Found Anyone Famous

[MarieC]

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!

MarieC

[kizmiaz]

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)

[skyblue_scarlet]

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

[janeyanne]

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.

[danuslave]

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   

Linda

[asgaard]

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.

Heather

[tofgem]

Hi
I have found several 'interesting' characters (not all in the direct line, but related all the same):

a ‘Catholic’ monk  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

Tofgem

[danuslave]

Show-off   

[redfrog]

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