A Royal Descent or not?

[KGarrad]

Since I joined RootsChat, there have been a number of threads purporting to show pedigrees that show links to Royalty.

In the main, these have been from US Citizens!
(Just stating facts, not an opinion)

I have managed to de-bunk 2 or 3 of these pedigrees, simply by following the family line backwards in time.
There were missing generations, and children who never appeared on "official" biographies, and were unknown to historians!

I only used rudimentary research techniques - e.g. using Google and Wikipedia - so I never claimed my research was infallible.

In the end, people believe what they want to believe. Regardless of facts.

[pinefamily]

In the end, people believe what they want to believe. Regardless of facts.

Something sadly not limited to family history.

[Skoosh]

Why on earth would any sensible body be so keen as to wish for a connection to a family which is as inbred as chinchilla rabbits,  been subject to everything from porphyria & haemophillia to insanity & alcoholism. Hereditary strangers to useful employment and if they lived in your street would probably be sanctioned by ATOS & the "Social" never away from the door & probably take the weans off them. 

Skoosh.

[David80]

Why on earth would any sensible body be so keen as to wish for a connection to a family which is as inbred as chinchilla rabbits,  been subject to everything from porphyria & haemophillia to insanity & alcoholism. Hereditary strangers to useful employment and if they lived in your street would probably be sanctioned by ATOS & the "Social" never away from the door & probably take the weans off them. 

Skoosh.

Hello Skoosh,
look at me not taking offence! And I've finally found this thing:
Inbreeding is not confined to the upper classes and nor are hereditary diseases! Obviously our ancestors are what they are, there's nothing anyone do about it. It's the making stuff up to create a link to them which I think most people consider a bit on the foolish side.

[Guy Etchells]

Why on earth would any sensible body be so keen as to wish for a connection to a family which is as inbred as chinchilla rabbits,  been subject to everything from porphyria & haemophillia to insanity & alcoholism. Hereditary strangers to useful employment and if they lived in your street would probably be sanctioned by ATOS & the "Social" never away from the door & probably take the weans off them. 

Skoosh.

For the very same reason why someone would want to connect with any ancestor.
It makes no difference whether an ancestor is rich or poor, disabled or able bodied, law abiding or criminal they are ones ancestor and need to be acknowledged as such.

That does not mean that one type of ancestor gives a family more kudos than another ancestor simply that for me all ancestors are an important part of my family history.

In fact I go further than simply including ancestors as I research collareal lineages as well, as they all help to build a picture of influences on my family history.

Cheers
Guy

[pinefamily]

It's amazing how often you find collateral ancestors living in close proximity to your direct ancestors. With a different surname, you would never know unless you had bothered to track the brothers and sisters of each generation.
As KGarrad has said, there does seem to be a larger proportion of US family historians keen on finding a royal connection.

[KGarrad]

As KGarrad has said, there does seem to be a larger proportion of US family historians keen on finding a royal connection.

Apparently, nobody likes a Royal connection more than a Republican?!

[jbml]

Why on earth would any sensible body be so keen as to wish for a connection to a family which is as inbred as chinchilla rabbits,  been subject to everything from porphyria & haemophillia to insanity & alcoholism. Hereditary strangers to useful employment and if they lived in your street would probably be sanctioned by ATOS & the "Social" never away from the door & probably take the weans off them. 

Skoosh.

Largely, Skoosh, because for most of us the vast majority of our family lines get disrupted in the middle 17th Century as a result of that misguided attempt to rid us of said chinchillas and the mess it made of the public records (why oh WHY couldn't the civil magistrates have bequeathed us some proper records of the marriages they celebrated???).

And even when we CAN get through the Commonwealth, and emerge into the happy sunlit uplands of the 16th century, we find it'll only be some two, three, or perhaps if we're very lucky four generations before the records dry up pretty much totally. And those ancestors which we can identify, well, if we get a date of baptism, a name of a father, a date of marriage, a bride's name, the names of some children AND a burial, we consider that a pretty impressive outcome.

On the other hand, if once we get into royal lines ... well ... the records go back all the way into the mists of antiquity, and, even better, somebody else has transcribed, translated, and written them all up for us. Fifteen extra generations, easy as pi, what's not to like??

Besides ... one source I have consulted insists that my Garnham ancestors are descended from Norse royal lines (I'm having a  bit of difficulty following his links in the 13th century, mind ... and some of the 14th century ones look a bit dodgy ... and the 15th century is a bit of a jumble too ... and there seem to be a couple of missing generations in the 16th century ... and I've not yet managed to replicate his 17th century links from the records I've seen ... but give me time). And you know what having Norse royalty in my tree means, don't you?? YEP!!! It means I'm descended from WODEN HIMSELF!!!!!!!

OK ... so now we've sorted that one out ... hands up all those who claim to be mere mortals ... 

[pinefamily]

According to Moses Taylor Pyne in his book, the Pyne/Pine family descends from Galceran de Pinos, one of the nine barons from the Pyrenees summoned by Charlemagne to fight the Moors. There is even a statue of him in the northern Spanish town of Baga to this day.
MT Pyne did an amazing amount of research to trace this family through the generations, from Spain to France to Devon. My lot can be traced back to around 1530 in Devon. The lack of Devon wills seems to be the biggest stumbling block in making a connection.
Not quite royalty, but it is fascinating to read of their exploits in history.