Jim1 - thanks for the info on the apparent poor quality of Noble's Memoirs. There is very little I have used him for, but used him I have. And I need to find a way around that, I think. Just in case I've just copied his error!
BillyBlue - I don't give a damn for being descended from royalty except
1) It's fun to have a coin of King John and know that's my 29xGreat Grandfather
2) When you're asked to do those ice-breaker questions of 'two things that are true, and one that is a lie' it's fun for that, too.
But otherwise, I'm much more impressed by my Cromwell connection.
ThrelfallYorky - I was in the same boat as you. I researched my tree from around 1998 and found nothing more than yeomanary and...sometimes...people who could VOTE! And then just a massive breakthrough last year when I found Mary Tabrum's maiden name. There's hope for everyone!
clairec666 - Yes, poorly annotated on my behalf. I did all the digging on Frances many years ago, and for some reason haven't carried those findings through to the spreadsheet all the others are in. Rest assured, I did my homework! Frances appears to have run away from home and married a gypsy man (Tommy Cooper - not that one). Hence her kids are born strewn across the UK until she eventually makes it to Liverpool. I have Frances' origins as Orsett (or Ossett. I forget which) from the censuses, and her age, etc. The one whose baptism fits all that is the only feasible one.
Andrew Tarr - yes, I believe everyone does have an aristocratic lineage...somewhere. The trick is in getting past the c1600 parish registers and onto those Burke's peerage lines. The gap can be insurmountable.