RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Karen Lorraine on Thursday 08 September 16 19:10 BST (UK)
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My grandmothers maiden name was Pantony and my great, great grandfathers brothers daughter was Edith Pantony who married William G Heath - their children were Edward (Ted) Heath and John Heath.
Karen
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Not my direct line.
I wouldn't say "famous" but possibly "well known" (at the time).......
My 1st cousin with 4 removes ;D
I have "Sir" George Lunn 1861 - 1939 who was Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1915 - 1917
Annie
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I am a distant cousin of the Kray Twins and Patsy Kensit.
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Not through my direct line. My fourth great uncle was a baronet. As for notoriety, my seventh great grandfather was a slave trader
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I have a first cousin, 6 times removed, whose grandmother is my 6th great grandmother.
Name of John Constable - you may have heard of him?
His grandmother was Judith Garrad.
And his aunt, Ann Constable, married John Garrad, my 5th great grandfather!
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My 5xgtgrandfather's brother was one of the Cato St conspirators (the 19th century version of Guy Fawkes, and the last group of people to be sentenced to died by being hung, drawn and quartered - the later two parts of that sentence being rescinded).
One line of my tree has given rise to a large number of people who are/were famous in their fields and have wikipedia pages and/or official portraits.
In that same line here are at least 3 4 previous MPs from between 1890 - 1950 in my tree, including Alfred Cooper Rawson (my 3rd cousin 4x removed 8)), who polled the biggest number of vote ever by a UK parliamentarian and the largest ever majority (a maj of over 62000 votes!! not exactly a marginal seat then!) Still in the same line was a governor of Texas in the 1860s and at least 3 authors (including a novelist currently still alive and publishing).
I'm currently working on proving an (almost certain) link to the Bishop of the Bahamas in the 1970s-1990s. Another proven link is to the Anglican advisor to Associated TV who gave evidence in the trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover.
And I am related to Diana Spencer, and hence to Prince William and his children! - well almost, lol - Diana and I are related thus:
she was the 4th great-niece of the wife of the 2nd great-grandfather of the husband of my 4th cousin once removed
which just goes to prove you can be related to anyone if you look hard enough ::)
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But I am actually most jealous of my friend, whose gt-grandfather is mentioned by name in James Joyce's "Ulysses" (he was the Dublin coroner at that time).
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My gg-grandfather had a 29 acre 'lake' named after him, Does that count?
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ifr/
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Don't see why not Erato,
"Famous" can be anyone of relevance really who are noted for whatever they did, not just because they are.were in the public eye/media at every giving opportunity such as the "opening of a letter" ;D
Annie
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I discovered that a living Labour MP and myself are 5th cousins ;D
Blue
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I have a few, but my favourite is (only) related by marriage .... Thomas Spencer (M&S). :)
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There is no one famous in my direct line. However many married in or in collateral lined although my paternal grandfather made the front page of the Daily Record for chasing a armed robber. We are referred to by a distant cousin as the embarrassing poor branch who haven't really achieved anything. :-[
In my daughter's direct line (doing a tree for her) one of her grt (can't remember how many) grandfather's is cited in a book as claiming to have been the plough boy who was with Robert Burns when he overturned THAT mouse nest.
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I would love to have a lake named after me!
karen
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I would love to have a lake named after me!
karen
But how about being named after a lake such as Rudyard Kipling? ;D
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I've only found one relative who's worthy of a Wikipedia page - Archibald Howard Cullen, bishop of Grahamstown, South Africa. He was my great-grandmother's cousin. I've found a lot of information about him, and he sounds like quite a character.
Whenever I add a new person to my tree I tap their name into google to see what comes up. Quite a few distant relatives were successful sportsmen on a local level, but as far as I know, none represented the country.
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I dare say most of us have well known or famous people in our lines somewhere, some may even have infamous people in there. It's just a matter of fact
Cheers
Guy
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But how about being named after a lake such as Rudyard Kipling? ;D
Cake, surely? :D
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But how about being named after a lake such as Rudyard Kipling? ;D
Cake, surely? :D
Like it! ;D ;D ;D
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I've got two notables that I know of!
Firstly, my 1st cousin 5x removed is William Henry Crump a.k.a Harry Champion. He was an entertainer and was the first to make famous the songs 'I'm Henery the Eighth I Am' and 'Any Old Iron' among others.
Secondly my 13x great grandfather, William Page, was murdered in 1590 - his wife (who instructed the muder) was questioned by Sir Francis Drake; whom he may have known himself (but I've still to check that a certain William Page is him)! His murder is believed to be one of the basis to William Shakespeare's 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'.
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My 3 gt grandad is supposed to be famous. Don't know what for but his will is in the catalogue of Canterbury wills: selected famous people
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30th G Grandad was a fella called Henry, they made him a King and changed his surname to II.
Oddly enough, hes also my wife's 29th Great Uncle.
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I have quite a few... 'famous', but boring. Internationally sought out as "people that researchers would love to be able to stick into their tree", but they don't excite me - especially as I am trying to find reasons to NOT be associated with them (because I am an individual and not part of a herd who seeks association).
One's only actually related by adoption, but people'd crawl over dead bodies to have even that tenuous link ....
One's allegedly beheaded, but I think that's a story 'researchers' made up in their excitement - and, for about 30% of them, I can see their tree's entirely flawed.
... so nobody really "famous", and interesting.
Fame only counts if it's actually interesting :)
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Allegedly, if I believe relatives and their claims in trees, on all sides, there are links via marriages to a public hangman, Eric Morecambe, a famous spiritualist medium last century, Alex Salmon, and one or two others!
Sadly, I'm cynical enough to feel most of these are unlikely.
- Note, none of the rich, powerful , glamorous or titled!!
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My 4th great uncle was Joseph Bolitho Johns aka Moondyne Joe who is known as Western Australia's most famous bush ranger. There is quite a lot of information on Moondyne Joe. He sounds quite a character to me, not too much of a baddy, and I'm pleased he is my 4th great uncle.
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My family has a tradition of descent from Rob Roy McGregor’s family. After four years of intensive research I’m summarising my findings in a paper that I’m thinking of calling either, “The Outlaw’s Inlaws”, or, “I was Rob Roy’s Father-in-law!”
Cheers, Peter
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Just to add to my post above.
At my son’s wedding last Saturday I spoke about our family’s illustrious history of convicts and the outlawed McGregor clan, and welcomed the bride and her family into it! The very next day, on the Sunday evening, we received a message from our son to turn on the (Australian) 60 Minutes program “right now”. There was a story on about the infamous McGregors! Really drove the point home, I think. That was a really weird coincidence.
Cheers, Peter
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Does a ships captain who wrecked his ship in a gale near Liverpool, Lancs count?
4x GFather did so, according to the papers in 1844.
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My 5x great-grandfather was Lord George Beckwith, who was apparently a big enough deal that he has his own Wikipedia page. My great-great unce also has his own page -- he was Premier of Ontario for a time.
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My daughter's boyfriend is related to a few interesting famous people, including https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith
What a legend! ;D
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Being related to Patsy Kensit as well as the Kray twins makes me related to several notorious East End criminals as Patsy's dad was an associate of the Krays and I am related through him. I saw a pic of Reg Kray holding Patsy's brother (his godson) as a baby. And I am distantly related to both of them.
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Some of My family come from the Seaforth and Litherland area where W.E. Gladstone was once the MP, and there are many plaques on the wall and places named after him. My cousin is related to his family.
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My Cousin married an Actress who was in Hollyoaks, plus she played the lead role in an ITV drama about the moors murders.
Another Cousin is convinced she's a distant relative of General Gordon of Khartuom
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A 10x great grandfather was Edwin Sandys MP - secretary of the Virginia Company (so the USA was partly his fault!) His father was Edwin Sandys Archbishop of York (who collaborated in the translation of the Bishop's Bible).
My gran claimed she was a distant cousin of Michael Collins (of IRA fame) because her grandparents were from Clonakilty - but I haven't researched this, so it may be one of those family legends with no basis in fact.
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Hello,
* my 12th cousin will be the next king of Denmark
* Enevold count Brandt, the third cousin of my gt-gt-gt-gt-grandmother Spatz was invited to a boxfight with a Denish king. As winner he was cut and torn into five or six pieces together with Struensee in 1772.
Herbert Spatz MC (Spence since 1939) first cousin of my grandfather (who built German submarines in WW1) got the Military Cross in 1918. I am looking for his children and nephews. He is related to Nancy Price, several other VIPs and to the peerage.
I have found our Australian cousins because they have a step relationship to Australian pop stars.
My grandfather and the English Spatz/Spence are fifth cousins of General Spaatz USAF, he took part at the three surrenders of Reims, Karlshorst and Tokyo bay.
The relationship of my great-grandaunt https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelheid_Steinmann (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelheid_Steinmann) to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge has been recently published.
..., - enough for today
Regards
Rudolf H. Boettcher
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My ancestor was John Kellock/Kellogg who was born c1726 in Essex. He died in 1779 and was a yeoman, and his surname was spelt Kellogg. He is a likely relative of the Kellogg family of Braintree, whose descendants founded the world famous breakfast chain in America.
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But how about being named after a lake such as Rudyard Kipling? ;D
Cake, surely? :D
Like it! ;D ;D ;D
It's an exceedingly good lake. (Sorry I'm late)
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I didn't think so until I discovered Alfred Hawthorn Hill was much better known by his stage name of Benny! (4th cousin twice removed)
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Only one I've found (not that I'm actively looking for them) is a 3rd cousin three times removed called Ernest Rutherford.
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I did find a Ronald Macdonald in my tree (born circa 1903) but am not sure if it is the real Ronald:0)
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I have Lewis Carroll, Thomas jones and Mark Anthony....but no relation to their famous counterparts.
Carol
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I have one who was famous by association: Dwight Logan Reid, a high school chemistry and physics teacher, who was cited by Glenn Seaborg as his inspiration when he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1951.
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I am related to Elizabeth Taylor.
She is my Great Great Grandmother, no not that Elizabeth Taylor the one born in 1841. ;) ;)
Cheers
Guy
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I have an Edward Woodward, and today discovered a Fred Perry. But no, not the actual famous ones. ;D
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Hi,
I am 13th Cousin to Henry VIII. Sadly wrong side of the blanket!!
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This is what makes family history interesting, not so much who they were but what they did or achieved. My G-G aunt Charlotte Batham born 1825 Notting Hill. London. (what a slum) married a Thomas Steel and moved to Walsall Staffs. Their daughter Emily Charlotte Steel married Henry Tonks. Their son Horace Norman Vincent Tonks somehow became the Anglican Bishop of the Vincent & Windward Islands.
But my late wife's relatives beat mine into insignificance........
Anne Murray b.1944, Canadian singer, was married to :- William Langstroth 1930 - 2013 Canadian TV presenter
Dawn Langstroth b. 1977, Canadian singer/ songwriter , daughter of above and Anne Murray
Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth 1810-1895. American clergyman and inventor of the modern beehive
Ivan Shed Langstroth 1887-1971, American concert pianist and composer
Daniel Boone 1734- 1820, American frontiersman. Related by marriage only
Clyde Cowan 1919- 1974 Nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner
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I've just been putting together a tree for my best friend from school. He's a vicar, and so I don't need to explain about registers. :)
It turns out that he is related to opera singer Amanda Roocroft.
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My daughter's boyfriend is related to a few interesting famous people, including https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith
What a legend! ;D
Our neighbour is related to Charles Kingsford Smith too (his Uncle I think)!
Mostly ag labs in my family ... there was a murderer and a bigamist, but not "famous".
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I am related to Elizabeth Taylor.
She is my Great Great Grandmother, no not that Elizabeth Taylor the one born in 1841. ;) ;)
Cheers
Guy
Elizabeth Taylors are 2 for a penny. My wife had three and I have two
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I'm also the granddaughter of Elizabeth Taylor,born 1873.
Barb
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Elizabeth Taylor was prolific, wasn't she - she was also my gt gt gt grandmother ::)
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I am descended from the Gilpin family of Kentmere Hall and Valley, Westmorland. A few well knowns from the family are George Gilpin 1514-1602 diplomat for Elizabeth I, his brother Bernard Gilpin 1517-1583 'Apostle of the North', William Gilpin 1724-1804 cleric, artist and author, Sawrey Gilpin 1733-1807 animal artist, William Sawrey Gilpin 1762-1843 landscape artist and via members who emigrated to America, George Washington 1732-1799 president of USA
Please don't ask for the exact relationships :)
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Aye - old man Shaw Macduff and it's been one 'ell' of ride - thanks 8)