WDYTYA series 4 # 7 Matthew Pinsent

[ludovica]

Welcome "Cousin Matt"!

Glad to see another recruit to this fascinating pastime. Despite your "gold card" gateway ancestor introduction,  I'm sure you have many other lines you can research for yourself over the years. You'll never be bored again!

[Polldoll]

Welcome Matthew to the best forum online...   and thanks for joining us ...   
Your face was an absolute treat when you were shown those pedigree scrolls and your  incredulity  was  a joy to witness...What on earth must have been spinning through your mind at that moment ?   The depth of Knowledge on this site is just amazing and the generosity of folk on here is second to none ..    It's great fun on here ...and not half as tiring as rowing ! 
Poll

[Ruskie]

I'd never heard of this term before either. I had to google both "gateway ancestor" and "Matthew Pinsett"  .

Does a "gateway ancestor" always lead back to royalty .... or is it just that there are more surviving records of the royal and well-to-do? Is a gateway ancestor the missing link which enables you to connect your family and your research to someone elses research?

I'm very envious of you all - no WDYTYA here in Australia  .

Oh, and welcome to rootschat Matt and good luck with your research.

[ludovica]

As I understand it, they are a person that links you to an established pedigree..


in Matts case Sophia Anson (not, in my opinion, her father as stated in the program).. Its that Anson name that immediately caused Lord Lichfield and Shugborough Hall to spring my mind when I heard it, before Sir George Anson was even mentioned


Daughters of wealthy or famous men often go unnoticed as a promising ancestor, because of their name change, they provide a gateway to a whole new genetic line

eg "John Smith and his wife Mary" is not very inspiring
 but "John Smith and his wife Mary, the daughter of Sir Giles de Berkeley" is a whole new ball-game

[Ruskie]

Thanks for clarifying that for me ludovica.

[Windsor87]

I had never heard of it before either. I just assumed it was a well known term that, due to my newcommer status, I simply hadn't encountered.

It's quite nice having a gateway ancestor. Being Scottish, I can boast of being a descendant of Kenneth MacAlpin and Robert the Bruce. At the same time I descend from Edward I and Alfred the Great, and am a great whatever nephew of Sir John Menteith, the man who betrayed Wallace.

This ancestry allows me to define myself as a definate Briton.

[Gadget]

I think many of us have 'Gateway ancestors' but we don't say much about it.

Gadget

[Windsor87]

I think many of us have 'Gateway ancestors' but we don't say much about it.

Gadget

Good for you lot then.

For I intend to go one and on and on...

[Gadget]

It's great when you make one or two or more links but that's not the object of it all is it?

I'm here to help and enjoy.

Gadget