Ancestral brushes with the rich or famous

[annaandchester]

My great aunt was best friends with Mick Jaggers mother in infant school

And that is about it!

Anna x

[Emjaybee]

I was with my Dad in the 1940's when Earl Beauchamp came up to us and chatted to my Dad. He then introduced us to Mr Hoare-Belisha (the belisha beacon man) former Minister of Transport.

I asked my Dad why Lord Beauchamp spoke to us the lowest of the low, my Dad said" I was his Sergeant in the Home Guard, so he had to do what I said.

[astral14]

Belle Chrystall was her real name

Belle could have been short for Isabel, but it was
Ceratainly her REAL name.

Her Father was Alexander Chrystall and her Mother
was originally a Mercer.
She lived for a time in Fleetwood.
The Mercers lived also in Lancashire near Chipping.

Does this help?

Jinks

Thanks, but no. I suspect one of the family must have got a bit creative, then..Never mind. I was hoping for a link to the surname, Carter, and the Preston area.

[keenbutconfused]

I had an uncle who emigrated to USA and 'dabbled' a bit in acting - he was, apparently offered the part of The Virginian in the television series ....but turned it down as he'd got steady work by then.  He went on to become a Director of EMI and collected vintage Bentleys as a hobby!  Not bad for a coal miner's son from Durham!  He sent my nan and granda a photograph of him with his pal William Henry Pratt to put on the mantlepiece (WHP - aka Boris Karloff) - they had it in a posh frame on the sideboard of their living room.

[Burrow Digger]

My husband lived in the same town as Shania Twain when they were kids - Timmins, Ontario. He may have gone to the same school, but so far we cant verify that. Shania is just 2 years younger than he is.

BD

[Lucky P]

I have an ancestor who is mentioned a number of times in Samuel Pepys' diary.  He was at Cambridge with Samuel and used to meet with him in various Inns and Coffee Houses as well as the homes of other notable gentry.

Unfortunately the more interesting entries are rather lewd and cannot be repeated in any family history or here.

If you have ancestors who lived in London around that time it is well worth looking at the index to Pepys' diary.

David

My husband has an ancestor who was Samuel Pepys' Scrivener (wrote legal documents & such like) His name was John West and he set up charities to benefit his 'poor kin', which are still running to this day.

 

[saddles]

My mother was the girfriend of actor/singer Al Bowlly, they were
to have had dinner but mother was asked to fill the chorus spot of another girl for the evening show and therefore did not go
to meet Bowlly at Dukes court near Piccadilly, during the night
(1941) a German air raid dropped a bomb in Dukes court and
Bowlly was killed.
Mother left show business and joined the ATS for the duration
of the war.

In the early 1960's we owned a nursery/market garden in Kent
and two of our customers were the actors Gerald Campion
(Billy Bunter) and James Hayter (many parts).

We never mentioned their status and they never said who
they were.

Mike.

[Alpha]

One of my family names is Stewart and I apologise if I offend anyone, but I am fed up of trawling through all the Stewart messages from people doing DNA tests to find out if they are related to royalty.  I just want to find my family and I'm quite sure my blood is red not blue

As far as I can tell we are not descended from any royalty, but it's not for want of trying. In the 1750s in London Mr & Mrs Samuel Hall had two sons, Benjamin and John. When they grew up Ben went to Taunton and made his fortune, while John married Hannah Golightly and fathered ten children.
Seeking excitement, Ben set sail for India. He arrived in Madras as James Stuart-Hall, the illegitimate son of Bonnie Prince Charlie!
Meantime back in London John was rapidly tiring of the delights of matrimony and the patter of tiny feet, so he decided it was time to join his brother. He arrived in Madras as John Stuart-Hall, another of the illegitimate sons of Bonnie Prince Charlie!
Apparently John never saw Hannah or the surviving children again, but he did make the occasional return trip to England, and on one of those trips he stopped off at St Helena to "marry" a widow called Eliza Dobbyn. A year later Augusta Matilda was born. (John, Eliza and Augusta are my direct ancestors). It's possible that John had "moved on" by then, as a few years later there was a third woman in Madras looking for maintenance for herself and John's children.
James came to the financial rescue of his various sisters-in-law and out-of-law and his nieces and nephews. But all good things must come to an end, and one day James married - and the payments ceased immediately.  Augusta was still at school then. Henry Chapman - at 30 he was twice her age - paid the outstanding school fees and married her.
So, we also have red blood, not blue, and I won't be contacting you about the Stewarts, Wheeldon.

Cheers,
Alpha

Cowbridge: Felton
Hambleden, Bucks: Hobbs
Kent: Thornton and Fox
Central Devon: Partridge
Dublin and Madras: Cooke
Taunton: Murray and Ash
Hodnet: Massey

[Chasing-fireflies]

My Grandfather was on the front page of the Washington post as a teenager for being Englands fastest jockey. Does that count or does it have to be further back?  Apparently i am related to the maid of Cefn ydfa but research is 50 years off her yet!