One branch of my family came to New Zealand from Nova Scotia and a pretty reputable source has traced that family back to very early settlers of Massachusetts, circa Mayflower era. No great claims made in this book ...
However I find that, given the enthusiasm of US genealogists, it is very easy to find somewhere on the web someone amongst all those names (usually a wife) who has been traced back to just about every royal family in Europe. I take it all with a huge grain of salt and tend to lose interest once it all moves into the ridiculous world of speculation. Who actually cares? It's the people you can feel a real connection to who count.
I do have one terrific connection I am very pleased about, though. Not exactly royalty, but a good story.
My gx4 grandfather was a convict transported to Australia in 1790. (I read the actual transcript of his 'trial' on the Old Bailey site - a fantastic site if you, too, are one of the criminal classes.) His grandaughter, sister of my g-grandfather, married Ivo Bligh, the captain of the English cricket team to whom the original Ashes were first given. She subsequently became the Countess of Darnley and was for a time the official 'Keeper of the Ashes' - they were given to the MCC after her death.
The bit I enjoy most is that I looked her up in De Bretts, where she was said to be 'a niece of Morphy, the chess player'. This is total nonsense - someone, somewhere along the way, was keen to see that it didn't get out that she was the grandaughter of a transported criminal!
A lovely blend of fame and infamy ...
Ros
