he had carnal knowledge of the gentleman in question, there have to date been no documented reports of offspring!
By the way, can I really claim descendancy to Lucy ' Australopithecus afarensis' Now that's far more interesting and exciting! ;D ;D
Post by: Annie65115 on Wednesday 07 October 09 10:38 BST (UK)
A timely thread revival, I was planning to post on this subject!
I thought I was doing quite well in amongst all the tradespeople, FWK and servants to have a 1st cousin 4 times removed who was an MP in the late 1800's. His daughter was treasurer of the London branch of the Women's league for Suffrage (or whatever the Suffragette organisation was officially called).
Then I found a 7x great-grandfather commemorated in various Victorian moralistic texts - he died a centenarian having worked for the same company for 93 years! :o
However I trumped this yesterday with another 4th cousin who married someone whose family turned out to be in Burke's peerage so easy to track. Through this marraige I find myself related to any number of Earls and Dukes, and to Charles Grey, Whig PM in the early-mid 1800's. Now Charles Grey had an illegitimate daughter with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was a Spencer by birth - yes, the Diana Spencer family - so although you may dismiss it as tenuous and indeed not really related at all, except retrospectively by marraige and illegitimacy, I find myself this morning feeling a very close and deep kinship with Diana and Charles and through them the rest of the European royal families and going back as far as you want.
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
Post by: JillJ on Wednesday 07 October 09 12:37 BST (UK)
I know just how you feel Annie! I've resisted the temptation to add my own lineage to this thread for a very long time because of the 'giggle' tendency if I say I am directly descended from William the Conqueror, but it's true! Working with my cousin we struck minor nobility in the 15-1600's which led us back to Joan Beaufort, illegitimate (although later legitimised) daughter of John of Gaunt and Katheryn Roet Swynford. John of Gaunt was the son of King Edward III and, assuming the historians got it all correct, that takes me back to William 1 and beyond.
Post by: Ladyfing on Wednesday 07 October 09 13:35 BST (UK)
You do realise Jill and Annie that you may now claim direct descent from the Almighty? Medieval royalty loved to trace their descendency back to Adam and therefore God him/herself, theirs was a divine right after all.
::)
Yes, I did realise that Kersfam, just didn't want to brag about unconfirmed descent!
Ahem, we'll have less of this informal "annie", if you don't mind; I answer today to "Princess" or "your ladyship" 8) 8) 8)
Post by: toni* on Wednesday 07 October 09 20:36 BST (UK)
Edwin Charles Pascoe Holman watercolour painter my Grandads cousin
James Hickman implicated although never charged in the onion pie murder OH 1st cousin 4 times removed.
found 2 other murderers who i thought belonged to me but turns out after researching them they don't - same name same y.o.b same place at one time or another but not mine
perhaps the question should be found any one infamous ;D
Post by: downside on Wednesday 07 October 09 22:41 BST (UK)
1) Robin Hood is not a real person, so no one is related to him.
2) Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone, he stole the design and concept from an Italian when he worked in a patent office.
3) I'm not sure whether I would like to boast about the fact that I was related to Wat Tyler.
Post by: Nick29 on Thursday 08 October 09 09:24 BST (UK)
Quote from: downside on Wednesday 07 October 09 22:41 BST (UK)
More than 600 people disputed Bell's patent for the telephone (probably more, but only 600 people filed lawsuits). None of them were successful. The person you're referring to (Antonio Meucci) had his case thrown out due to a lack of evidence. The indisputable fact is that although more than 600 people claimed to have invented the telephone, only one man got the patent for it, and that man was Alexander Graham Bell.
Post by: Annie65115 on Thursday 08 October 09 10:08 BST (UK)
Downside, perhaps you're taking it a bit seriously - I'm not sure that many people here are boasting! I suspect many tongues are firmly in cheeks!
As for my royal claims, I was brought rudely back to earth last night by a dearth of servants doing my bidding. Hey ho, back to common old Annie it is!
Post by: toni* on Thursday 08 October 09 10:24 BST (UK)
really :o
Post by: downside on Thursday 08 October 09 10:37 BST (UK)
I was hoping someone would claim Robin Hood as an ancestor. :)
Personally I'm related to Sherlock Holmes. 8)
How about Dick Turpin ?
Post by: JillJ on Thursday 08 October 09 11:11 BST (UK)
Quote from: downside on Thursday 08 October 09 10:37 BST (UK)
Nah...not Robin Hood, but Maid Marion.....or at least the person whose life was supposedly the basis for Maid Marion.....yes!
Post by: Fitty on Thursday 08 October 09 11:54 BST (UK)
You should have no problem hunting down peeps in your tree then :)
Post by: stonechat on Thursday 08 October 09 13:50 BST (UK)
Dick Turpin was real I think - highwayman on Hounslow Heath
Post by: James R. Yeowell on Thursday 08 October 09 16:51 BST (UK)
Although not blood relations of mine, I did come across Robert and Richard Dighton the other day whilst investigating the family of a second wife of a 2nd Cousin 3 Times Removed.
Robert and Richard Dighton were father and son and both portrait painters of London and a Google search for them brings up some further information.
Post by: Roger The Hat on Thursday 08 October 09 17:49 BST (UK)
Absolutely nobody famous in Mrs. Hat's tree, although her mother is still insisting, despite no evidence, that she is related to Bonnie Prince Charlie............. ???
I blame the medication.
I have also just come across Annie Grimson, daughter of Samuel Dean Grimson (a Professor of Music, according to the census).
She was a pianist and composer in her own right and took a scholarship at the RCM.
She is the niece of Ann Grimson, who was the mother of the individual mentioned above who's second wife was related to the Dightons.
Post by: chris_49 on Friday 09 October 09 20:13 BST (UK)
I've just found out that I'm almost certainly a 5th cousin to a famous wild-child actress of the 60s who I won't name as she's still around. (Connection is pre-1837 so usual caveats).
Post by: coombs on Friday 09 October 09 20:41 BST (UK)
I have just found out that I am a 5th cousin twice removed to.........wait for it.....The Kray Twins. :o :o :o
Their maternal grandmother Mary Ann Houghton was born in 1878 and she was the daughter of Thomas Houghton born in 1853 in Bethnal Green. Thomas's father was James Houghton and his mother was Mary Diggins born in 1812. Mary Diggins mothers maiden name was Obay. Mary Obay is the daughter of my 6xgreat grandparents Samuel and Elizabeth Obay nee Newman. Obay has been known to be spelt as Auber as well. Samuel was a witness to Mary's marriage. He also witnessed the marriages of a few other children including Elizabeth born 1779, William born 1778 and Samuel born 1773.
Post by: aghadowey on Friday 09 October 09 22:28 BST (UK)
Tonight I discovered my grandfather's cousin had an important job for General Motors Corp. and his wife (whom I'd never heard of before) was a spy during WWI :o
Post by: Deb D on Saturday 10 October 09 01:01 BST (UK)
Way back in the late 1700s, my 3xgt grandfather was married to the sister of Duncan Dunbar II, "the Aristotle Onassis" of the time. There were 3 children of this marriage - however DDII's sister died at only 25, and gt-gt-gt grandad remarried (my line, ... wouldn't you know?!).
There's supposed to be a link between my mother's Kinnears and the famous actors by that name (Greg and/or Roy - haven't found it yet) ... and also - although similarly I have yet to see proof - some connection with Sean Connery. There's some hypothesis about the "root" name - Connaire - and its origins in Ireland, as I understand.
Post by: toni* on Saturday 10 October 09 23:02 BST (UK)
Quote from: Deb D on Saturday 10 October 09 01:01 BST (UK)
- Connaire -
isn't that a film ?
Post by: Deb D on Sunday 11 October 09 05:06 BST (UK)
;D ;D ;D
Post by: Annie65115 on Monday 12 October 09 19:09 BST (UK)
Started loking at my friend's tree on her behalf at the weekend.
She had a photo of a family gravestone which was a really good lead so we managed to find out within minutes that her gt-grandfather is mentioned by name in Ulysses by James Joyce (Hades chapter)
(He was the dublin coroner!)
Post by: Maggie1895 on Thursday 15 October 09 20:50 BST (UK)
My grandfather was Richard Christopher, named for Richard Christopher Mansell, the Uncle who had brought his Mother up, and so my Gr.Gr.Uncle.
Richard Christopher Mansell (he always used both names) was b.1814 in Liverpool, and a railway engineer heavily involved in the railway boom in Victorian times. He had a full time employed post (Locomotive Superintendant of South Eastern Railways) he was also an inventor, and amongst other things held the patent for the Mansell Wheel.
There's a nice picture of a train with one of his engines in 1855 in a book by John Betjeman, and some more detailed information in the Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Some of his engines were 0-4-4 (which means a lot to railway enthusiasts but nothing to me) though I do like his naming them 'Gunboat'.
Sadly though on his Wikipedia entry you learn that 'none of his engines had a distinguished service life'. Does that mean the wheels have come off my claim to fame?
Post by: moraf on Monday 19 October 09 21:49 BST (UK)
My late father once got a mention for catching a fish on Grassholme reservoir.
Post by: James R. Yeowell on Monday 19 October 09 23:36 BST (UK)
Apparently one of my distant cousin's (Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee) got mentioned on BBC Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth yesterday. I shall listen to it soon myself. There was also a television programme on ITV that mentioned him once too but I have never seen it. I also have a copy of The remarkable Gamgees : a story of achievement (1974, Ramsay Head Press), by Ruth D'Arcy Thompson (daughter of Prof. D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, a nephew of Dr. Joseph Sampson Gamgee) which is about the rise of the family from humble farmers to veterinary surgeons and inventors.
My recent research on the Lodington family has (potentially -- I have yet to make the exact link) also linked me to more landed gentry. Including Hugh Aglionby Shore, 6th Lord Teignmouth (as well as his son, the 7th Lord Teignmouth).
Post by: Maggie1895 on Sunday 08 November 09 18:21 GMT (UK)
Quote from: James R. Yeowell on Monday 19 October 09 23:36 BST (UK)
Without wishing in any way to be less than respectful of Dr Gamgee's achievements, I got quite excited when I read that.
For a wonderful moment I thought your family came from Middle Earth and spent a lot of time searching for Rings..
Post by: aghadowey on Sunday 08 November 09 18:36 GMT (UK)
Quote from: aghadowey on Thursday 29 November 07 19:45 GMT (UK)
Logged onto Facebook last week and it suggested my great-uncle as a possible 'friend'- complete with a photograph so no doubt it was him- which was a bit of a surprise since he died in 1954 :o
Was much relieved to know a cousin had set up the account :)
Post by: Isabel H on Sunday 08 November 09 19:43 GMT (UK)
Quote from: peaches13 on Tuesday 04 December 07 10:16 GMT (UK)
I have a connection to the mutineers! James Morrison, Boatswain's mate on the Bounty, was my 3xg-grandfather's brother. He was tried and found guilty, but later pardoned. He died in Feb. 1807 when he was Master Gunner on Admiral Troubridge's ship HMS Blenheim, which was lost somewhere off Madagascar.
Post by: oldtimer on Thursday 12 November 09 19:47 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Maggie1895 on Sunday 08 November 09 18:21 GMT (UK)
You are not far from the truth ;D Apparantly Dr Gamgee was a friend of Tolkein's, and he borrowed his name for the character!
Post by: colin buckle on Thursday 19 November 09 12:08 GMT (UK)
My Gt Gt Uncle was a hangman from 1901 - 1924. Quite a famous one, Crippen was one of those he hung.
Post by: MarieC on Friday 20 November 09 09:21 GMT (UK)
That's an interesting and unusual ancestor to have, Colin! :o :o
Post by: colin buckle on Friday 20 November 09 19:34 GMT (UK)
Yes not actually what I was hoping to find in my past.
Look at it this way - it certainly adds colour and interest to your family tree!!!! ;D
Post by: toni* on Monday 23 November 09 10:02 GMT (UK)
i have a pinter in ymt ree did i already say that
Edwin Charles Pascoe Holman
and also in my partners tree i have a man who was found guilty of arson and insurance fraud however i think he was led astray by his wife as his wifes family (mother brother etc) were found guilty of more than 30 arsons and insurance fraud i think the only thing my man was guilty of was marrying the wrong woman he can only be implicated as he was actually at work at the time of the arson.
Also in my partners tree and in mine via a further back connection i have a man who was implicated in murder, although never tried or found guilty, A married lady said to him 'if i were not marrid would you take up with me'; he said 'yes' and then she murdered her husband (was found guilty and hanged) :o
so infamous rather than famous
Post by: dannibaggaley on Friday 27 November 09 19:47 GMT (UK)
My great x3 Grandfather married a lady called Elizabeth Hucker and going back in her tree, we have Sir Thomas Leigh Knight and Sir Richard Berkeley Knight of Stoke Giffard.
Really should find out why they were Sir's!!
Post by: coombs on Sunday 29 November 09 15:54 GMT (UK)
Its amazing that I am distantly related to The Kray Twins of all people.
Post by: Steve G on Monday 30 November 09 03:53 GMT (UK)
Quote from: colin buckle on Thursday 19 November 09 12:08 GMT (UK)
Good grief. So was Edith Thompson. And they reckon that's why he eventually slit his own throat.
Miserable and messy endings all round then :(
Post by: Jo New on Friday 04 December 09 19:29 GMT (UK)
ok without getting everone confused and also myself confused in the process, i am distantly related to Thomas Wintrington http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wintringham_(Liberal_politician)
who was married to a distant cousin of my great grandmother ( i got confused of who but they were related lol).. Margaret Wintringham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Wintringham
Thomas's nephew was Tom Wintringham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wintringham
Title: re
Post by: GMac78 on Friday 04 December 09 19:44 GMT (UK)
Post by: pteverett001 on Tuesday 15 December 09 15:29 GMT (UK)
My favourite is my Great x24 Grandfather: William Marshal, reputedly the greatest knight that ever lived, who rose from obscurity to serve four kings and become one of the most powerful men in Europe, tournament legend, eventually appointed a Regent of England, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and bacame a Knight Templar on his deathbed, and is buried in the Temple Church in London, and clearly was quite a bloke! He had ten children and I am descended (as no doubt are many thousands) from his daughter Eva who married William de Braose, through my maternal great Grandmother's line.
Post by: JillJ on Tuesday 15 December 09 16:03 GMT (UK)
You and I must be related because I'm one of the thousands who follow the same line. William Marshal was my 25 x g. grandfather.
Hi Cousin Jill, pleased to meet you :)
Pleased to meet you too cousin Paul! What an illustrious ancestor we share; I've just finished reading "The Greatest Traitor; the life of Sir Roger Mortimer Ruler of England 1327-1330" by Ian Mortimer. He refers to William:
......William Marshal, the greatest knight in Christendom. His name was spoken everywhere with a sense of awe. He had won success in every tournament he had entered and, when confronted by his adveersaries at court, had challenged them all to single combat. None had dared face him.
Isnt it great to read these things feeling some small connection. I have just finished reading The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick.
Sorry all for the brief hijack of the thread.
Yes it is great, even though I tend to read with a notebook alongside me! When you find famous ancestors like these you also discover a mountain of books! Alison Weir's 'Isabella', Ian Mortimer's 'Edward III', Alison Weir's 'Kathryn' are other recent reads of mine and I'm related to all of them!
My apologies too for the thread hijack but it isn't every day you meet a new cousin!
Post by: Braindead on Tuesday 15 December 09 16:58 GMT (UK)
My Great great grandfather, Count Michel de Bartholomey was Russian Ambassador to the USA in the early 1880s.
Post by: GMac78 on Tuesday 15 December 09 17:22 GMT (UK)
Post by: Cheryl. on Tuesday 15 December 09 19:29 GMT (UK)
Quote from: coombs on Sunday 29 November 09 15:54 GMT (UK)
Me too and my Gt Gt Grandfather was a pretty famous footballer of his days
Post by: XPhile2868 on Wednesday 16 December 09 11:48 GMT (UK)
Quote from: pteverett001 on Tuesday 15 December 09 15:29 GMT (UK)
I'm also a direct descendant of William, via his daughter Isabel - he's my 27x great grandfather. William has quite a lot of well-known descendants - Lord Byron is his 19x great grandson, the current US President Barack Obama is his 27th great grandson, Jane Austen is his 18th great granddaughter and Abraham Lincoln is his 20th great grandson. My link to him is via the Willis family on my dad's side of the family (my dad's mum's mum's mum's family), who seem to have a lot of links to famous people and the nobility, although my recent Willis ancestors were working-class.
I wish I knew as much about another William Marshall, though - the one who is my 5x great grandfather and was a school teacher in Leyland.
Post by: JillJ on Wednesday 16 December 09 11:55 GMT (UK)
That makes you a 'cousin' of mine too! I'm actually related to William through three of his daughters, Eva, Isabel & Sybil.
Quote from: JillJ on Wednesday 16 December 09 11:55 GMT (UK)
According to this site - http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/cousincalculator.html, we're 26th cousins 2 times removed.
I haven't found all of William's children's children yet, so I only know of the one related branch.
Quote from: JillJ on Tuesday 15 December 09 16:36 GMT (UK)
I actually have the book Katherine, by Anya Seton, which is about Katherine de Roet - my 22nd great grandmother. I descend from her and John of Gaunt via John Beaufort, whose daughter Joan married King James I of Scotland - the line goes into one of my Houghton branches and eventually into the Willis family. I think Katherine and John probably have hundreds of thousands of descendants all over the world by now.
I think it is a well known fact that Edward III was 'father of the nation' - just about everybody is descended from him if they could just prove it!
I've read Anya Seton's book too, although that is a novel based on fact whereas Alison Weir's book is a biography, but they are both extremely interesting, especially to me because I live just down the road from Kathryn's home, Kettlethorpe Hall so I have the local as well as the family interest.
Paul and I have exchanged p.m.'s - he has a lot of information on William's children.
I'm going away for a couple of days now so forgive me if I don't respond to any further messages on the subject for a few days.
It's an interesting book.
I've just realised that I have his daughter Maud as a direct ancestor as well, I just haven't connected her to her parents in the family tree. I had a Matilda as his daughter, who is the same person as Maud, though.
Post by: Annie65115 on Wednesday 16 December 09 17:15 GMT (UK)
If the above is true then I guess I must be related to all of you as well :)
OTOH my ancestors/relatives (Diana Spencer excepted :P) don't have well known names, but include:
2 mayors of Leicester
a Victorian Whig MP
the honorary treasurer for the London branch of the suffragettes
a brigadier in charge of troops in E Africa in WW2
and hordes and hordes of people who fought the odds and survived to reproduce no matter what poverty threw at them.
Post by: pteverett001 on Thursday 17 December 09 15:13 GMT (UK)
Yeah but they are not so interesting hahahaha! only kidding :)
Post by: Annie65115 on Thursday 17 December 09 17:41 GMT (UK)
No, and I know this is about famous people, but the lives of our not-famous ancestors are endlessly interesting, aren't they!
Post by: JillJ on Friday 18 December 09 13:42 GMT (UK)
Quite right Annie! This particular line of mine leads back to blue blood but by the time it comes forward in time to me it has acquired the statutory number of Agricultural Labourers and Miners, all of whom are just as interesting if not so well documented.
Let us know when we can officially call you 'cousin'!
Post by: Rena on Friday 18 December 09 13:50 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Annie65115 on Thursday 17 December 09 17:41 GMT (UK)
They certainly are Annie but I sometimes wonder when I read what some ancestors introduced into this world why they never got a mention in local history annals.
Post by: matt94 on Saturday 02 January 10 16:39 GMT (UK)
I have a couple...
Firstly Isabel Hodgins - plays Victoria Sugden in Emmerdale...
And Enya, the Irish Singer, and her brother Brian. (by Marriage)
Post by: Elsa-Mary on Saturday 02 January 10 21:51 GMT (UK)
Happy New Year to All :)
Well ,
Related thro marriage to Sir Roger Casement who was executed for treason- then pardoned and re interred in 1960's-dont know if that counts :o
And unproven ::) supposedly directly related to one Betty Taggart- again supposedly female leader of Clan!!-but have been totally unable to find this female warrior???
Post by: carlolsen on Monday 11 January 10 02:42 GMT (UK)
The thread, are you related to royalty. I can understand it missing but being off limits to ME, i find a bit on the nose. :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Regards Carl.
Post by: kathyhpink on Tuesday 12 January 10 15:19 GMT (UK)
Quote from: XPhile2868 on Wednesday 16 December 09 12:04 GMT (UK)
'Katherine' is one of my all time favourite books!
I have Don Cockell, the British Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion in the 1950s in my tree.
Not in my tree, but David Jones (aka Bowie) lived in the same road as me, as a child ::)
Post by: JillJ on Tuesday 12 January 10 15:27 GMT (UK)
Hi Kathyhpink,
Welcome to RootsChat.
Keep digging away and you'll probably find you too are related to Katherine!
Thanks for the welcome, Jill. It's a lovely friendly site and glad it was recommended to me.
Kathy :D
Post by: Finley 1 on Tuesday 12 January 10 19:44 GMT (UK)
Infamous more like
1st cousin 5 times removed (or thereabouts) known as 'a hedonistic' playwright.... nice one...
Post by: coombs on Tuesday 12 January 10 19:49 GMT (UK)
Quote from: xinia on Tuesday 12 January 10 19:44 GMT (UK)
Take me and the Kray Twins. We share common ancestors in the 1780s. :-[ :-[ :-[
Post by: Annie65115 on Wednesday 13 January 10 09:25 GMT (UK)
Which hedonistic playwright would that be?!
Post by: Nick29 on Wednesday 13 January 10 13:24 GMT (UK)
Eric Morecambe ?
Oscar Wilde?
Post by: Finley 1 on Wednesday 13 January 10 19:46 GMT (UK)
Oscar Wilde nearly right no its Simon Raven
Post by: oldtimer on Wednesday 13 January 10 19:49 GMT (UK)
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Oh Xin!! How interesting!!
hang on there Annie I just noticed you are searching Patricks in Leicester?!?!
Welll that could mean you are related to him as well........
??? he was of the Raven Knitwear family --- which is part of my lot?!?!!? but Catherine Raven married Samuel Patrick (leicester) and they are my ggg/g or something grandparents.... Which Patricks are you looking for....
yes it is interesting there is a lot on the net about him...
Partricks, not Patricks, sadly :'( (I'd love to find out about Vera)
having said that, I've come to the conclusion that everyone from Leicester is indeed related to everyone else from Leicester -- or maybe that's just my family tree that's a bit interwoven!
I think your right regarding Leicester Heritage ... that was a close thing then Part not Pat...let me know if I can help with Vera
Post by: englander8 on Thursday 28 January 10 14:31 GMT (UK)
Then you also have George Washington in your line. I recently did my ex wife's tree and found all those names too including George Washington. Its very interesting I know. Unfortunately for you, you are therefor somehow related to my ex wife but your secret lays safe with me. You should enjoy your Royal line but avoid her at all costs,she is the "Queen of Sheeba"..
Quote from: bloomkitty on Sunday 29 August 04 23:02 BST (UK)
Post by: Annie65115 on Thursday 28 January 10 16:28 GMT (UK)
I hate to be a spoilsport, but I think it would be difficult to be a direct descencdant of Edward the Confessor as he had no children ::)
Post by: Nick29 on Thursday 28 January 10 16:47 GMT (UK)
I'm left wondering how someone can be related to an ocean-going liner ? ???
Post by: Finley 1 on Thursday 28 January 10 16:48 GMT (UK)
yep I noted that brilliant..
Post by: Filiem on Thursday 28 January 10 18:44 GMT (UK)
I have just found online a photograph of my GG grandmother's brother in a 1906 Middlesbrough Football Club team photo.
He's sat just down the row from Alf Common, the first £1000 footballer ;D (How times have changed!)
I still need to do some digging as he is not showing up on the professional players online database, perhaps he was a reserve player. Still, very exciting for me, maybe that's because I am a Boro fan! ;)
Post by: mamor on Saturday 30 January 10 12:29 GMT (UK)
Not terribly famous, but very interesting:
Andrew Freemantle (1768-1838) my 5x Great Grandfather and a first class cricketer, who played for Hambledon and England during his career.
George Samways (1895-1996) a ghost-writer for the Greyfriars comics (Billy Bunter etc.), writing over 100 of the stories. He also had a book of poetry and an autobiography (Road To Greyfriars) published.
Yet to find any royal connections - I'm sure there must be one somewhere! :D
Post by: coombs on Saturday 30 January 10 18:54 GMT (UK)
I thin if you went back far enough you may find several distant connections to famous people.
I am sure David Frost said he was of Suffolk ancestry and I have Frost ancestors in Suffolk.
Post by: Nick29 on Sunday 31 January 10 13:02 GMT (UK)
Quote from: coombs on Saturday 30 January 10 18:54 GMT (UK)
David Paradine Frost was born in Tenterden, Kent on 7 April 1939, and was the son of a Methodist Minister. The family later moved to Suffolk, and one of David Frost's first jobs was on Anglia Televsion, so he was connected with the area, but it doesn't look like the connection goes back that far.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4588233.stm
Post by: Dorothy Hill on Monday 08 February 10 16:22 GMT (UK)
Quote from: paulmh on Friday 23 July 04 13:29 BST (UK)
Not exactly an ancestor, but ACKER BILK is on my tree. His Aunty Freda Bilk (born 1898) married my grandfather's nephew, William Hayman (born 1901) in Publow, Somerset. Good old 'Stranger on the Shore'.
Dorothy Hill
Post by: LizzieW on Monday 08 February 10 18:39 GMT (UK)
I'm related to Redroger - he's famous - well at least on Rootschat ;D ;D
A very distant ancestor, one of the grandsons of my 14 x g.grandfather (making him my 1st cousin 14 times removed!!) was famous in his day. He was Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and founded St Paul's College school for boys at the cathedral which is still in existence. He was buried in St Paul's Cathedral and there is a stone there bearing his name.
His father was also famous (he is my 13 x g.uncle). He was knighted and Lord Mayor of London on two occasions. He is buried in a large tomb in St Dunstan's Church, Stepney.
Unfortunately, my direct ancestor was only a sheep farmer. ::)
Post by: watto3535 on Thursday 11 February 10 07:23 GMT (UK)
One of my distant granfathers was married in Stoke-by-Nayland in Suffolk and in the same week as John Constable, the artist. I later found that his son married a girl named Constable. Who knows?
Also my father was named Lewis after a cousin, Lewis McGregor who was the Australian ambassador to the League of Nations in WW2. He later became US ambassador to Barbados. My nephew is also named Lewis. I read Lewis McGregor's autobiography a few years ago - it was better than a sleeping pill.
Post by: snaptoo on Saturday 13 February 10 17:03 GMT (UK)
Not really famous, but my paternal grandfather was vicar of Malmesbury Abbey, Wilts for 19 years, and we have photos of him shaking hands with Queen Mary.
My maternal ggrandfather was the top breeder of shire horses.
snaptoo
After my paternal grandmother died, my mother asked me if she had ever told me that I am supposed to be descended from Robert the Bruce. This has been dormant in the back of my memory for nearly 30 years, and is the main reason why I now have my own computer, so that I can try and prove the link. I have a long long way to go, as I have not actually started my tree on my father's side yet!
Post by: coombs on Saturday 13 February 10 20:28 GMT (UK)
Quote from: LizzieW on Monday 08 February 10 18:39 GMT (UK)
I may also be due to our Cornwell lines. But as I said, I found out that I am related to the Kray Twins. Arggghhhhhhh. I am their 5th cousins twice removed.
Post by: Finley 1 on Saturday 13 February 10 20:42 GMT (UK)
wasnt it found on who do you think u r that Patsy Kensit was related to the Krays???
I am not sure. I didn't know she was. I know Zoe Wanamaker is. I am related to them through their mothers mother Mary Ann Houghton, daughter of Thomas Pitt Houghton.
Post by: les_looking on Sunday 14 February 10 13:52 GMT (UK)
Quote from: xinia on Saturday 13 February 10 20:42 GMT (UK)
No Patsys Father was a "business" associate of them, and Reggie was Godfather to her brother,
re Zoe Wanamaker pretty sure there is no family connection, (maybe wrong)
her father was from the Ukraine, and Mother was Canadian, pretty sure her only connection to the East End is when they left the USA and settled here, i followed her story pretty closely as Her Fathers family came from the same village in the Ukraine as my Grandad so until i found records it was easier to track someone famous from the same place.
Post by: Finley 1 on Sunday 14 February 10 15:35 GMT (UK)
I do love the stories on that programme.. Just had notice that Lisa Kudrow is going to be on the american version.... interesting...
Post by: astro-rolf on Tuesday 22 June 10 13:44 BST (UK)
Quote from: asgaard on Thursday 03 September 09 21:24 BST (UK)
Have you got the complete birth date and place for William Joseph Simmonite? It would be very helpful for a wiki article and I don't know how else to get the data.
Post by: dbath on Monday 28 June 10 02:25 BST (UK)
I could not find the option I wanted on this poll: not from my own research or a credible source. I found that genealogists from about 100 years back often traced people back to royalty, then on to King David and Adam. I personally have not been able to verify any of these links. My grandfather's uncle also told stories about how Bath children were secreted from their castle by servants after their father freed his serfs and the surrounding gentry came and burned the castle. While exciting and pride generating, this story is not true unless it happened before 1670, which is as far as I have been able to trace, and if my uncle knew about the story from that time, he should be famous!
Post by: poppy16 on Thursday 08 July 10 00:29 BST (UK)
I discovered my great great uncle played for Manchester United from 1911-1918. He was called George Anderson. His younger brother, Thomas Anderson signed for Bolton Wanderers in 1921. George ended up in prison after his career ended and I think he emigrated to USA after his release where he died aged 38 (but I don't know why!).
Post by: Annie65115 on Thursday 08 July 10 08:28 BST (UK)
Ok, my friend's tree contains the following famous people, all closely related or direct line:
-- an 19th century doctor, social reformer, bibiliophile and writer of books, famous in Dublin
--- the Dublin coroner mentioned by name in James Joyce
--- a mayor of Dublin who, when he wasn't being Mayor, ran a building company resonsible for building all those gorgeous fin de siecle buildings in central Dublin which are now embassies and the like
--- the person who was in charge of Uttar Pradesh (on behalf of the British govt) prior to India's independence; he went on to run Afghanistan then the suez canal (plus ca change re foreign affairs, hey?!)
--- even other people in her tree whose achievements might be less well-known, moved in the circles where their names were regularly in the "court and social column" in the Irish Times
--- the family owned the house where WB Yeats family had lived
All the above are proven; unproven as yet, but I'm pretty certain it's true, are her relationship to Oscar Wilde (probably distant cousin) and descendence from the well-known (in their time!) "Ferocious O'Flahertys" who terrorised Galway 500 years ago :)
and me? FWK almost all the way! :)
Post by: Finley 1 on Thursday 08 July 10 08:44 BST (UK)
many years ago when I was bemoaning the fact.. that my life was 'mundane' my OH replied, yes but there have to be 'leaflet distributors' in the world... without them the cogs wouldnt keep turning.... they are very important.
So your family is full of VIP's as is mine...
Post by: debbie1 on Thursday 08 July 10 20:08 BST (UK)
not related,but still got a massive buzz when i found my great grandma on 1911 census.servant/housemaid to florence fiennes age 44 and her son ranulph aged 8.Living at 8 Buckingham Palace Gardens,Buckingham Palace Road,London.The Grandmother and Father of Ranulph Fiennes-Explorer. :D
Post by: watto3535 on Tuesday 10 August 10 11:41 BST (UK)
My 4x grandfather, who came from Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk/Essex married John Constable's sister. Personally, I can't paint a wall.
Post by: Windsor87 on Tuesday 22 February 11 02:13 GMT (UK)
A couple of days ago I found out that there was a local personality called Francis Jamieson (1823-1903) aka 'Fruncie Markis'. He was a famous athlete, musician, and general character.
Anyway, my greatx4 grandfather was called Francis Jamieson (1798-1875), was born and brought up in the same area as above. I thought that there was probably a connection so I set out trying to prove it.
Information from the internet told me who Funcie Markis' parents were - William Jamieson and Ann Urquhart. I then started looking for them. Finding Ann was rather easy. Upon seeing her date of death and seeing she was a widow, I tried looking for her husband's death, and all their census entries.
About an hour later I decided that proving the connection was going to be too difficult as I could find nothing - so I started closing down the various windows displaying the documents on Scotland's people. I was about to close the very first window I opened - Ann's death certificate - when I noticed her parents' names - Adam Urquhart and Isobel Shand....
Adam Urquhart and Isobel Shand are my greatx6 grandparents. So I was related to Fruncie Markis...I was just too pre-occupied with the Jamieson connection that I failed to recognise the obvious.
Anyway...to cut a long story short...Funcie Markis (1823-1903)...my 1st cousin removed 6 times :P :
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd116/Windsor87/FrancisJamieson.jpg)
PS. If anyone has an institutional access to the SCRAN website, please do let me know.
Post by: LizzieW on Tuesday 22 February 11 17:53 GMT (UK)
I've got quite a few Lords and Knights way back in my tree, whether any of them is actually famous, i.e. a well known name, I have no idea. I have an ancestor who was Dean of St Pauls and was a colleague of both Sir Thomas More and Erasmus.
Not an ancestor, descendant or relative of any sort (although a fellow Northerner) but what is probably more interesting to cricket fans, is the fact that one of my husband's friends is the Duckworth of the Duckworth Lewis system. My OH used to work with him many years ago and is still friends with him. We had many happy pre Christmas family celebrations at his house when our children and his child were young.
I should have said that a portrait of my ancestor who was Dean of St Pauls was done by the artist Hans Holbein and believed to have been commissioned by Sir Thomas More in 1532. As my ancestor died in 1519, Hans Holbein based his drawing on a bust by the sculptor Pietro Torrigiano (1472–1528). Today the drawing is part of the Royal Collection at Windsor. Perhaps I should ask for it ::) ::)
Post by: RMfrance on Tuesday 10 December 13 20:01 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Minn on Thursday 29 November 07 21:03 GMT (UK)
aghadowey Our common ancestor is Sir John Popham.
I'm told that my maternal grandmother (Rosina Harris, b Islington, London) is descended from 'Admiral Popham'. The story as it was recounted to me was that at some point a Popham family daughter fell in love with someone considered beneath her social standing. Her father threatened to disown her if she married her suitor, despite which she went ahead and married her true love.
So, I'm hoping to find a connectgion between Popham and Harris (links to both Ireland and Scotland).
It's a long-shot, but...
Post by: Malcolm33 on Tuesday 10 December 13 20:20 GMT (UK)
My Uncle Tom used to tell everyone that Sir Leonard Hutton was his cousin. I know this is not true, though there would be a connection if I were able to go back far enough since it seems that all the Bradford Huttons trace back to an ancestor in Baildon. My Hutton line were at Eccleshill as far back as at least 1712 whilst Sir Len was born at nearby Pudsey and I do know that his line goes back to Baildon.
My cousin Marion's mother was a Saxty and that line traces back via Scotland to Bath which is where the father of Albert Saxty came from. Albert Saxty was one of the few men who held off the Zulu army of Cetaweyo at Rorke's Drift.
However much more concrete is that my mitochondrial dna gives me a common ancestor with King Charles I, George I, George VI, Prince Philip, Kaiser Wilhelm, Tsar Nicholas and Jesse James, whilst a cousin's dna gives us a common ancestry with King David and King Solomon of Egypt.
Post by: suffolk*sue on Tuesday 10 December 13 21:51 GMT (UK)
Edwin Sandys is my umpteen times g.grandfather,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Sandys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edwin_Sandys_from_NPG.jpg
A very distant connection to the Boon of Mills and Boon publishers.
Post by: KGarrad on Tuesday 10 December 13 22:18 GMT (UK)
Ummmm . . . . you do, of course, mean Antonio Meucci, who invented the telephone?!?! ;D ;D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Meucci
In my tree I have John Constable, R.A..
His grandmother was Judith Garrad, and his Aunt Ann Constable married back into the Garrad family!
Post by: a-l on Tuesday 10 December 13 23:07 GMT (UK)
I am a direct descendent of Rev. John Hale of Salem witch trials . That reduced me to tears of laughter as all my life I have collected witches ! Also a family who married into the Hales traces down to Princes William and Harry. I also have connections to Helen Keller and Robert E Lee, Senators and Orators and of course Nathan Hale.
Post by: jbml on Friday 13 December 13 14:27 GMT (UK)
Well, I'm told that my Kipling ancestors are NOT connected to Joseph Rudyard of that ilk. Family tradition says otherwise. But then, I', told that is usual in families wiht the name Kipling in their tree.
It is suggested that my Sinden ancestors are related to the actor Sir Donald ... but I've no tbeen able ot prove the link in an idle afternoon, and I'm not particularly minded to devote any more effort to the attempt than that.
I have found two of my 16th and 17th century ancestors mentioned in academic historical monographs (Francis Washwhite of Wisbech, and William Cockerton of Balsham).
But never mind the people ... what about the houses?
My grandfather's farm (Woolpit Farm in Ewhurst, Surrey) was once the Surrey home of Sir Henry Doulton (of ceramic fame); and my great grandfather's house (Ardmore House, at the boundary of Loughton and Buckhurst Hill, Essex) was once the private residence of Dr Barnado (THE Dr Barnado), and was visited in 1931 by Mahatma Gandhi.
Not bad for a shoemaker's son, who started working life as a railway clerk at Stratford!
Post by: lullaby on Friday 13 December 13 15:46 GMT (UK)
My paternal grandfather and Sydney Greenstreet (of Casablanca fame) were first cousins and a great aunt on my father's maternal side was a stage/early film actress in the 1930's (Lorna Hubbard). My mother's father was related to George Tinworth (Royal Doulton).
Sadly this artistic bloodline has totally passed me by!
Post by: watto3535 on Thursday 10 July 14 11:56 BST (UK)
Actually, yes. My 1st cousin, twice removed was Richard Lewis McGregor (1886-1973). Who?
He was born in Scotland and due to a powerful and God-fearing mother he went to agricultural college. He went to Australia and soon became a government agricultural expert. During WW2 he was in charge of supplying food to the Allied troops and later became Australian ambassador to Canada. He later became a US citizen and lived in Barbados. In 1966 he welcomed the Queen on her visit to Barbados. My father was named George Lewis and my nephew is also Lewis.
Post by: Malcolm33 on Thursday 10 July 14 20:21 BST (UK)
Since I last visited this discussion one remarkable find has emerged. It is so far back though that one can never know for certain whether there was ever any blood connection.
My great grandfather was James Currie Draffan who was born in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire. Apparently the grandmother of Sir William Wallace was an Alicia Draffan also born in Lesmahagow but in 1230, though some say that she was Alicia De Salloch heiress of Draffan.
One thing we always have to remember is that surnames were non existent a thousand years ago and many people took their name from the local village or town or their trade.
Post by: khonalan on Thursday 10 July 14 20:44 BST (UK)
looks like, Robert rhys = Margaret leigh, m, joyce culpepper, joyce = 2 Edmund howard, dau. Catherine, had something with henry 8.
Post by: RobinRedBreast on Thursday 19 December 19 21:43 GMT (UK)
Stanley Spooner was the founder, creator and editor of Flight magazine, and also of one of the first Automobile Magazines in the world.
He was a half-brother of one of my 3x great grandad's.
Maybe not exactly famous, as such.
But he seems to have achieved quite a lot. I could not find a biography of him on Wikipedia.
So I decided to type his biography on there up myself. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Spooner
On my mother's side of the family:
Sir Edward Lake was a nephew of one of my 10x great grandma's Ursula Wardell/Wardall (1573 - 1630). Edward Lake's maternal grandfather Edawrd Wardall/dell my 11x great, was buried in Keelby, Lincolnshire, on the 8th of July 1619.
I have contributed a large amount to Sir Edward's biography on Wikipedia, from information I have found out through wills and other sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Edward_Lake,_1st_Baronet
There are also links to royalty via my mother's Cheshire ancestors.
:) ;)
Post by: Gallicrow on Sunday 22 December 19 19:33 GMT (UK)
This thread reminds me of a story I read in the science fiction comic 2000 AD back in the 1980s.
"Amalgamated Ancestors guarantee that they can find a famous ancestor for every citizen. They are so confident that they offer 1 billion megabucks to anyone who they can't find a famous ancestor for."
After a while a complete non-entity asks the company to find a famous ancestor for him. However Amalgamated Ancestors really struggle with this particular man. They go further and further back in time, but in every generation his ancestors are just just boring nobodies.
Eventually they go all the way back to the stone age and a caveman ancestor of the man picks up a sharp rock and it looks like he is going to invent the first weapon, but after a few moments he puts it down again. Then a different caveman picks up the rock and bashes the first one over the head with it and Amalgamated Ancestors breathe a huge sigh of relief - the man is a direct descendant of the first ever murder victim!
Post by: ms_canuck on Monday 30 December 19 18:18 GMT (UK)
I am distantly related to John Winston Lennon. My 3rd cousin, once removed, John Albert Dykins, married Julia Stanley (John's Mum) in 1944 and they had two daughters - John's half sisters. My cousin died in 1966 (aged 46) - he was killed in a car crash at the bottom of Penny Lane.
...so far I haven't found anyone else!
Cheers - Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / Happy New Year to you all.
Ms_C
Post by: Malcolm33 on Monday 30 December 19 18:44 GMT (UK)
My great grandmother was Elizabeth Berry who married gt.grandad Thomas Hutton.
Elizabeth's brother James Berry and wife Charlotte and their large family migrated to Lawrence Massachusetts.
One of their many grand children Harold Berry was first of all married clandestinely to Tedi (Henrietta) Strashun, the daughter of Leon Strashun who studied Music with Tchaikovsky, and was at one time the Conductor of the New York Metropolitian.
However that marriage broke up after some 9 or 10 years, and Harold then married Jullian Crawford the abandoned mother of Terence STEVE MCQUEEN, who went on to become a big Movie Star.
Steve did tell the World that his Stepfather, Harold Berry had been abusive and was an alcoholic.
Having learned more from a grand-daughter of Tedi's by her second marriage, it appears to be unfortunately true.
Post by: coombs on Monday 30 December 19 18:57 GMT (UK)
Patsy Kenist is a distant cousin of mine. We both descend from John and Sarah Sparks of Finchingfield.
I am a distant cousin of the Kray Twins. Ugh.
Post by: turramurra on Tuesday 31 December 19 03:14 GMT (UK)
How I long to be related to anyone famous!!
so far no-one as emerged from the inky black memoirs or family histories of any ancestor.
But that does not stop me from searching..
Agricultural labourers seem to have been popular with early wool combers from Suffolk.
A Prussian gentleman came to our sunny shores with many skills as woodcarver and teacher.
Engineers and Ship's Captains from Essex England and Scotland.
A poor shoemaker from Lancashire and of course the usual convicts from London and Ireland.
Fame seems to have evaded us, but all had families and made good in the world.
Post by: DianaCanada on Wednesday 01 January 20 16:12 GMT (UK)
I have a few interesting connections, although no actual blood ties to anyone famous or illustrious (yet).
My maternal grandmother's first cousin married a brother of bandleader Frank Chacksfield, who I understand was quite popular decades ago.
My paternal grandfather's first cousin went into service and became a valet/butler – in 1939 he is living at Windsor Castle (Norman Tower) in the employ of Clive Wigram (Baron), lieutenant-governor of the castle and Personal Secretary to the Sovereign 1931-36. I've always wondered how Joseph Ford managed to get this job, but have found no resources to help.
My great-great-grandmother's husband is living in Lambeth in 1851, listed as a potter's lad, and I assume he worked at the Doulton factory, as in 1861 he is a groom in the household of Frederick Doulton in Camberwell, who later became an MP for that area. Most of his career was spent as a coachman or carman, but I don't know how long he stayed with the Doultons.
I have recently, though DNA, found out which family my maternal grandfather belonged to and there is a Weston branch, and Canadians will know our famous Weston family of baker and grocery fame – their origins are in East Sussex, where my lot are from. Possibly the connection is generations ago, but probably somewhere along the line they are connected. I also have a Pankhurst in this line, but Emmeline Pankhurst was not one by birth and her husband was from London, but I would guess all Pankhursts descend from the same individual.
My children have a number of connections to nobility and royalty as a large number of their paternal ancestors were early New England settlers, one of them being Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts who links back to early royal lines. He was the founder of Cambridge, Mass and his daughter, Anne Dudley Bradstreet, considered the first American female poet, is also their ancestor. Anne's husband, Simon Bradstreet, also their ancestor, was a Governor of Massachusetts as well.
Post by: jbml on Monday 31 August 20 12:55 BST (UK)
A while back I chanced upon a delightful site with a full genealogy for one of my family lines, which traced them right back to one of William the Conqueror's henchmen and beyond. The line found its way to Norse royalty and hence all the way back to ... you've guessed it ... WODEN!
Doesn't come much better than that, does it?
I regret to say, though, that I found some of the links in his chain more than a little flaky, particularly in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Alas, the site disappeared before I could take it all down for later investigation. I'm solid on that line into the 17th century, and you never know ... he might have had some useful leads to follow up which would have given me reliable evidence back into the 16th. But beyond that? NAH ...
(I did try the experiment of ordering the Internet, in the name of my mighty and illustrious ancestor Woden, to reinstate the site ... but nothing happened. So I'm guessing there was something wrong in his research somewhere; because if he was right, that surely should have worked, shouldn't it? I mean, what's the point in being descended from a deity if you can't even call a single rotten website back into existence?)
Post by: Mimble on Monday 31 August 20 15:34 BST (UK)
Like some others who have posted I have English, Scottish and Dutch nobility in my tree leading to royalty in various permutations.
However, more interestingly I have Col Hercules Hunckes, who was known as "The Regicide" as he was put in charge by Oliver Cromwell of killing Charles I in 1649. He refused to sign the order and so was pardoned at the Restoration.
Also, an intriguing reference to the family of the infamous 'London Monster', Rhenwick Williams, a serial criminal accused of 'slashing' females in the 1700s, leads me to believe he was part of my Williams family of Beguildy, Radnorshire.
Post by: jim234j on Monday 31 August 20 16:11 BST (UK)
On my line I have been able to prove I have a first cousin 3 x removed who was a well known artist in the north east of England. Robert Jobling. This is on my paternal side
Here is what is written about him from the web with some paintings. There is also a article in Wikipedia
www.johnnicholsonfineart.co.uk/department/robert-jobling-marine-landscape-and-figure-painter-in-oil-and-watercolour/
My wife is directly a second cousin of Cila Black who seems to have been a fairly major star on British TV and I can remember a song by her called Your my World being a huge hit in Canada in the 1960s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttTZL8YPXls
Between the two of us that is about as famous as we can get but there were many who although not famous lived interesting lives.
Best wishes from Canada
Mimble - you might find this link of interest, then:
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A52526.0001.001/1:9.2.1?rgn=div3;view=fulltext
It takes you to a transcript of a full account of the trial of Francis Hacker, who signed the warrant after Huncks refused, and contains Hacker's evidence of what happened in the chamber that day, along with some evidence from Huncks, and the reference to Cromwell calling him a "froward, peevish fellow".
Post by: Fisherman on Monday 31 August 20 16:15 BST (UK)
I have Miles Corbett who did sign Charles 1st death warrant.
His reward at the Restoration - A one way trip to Tyburn and a painful death.
Post by: Raybistre on Monday 31 August 20 16:56 BST (UK)
I am related twice to Tom Jenkins (1910-1957), the violin virtuoso.
2nd cousin once removed and 4th cousin once removed. Twice related due the marriage of my great-grandparents who were 2nd cousins.
Post by: stonechat on Wednesday 02 September 20 06:36 BST (UK)
I found the notorious hanging Judge Jeffries married the sister of an ancestor
Post by: jbml on Wednesday 02 September 20 06:42 BST (UK)
Quote from: stonechat on Wednesday 02 September 20 06:36 BST (UK)
Don't let anyone in the West Country know this.
Back in 1985 I went to Somerset with the Sealed Knot for the tercentenary re-enactment of the Battle of Sedgemoor. My regiment was cast as a royalist regiment, and if you went into a pub wearing your red coat they would not serve you! They still resent the Bloody Assize ...
(Would be ironic if you also found Dame Alice Lisle in your tree, wouldn't it?)
Post by: rodgepodge on Wednesday 02 September 20 08:13 BST (UK)
How to define 'Famous'? should we include 'Infamous'?
Post by: brigidmac on Wednesday 02 September 20 09:09 BST (UK)
Not directly in tree but living at same address
1948 to 1950 my father Eric macdermid lived as a student in a house called Mendips in Liverpool
His landlady Mimi SMITH was a real character little did "mac" know that her youg nephew John would become famous.
After my father and john Lennon died researchers for a film trcked down students who.d lived there for personal memories to contribute to a film being made about John LENNON s early life.
Though I knew a few stories about the landlady he never mentioned the live in nephew .
& he never recognised the grown up BEATLE as the boy who'd impresed himso much by quickly learning two tunes on his harmonica that he bought him his own for Christmas.I had to read that anecdote in a book.
Post by: Mimble on Wednesday 02 September 20 19:39 BST (UK)
Quote from: jbml on Monday 31 August 20 16:12 BST (UK)
Thanks brigidmac that's wonderful!
Not famous but interesting:
Sir John Stafford I of Southwick. In 1389 members of the Cornish gentry 'set themselves in armed array to kill him, assaulted him, and shot him with a certain engine called a "gunne" so that his life was despaired of'.
http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/stafford-sir-humphrey-i-1413
Apparently he survived and lived until 1413.
Quote from: Mimble on Wednesday 02 September 20 19:39 BST (UK)
Actually, Mimble, it was me that posted it ...
Jb and mimble I thought I was being thanked for posting an interesting story ha ha
Heres another : fame by close contact
Full page of a liverpool newspaper
"Death of Famous Argyle Figure ...she dressed the stars "
(worked at old argyll theatre)
Grandads half sister .mrs Hetty DAULMAN
Came into contact with the grearest variety stars of two generations
I havent heard of most of them Vesta Tilley.Marie Lloyd. Harry Lauder .Hetty King.George Formby Constance Collier.
Apparently she looked after some of the artistes babies when they were on stage too
She had a suitcase of ,500 ,signed photographs of stars
Unfortunately this valuable treasure was lost by family members who decluttered
Post by: Mimble on Thursday 03 September 20 08:39 BST (UK)
Oops, so sorry jbml! Thanks so much for the transcript, much appreciated. And thanks for posting your interesting stories, brigidmac :)
Post by: Mvann on Thursday 03 September 20 09:43 BST (UK)
I think the most well known that could be a relative is Walter sisulu. His dad was Albert dickenson. The connection is that alberts dad was Alfred and his mum was Agnes vann. Agnes's family trace back to a village called misterton in Leicestershire, as does my vann line. Other people's trees have them related, but they have my relatives parents as Richard and Elizabeth vann. The problem is that the baptism record actually says William and Elizabeth. To compound the problem is that my relative was living in sharnford at time of marriage and I can see burials there for a William and Elizabeth, but he is listed at Richards house on the 1841 census, so not entirely sure where this leaves things at the moment on that line.
Post by: jbml on Friday 04 September 20 00:03 BST (UK)
Mimble - I've just been consulting my copy of "England's Black Tribunal" (6th edition, 1737) and found the transcript of the warrant at pages 45 - 6.
It reads as follows:
At the High Court of Justice for the Trying and Judging of Charles Stewart, King of England, January 29. 1648.
Whereas Charles Stuart, King of England, is, and standeth Convicted, Attainted and Condemned of High Treason, and other High Crimes, and Sentence upon Saturday last was pronounced against Him by this Court, to be put to Death by the severing of his Head from his Body; of which Sentence, Execution remains yet to be done: These are therefore to Will and Require you to see the said Sentence Executed in the open street before Whitehall, upon the Morrow, being the 30th day of this Instant Month of January, between the Hours of Ten in the Morning, and Five in the Afternoon of the same Day, with full Effect: and for so doing, this shall be your Warrant. And these are to require all Officers and Soldiers, and other the good People of this Nation of England, to be assisting unto you in this Service.
Given under our Hands and Seals.
To Col. Francis Hacker, Col. Hunks, and Lieutenant Col. Phray, and to every of them:
Sealed and subscribed by
J. Bradshaw, T. Grey, O. Cromwell, Ed. Whaley, M. Livesey, J. Okey, J. Danvers, R. Bourchier, H. Ireton, T. Maleverer, [and 49 other regicides]
To find your ancestor named in one of the most notorious documents in England's entire history, nay, to have it actually ADDRESSED to him and two others ... well ... that's quite something!!
Post by: brigidmac on Friday 04 September 20 05:36 BST (UK)
Mvann what wàs Albert Dickensian famous for
& Did you find out who the famous/wealthy Leicester Quaker who lived at Stoughton Court was?
Apparently tho teetotal he made his money from the alcohol trade .
Then in his will banned any drinking establishments being built on his land ( which included Allendale road area) for 100 years
Was he one of your relatives ??
Post by: Mvann on Friday 04 September 20 06:51 BST (UK)
Albert isn't famous, it's his grandson who is.
None of mine are Quaker Brigid. Either members of the great hall or secular society (think John coltman, the Gimson family, Michael Wright). I'll have a look at the stoneygate address's when I get home.
Post by: turramurra on Friday 04 September 20 07:53 BST (UK)
There is always hope !
But over the thousands of generations way back, now lost in the mists of time,
could have had famous people.
I would like to think someone in the Prussian royalty...vain hope!
my mother's nickname for me was " Lady Jane Grey "
Now that is certainly not a possibility !
Post by: Mimble on Friday 04 September 20 12:28 BST (UK)
Quote from: jbml on Friday 04 September 20 00:03 BST (UK)
Yes thanks that is amazing isn't it? I went to see Col Hunks' great uncle's memorial at Broadwell St Paul's. It had been attacked and defaced because he was the great uncle of the 'Regicide'.
Post by: guest189040 on Friday 04 September 20 13:58 BST (UK)
My Great Great Aunt was Mary Priestley.
Great Aunt to John Boynton Priestley the famous author of many books including An Inspector Calls.
Post by: louisa maud on Friday 04 September 20 21:35 BST (UK)
Well not really famous but he was Mayor of Bermondsey and big in trade unions apparently
Louisa Maud
Post by: Andi R on Friday 04 September 20 22:31 BST (UK)
Possibly Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the Plantagenet's through my Wilkinson's, but as a person of Scots descent being related to Edward I, is not a good thing, he was known as the "hammer of the Scots" this is according to 'Family Search'
But I have confirmed my GGrandfather Taylor Swainson the engineer and one of the pioneers of the steam engine
Post by: guest189040 on Saturday 05 September 20 01:10 BST (UK)
Quote from: Andi R on Friday 04 September 20 22:31 BST (UK)
But that means you also have Matilda of Scotland and her Father King Malcolm III in your line.
It also means that we are distant Cousins.
Post by: Andi R on Saturday 05 September 20 02:32 BST (UK)
Quote from: Biggles50 on Saturday 05 September 20 01:10 BST (UK)
Thats true but Edward the first :-[ and a connection with William the Conqueror etc
Theres just one Wilkinson I need to check out but it looks right
Post by: jbml on Saturday 05 September 20 08:33 BST (UK)
If it's any consolation, Andi, I believe it was only the Sassenachs who called him "malleus Scottorum" ... and as we all know, THEIR opinions hardly count for anything north of the Tweed!
Post by: ms_canuck on Saturday 05 September 20 17:26 BST (UK)
My third cousin, 1x removed, John Albert Dykins - married Julia (Judy) Elizabeth Stanley in 1944. They had two daughters. However, Julia also had a son from a previous marriage called... John Winston Lennon... :)
That's the most famous person I've found so far. Pop royalty even if not any actual royalty... LOL
Cheers all
Post by: Mimble on Saturday 05 September 20 17:30 BST (UK)
Quote from: Kazza on Friday 23 July 04 17:15 BST (UK)
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3318.0 (http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3318.0)
Is this thread still there? I can't get the link to work.
Post by: KGarrad on Saturday 05 September 20 20:30 BST (UK)
Quote from: Andi R on Saturday 05 September 20 02:32 BST (UK)
There is an internet article, trying to estimate the probability of a modern ENglish person being related to Edward III, Edward I's grandson.
http://community.dur.ac.uk/a.r.millard/genealogy/EdwardIIIDescent.php
The author's conclusion: there is an extremely high probability that a modern English person with predominantly English ancestry descends from Edward III, at a very minimum over 99%, and more likely very close to 100%. The number of descendants of Edward III must therefore include nearly all of the population of England, and probably much of the populations of the rest of the UK and Eire, as well as many millions in the USA, former British colonies and Europe, so 100 million seems a conservative estimate. Documenting one's own descent from Edward III is, however, another matter!
Post by: Andi R on Sunday 06 September 20 00:28 BST (UK)
My fathers ancestory isnt predominately english, mine is but my dads isnt it is his mother the Wilkinson
But I dont doubt the amount of people related to to the plantagenets, that makes perfect sense, but it doest make mine any less, not that i can claim the throne
Im more pleased to be related distantly to the powerful women, such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Matilda, than i am the kings
I have one Wilkinson connection to validate, but its not this leg thats my priority
Post by: guest189040 on Monday 07 September 20 13:42 BST (UK)
Quote from: Mimble on Saturday 05 September 20 17:30 BST (UK)
Link does not work for me either.
But in answer to the
Are You Related to Royalty question.
We all probably are, it is a case of being lucky and finding the Gateway.
My own Gateway takes me though an interesting bunch to John of Gaunt and King Edward III and beyond.
Keep digging and you may find yours.
Actually I am more interested in putting all the names I have to my family photo you see as my Avatar.
Post by: Mimble on Monday 07 September 20 16:11 BST (UK)
Yes I have established that I have Joan Beaufort, John of Gaunt, Edward III in my Neville tree. She was married to Ralph Neville. Their son George Neville married Elizabeth Beauchamp (1417–1480), daughter of Richard de Beauchamp 13th earl of Warwick. I have been reading up on English medieval history to find out more about these fascinating times and people.
Biggles50 we may be related in another way too, as I have Stricklands in my tree too, from Light Hall in Colton, Lancashire.
Post by: coombs on Monday 07 September 20 16:17 BST (UK)
I am descended from John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings. His wife Isabel de Valance was a second cousin of his. Their ancestry is mainly French Norman and some Irish. Aoife McMurrough of Leinster is Isabel De Valance's great, great grandmother.
Post by: guest189040 on Sunday 27 September 20 21:34 BST (UK)
Having a Father born in Wales and his Mum had the maiden name of Evans I have always considered myself to be part Welsh, as my DNA now shows.
So when I found that I am descended from Owain Glyndwr my Family Tree was then complete.
Post by: coombs on Sunday 27 September 20 22:24 BST (UK)
My ancestor Aoife of Leinster (c1145-c1188) was born before King Edward III (1312-1377) was born. If it is estimated most of the English population with predominantly English ancestry descend from King Eddie, I am sure the number must be greater for Aoife of Leinster, meaning almost all of the English population with predominantly English ancestry have some distant Irish ancestry.
Post by: pharmaT on Tuesday 29 September 20 17:37 BST (UK)
Quote from: coombs on Sunday 27 September 20 22:24 BST (UK)
Problem is most of us won't be able to link it back.
Post by: coombs on Tuesday 29 September 20 18:34 BST (UK)
Quote from: pharmaT on Tuesday 29 September 20 17:37 BST (UK)
Yes but a good handful of researchers have found the gateway ancestor, through lots of hard long meticulous research.
Post by: pinefamily on Wednesday 30 September 20 21:52 BST (UK)
Jeremy Bentham, John Gay, Alfred Nobel, Max von Sydow, and a more tenuous link to Joshua Reynolds.
Post by: sleepybarb on Friday 02 October 20 18:14 BST (UK)
Through my Fathers family,I'm descended from Richard Newey who invented press studs/poppers
I keep seeing this thread and thought I'd mention that I'm a fifth cousin of actress Charlotte Rampling. She may protest, but she is descended almost entirely in the female line from John Skelcey of Cubbington, brother of my ancestor Thomas Skelcey from whom my mother is descended in the paternal line.
I hesitated about mentioning this, but her short autobiography provides details that confirm her immediate ancestors.
Post by: Nova67 on Friday 02 October 20 22:33 BST (UK)
Potentially related to the first actor who played Dr Who. That is William Hartnell. Also Sir Norman Hartnell. Depends on who the real father of my x3 great grandfather is! DNA suggests it could be true.
Post by: Yasmina4 on Monday 07 December 20 11:16 GMT (UK)
Have had a look at a family tree extract done for our family by someone from the national.library if Wales. It traces my great grandmothers family back to 1132 rhys ap grufydd. I found it an interesting read but have just checked him out he was king if a kingdom in south wales. Blue blood yay
Post by: RobinRedBreast on Monday 07 December 20 12:06 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Yasmina4 on Monday 07 December 20 11:16 GMT (UK)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhys_ap_Gruffydd#Genealogy_and_early_life
Post by: guest189040 on Tuesday 08 December 20 09:14 GMT (UK)
A distant Cousin
Post by: Yasmina4 on Tuesday 08 December 20 09:42 GMT (UK)
Quote from: pinefamily on Wednesday 30 September 20 21:52 BST (UK)
I see you have a pine/Pyne. I have a pyne coffin
Post by: Nanna52 on Tuesday 08 December 20 12:31 GMT (UK)
My cousin Edwin seems to have been an accomplished actor in the early 1900's. Every now and again I search the papers for mention of him. At last I found his obituary which mentions that not only was he an actor but stage managed, produced, wrote plays and songs. As he died in 1940 he is forgotten now but I am still looking.
Quote from: Mimble on Monday 07 September 20 16:11 BST (UK)
We, no doubt are related via the Strickland's as there have been DNA developments for me since you posted.
I now have two DNA matches that link back to Ellen Strickland, daughter of Sir Walter Strickland of Sizergh Castle.
I have another DMA Strickland match who is in the USA and looking through their tree they get back to the ancestral home of Sizergh but via various locations in Lancashire so the options for you may well be there.
They match does seem to be a rampant Trump supporter so I am in no particular hurry to check through their tree person by person to verify its accuracy to my satisfaction. They do still bear the Strickland name.
Post by: andrewalston on Tuesday 08 December 20 13:00 GMT (UK)
I have a distant cousin who took his coal mining family from Lancashire to Co. Durham in 1860. One of his sons married Ellen Lee, from another Lancashire family, whose brother Peter became a miners' leader and had a whole town named after him.
I have one cousin who rode horses in the circus in the days when newspapers named all the performers, but Joe Public would be hard pressed to name a circus performer from last year let alone the 1890s. so not famous any more.
I have more people in my tree who are more infamous than famous, but more records survive for the guilty than the innocent.
Post by: chris_49 on Tuesday 08 December 20 13:34 GMT (UK)
Quote from: Biggles50 on Tuesday 08 December 20 12:49 GMT (UK)
I wouldn't rule out exchanging ideas with a Republican, even a Trump supporter. But if this person believes (as Trump says) that Barack Obama's Hawaiian birth record is a fake, why are they ready to believe all other records?
Post by: coombs on Wednesday 09 December 20 14:48 GMT (UK)
Through a recently found gateway ancestor, I am also a distant cousin of Danny Dyer, he drives a lovely haddock, and loves Rosie Lee. I do watch EastEnders still and find his Frank Butcher style phrases quite funny.
Post by: pinefamily on Thursday 10 December 20 07:24 GMT (UK)
I have only just remembered, I am also a 4th cousin to Mark Woodforde, the tennis player (of the Woodies fame).
Also have a more distant connection to the Dowdeswell brothers who played tennis as well.
Post by: Ron Preece on Thursday 10 December 20 12:56 GMT (UK)
Perhaps not famous, but interesting. I have a distant relative named Florence Collingbourne. Described as a "Gaiety Girl and Cross Dressing Artiste" she trod the boards at Daly's London Theatre between 1894 and 1902. Her daughter was the author Stella Margetson who wrote numerous books about Victorian and Edwardian high society.
Post by: Cumberland Ferret on Friday 11 December 20 12:22 GMT (UK)
I've got him as well! See my page on the Swainson line http://www.ianewilliamson.co.uk/gen/lines/Swainson.html
Would be good to get in touch.
Post by: PhilipK1963 on Friday 10 September 21 01:27 BST (UK)
Quote from: ms_canuck on Saturday 05 September 20 17:26 BST (UK)
They were never actually married. Julia was married to John's father, Alfred Lennon, until she died in 1958.
Post by: ThrelfallYorky on Saturday 11 September 21 16:54 BST (UK)
No famous ancestors at all...'Tho one aunt tried hard to convince us all we were descended from Robert the Bruce (absolutely no evidence, even she couldn't suggest any)
Do share some ancestors, further back, with the ancestors of:
Pierrepoint, the last hangman.
Alex Salmond, Scottish politician
Eric Morecambe, comedian.
and tenuously, Sir Alec Clegg, educationalist!
-but it's all mega -distant.
Post by: Yasmina4 on Saturday 11 September 21 17:57 BST (UK)
What a very attractive woman.
Thank you for sharing mother and daughter
Post by: Ron Preece on Sunday 12 September 21 10:38 BST (UK)
Florence Collingbourne, Actress.
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