Keith writes: I don’t come of illustrious stock. My ancestors were labouring folk who left few records, and I’ve not been able to trace their history back more than a few generations. Still, we’re all interrelated, and once I’d uploaded my findings to the FamilySearch website, other users linked their trees to mine, opening up lots of new connections. It was fun to explore them and see how far back I could go. Most lines fizzled out by the seventeenth century, but eventually I found one on my mum’s side which — if the FamilySearch data is correct — connected by marriage to a high-status Welsh family called Fletcher, which itself had connections with other aristocratic families and could claim the Capetian kings of France as ancestors. (Ironically, then, it’s my mother’s side, not my dad’s, that can trace links to Frankish royalty!) Of course, there’s absolutely nothing special about having a link to royalty. Everyone has one, and most people have a much more direct one than my family does. (Ours takes 33 generations to surface — and 2^33 is about eight and a half billion!) And — as far as I’m concerned — there’s absolutely nothing to be proud of either. But it’s fun to trace these links across a thousand years and between the bottom and top of social hierarchy. So, here I present my mother Eileen with her illustrious ancestry. (The hyperlinks are to person pages on the FamilySearch website. You’ll need to create a free account to view them.)
Kathleen Bryan (22 August 1915 – 23 June 1977) Eileen’s mother. Daughter of
Hilda Mary Johnson (26 January 1896 – 1969) Wharfedale / Pontefract, Yorkshire. Eileen’s grandmother. Daughter of:
Charles Johnson (17 September 1865 – 11 December 1939) Meanwood / Chapel Allerton / Askern, Yorkshire. Eileen’s great-grandfather. Son of:
David Johnson (16 September 1833 – 12 June 1887) Harewood / Adel / Wharfedale / Meanwood, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 2nd great-grandfather. Son of
Anne Johnson (30 April 1810 – ?) Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 3rd great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Elisabeth Wigglesworth (1784 – 1826) Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 4th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Margaret Pulleine (30 October 1758 – ?) Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 5th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Elizabeth Wiglesworth (18 March 1724 – 1800) Methley, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 6th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
William Wriglesworth (1686 – 13 January 1777) Methley, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 7th great-grandfather. Son of:
John Wriglesworth (27 March 1661 – 25 June 1719) Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 8th great grandfather. Son of:
Thomas Wriglesworth (about 1630 – 1675) Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 9th great-grandfather. Son of:
Thomae Wrigglesworth about 1606 – ?) Leeds / Rothwell, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 10th great-grandfather. Son of:
Ann Fletcher (about 1588 – about 1694) Leeds, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 11th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
John Fletcher (1548 – ?) Leeds, Yorkshire. Eileen’s 12th great-grandfather. Son of:
William Fletcher (1525 – 1580) Farnsworth, Prescot, Lancashire / Quarendon, Buckinghamshire. Eileen’s 13th great-grandfather. Son of:
Richard Fletcher V (1500 – 1556) Bangor, Caernarvonshire / Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Eileen’s 14th great-grandfather. Son of:
Richard Fletcher IV (1470 – 1528) Caernarvonshire. Eileen’s 14th great-grandfather. Son of:
Richard Fletcher III (1455 – ?) Bangor, Gwynedd, Caernarfon. Eileen’s 15th great-grandfather. Son of:
Eleanor Brereton (1440 – 21 April 1497) Brereton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 16th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
William Brereton VII (about 1414 – 1485) Brereton cum Smethwick, Cheshire. Eileen’s 17th great-grandfather. Son of:
William Brereton (1389 – 1415) Brereton cum Smethwick, Cheshire. Eileen’s 18th great-grandfather. Son of:
Anyll Venables (1370 – 1442) Kinderton, Cheshire / Brereton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 19th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Hugh de Venables (1330 – 18 April 1382) Northwich / Kinderton-cum-Hulme, Cheshire. Eileen’s 20th great-grandfather. Son of:
Hugh de Venables (1296 – 22 October 1368) Kinderton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 21st great-grandfather. Son of:
Hugh de Venables of Kinderton (1256 – 25 April 1311) Northwich / Kinderton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 22nd great-grandfather. Son of:
Lady Margaret de Dutton (1235 – 1293) Kinderton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 23rd great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Thomas Dutton, 7th Lord of Dutton (1214 – 1272) Dutton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 24th great-grandfather. Son of:
Hugh Dutton, 5th Lord of Dutton (about 1172 – 1234) Dutton, Cheshire. Eileen’s 25th great-grandfather. Son of:
Lady Isabel de Massey (about 1155 – about 1214) Dunham Massey, Cheshire. Eileen’s 26th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Sir Hamon de Massey III (16 December 1129 – 1216) Castle of Dunham Massey, Bowdon, Cheshire. Eileen’s 27th great-grandfather. Son of:
Lady Eleanor de Beaumont, Baroness Theray (1100 – 1157). Dunham Massey, Cheshire. Eileen’s 28th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Isabel de Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (13 February 1081 – 13 February 1131) Valois, Oise, Picardy, France. Eileen’s 29th great-grandmother. Daughter of:
Hugues Ier Magnus de Vermandois (1057 – 18 October 1101) Vermandois, France / Tarsus, Silicia, Turkey. Eileen’s 30th great-grandfather. Son of:
Henri I, Roi des Francs (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) Wikipedia entry. Reims / Vitry-aux-Loges, France. Eileen’s 31st great-grandfather. Son of:
Robert II le Pieux de France, Roi des Francs (27 March 972 – 20 July 1031) Eileen’s 32nd great-grandfather. Son of:
Hugues Ier Capet de France (about 938 – 14 October 996) Eileen’s 33rd great-grandfather. Son of:
Hugues “Le Grand” de France Comte de Paris (24 August 898 – 16 June 956) Eileen’s 34th great-grandfather. Son of:
Robert I, roi des Francs (866 – 15 June 923) Eileen’s 35th great-grandfather. Son of:
Robert ‘le Fort’ ‘the Strong’ Comte de Paris (834 – 25 August 866) Eileen’s 35th great-grandfather. Son of:
Robert III, Graf im Oberrheingau und im Wormsgau (789 – 7 December 0833) Eileen’s 36th great-grandfather. Son of:
Robert II Graf im Oberrheingau und im Wormsgau (about 760 – 12 July 807) Eileen’s 37th great-grandfather. Son of:
Thuringbert of Haspengaus (about 730 – after June 770) Eileen’s 38th great-grandfather. Son of:
?