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Imagine making a find like this!

Chatterbox
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Location: New York

Post by Chatterbox » Wed April 7th, 2010, 7:46 pm

I have thought that once or twice, only to discover that it was a case of 'creative genealogy' at work. In one case, there simply are no records to prove the existence or non-existence of a particular female ancestress in Wales, so I suspect that someone assumed that the Catherine Stradling they discovered belonged to this particular family. In another case, someone out there posted a family tree postulating that Cecily, daughter of Edward IV, had a son from her marriage to Lord Welles. But I do seem to be related to the Sackvilles, the Boleyns and the Bourchiers. I'm actually quite happy not to be descended from John, given poor Lady Moppet's experiences...

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Ariadne
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Location: At the foothills of Mt. Level

Post by Ariadne » Wed April 7th, 2010, 8:40 pm

I've got a King John descent that's pretty well documented (goes through Edward I via the Berkeleys and one of the early Massachusetts colonists). That and $2.50 can get me a nice cup of coffee at Starbucks :) It's probably not that uncommon. The neat part is being able to trace things back that far at all. I don't recall seeing any Moppets on the family tree.

Chatterbox
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Location: New York

Post by Chatterbox » Wed April 7th, 2010, 9:10 pm

Yes, Edward I descent is the most common royal "pedigree"; a lot come through the children of his daughter Elizabeth de Bohun. (Daughters of royalty had daughters who married earls, who had daughters who married lords, whose daughters married landed gentry, whose children migrated to the new world...) The other big one is Henry I.

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Margaret
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Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
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Post by Margaret » Thu April 8th, 2010, 1:58 am

Royal descent is not that uncommon, and if you think about the way ancestors multiply as one goes back in time, it's not really so surprising. That said, at least on my father's side, I'm thoroughly of the peasant classes, as far back as we've traced - I think there's one from the tail end of the 16th century. My husband got me a National Geographic Genographic Project test kit for Christmas, and I was able to confirm the rumors of Jewish blood on my mother's side. Genealogy is huge fun, I think!
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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Madeleine
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Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Thu April 8th, 2010, 4:34 pm

My friend has done a little more research now - she thinks her family link, if there is one, may be via the de Ireland family, the connection being one Roger de Ireland whose father was either John de Ireland or King John. She thinks it more likely that John de Ireland was Roger's father as she thinks the date for Roger is too early for King J to be his father. Roger was born in 1180 and John de Ireland was born in 1150. She was wondering if anyone knew anything about the de Irelands, so for some reason I thought of you! Have any of you MA experts come across this family?
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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