How Far did you trace your Family Tree?

[coombs]

Any traceable ancestor is still part of your heritage no matter how far back he or she is. If you could trace back to Charlemagne, the man is still an ancestor of yours, and you descend from him. Also marriages between cousins or distant cousins gets more pronounced the further back you go. Usually the generations multiply the further back you go. 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, and so on, unless marriages between cousins happen which cuts down the number a bit.

[aghadowey]

I have multiple lines in the 1600 and 1700s that intermarried (in one case I am descended from 3 sons of one couple) which cuts down on number of possible different ancestors quite a bit.

[coombs]

I have multiple lines in the 1600 and 1700s that intermarried (in one case I am descended from 3 sons of one couple) which cuts down on number of possible different ancestors quite a bit.

Same in my tree, especially in North Essex, and some parts of Suffolk.

[jbml]

With most of my family lines I'm back into the 1700s at least ... except for my Irish ancestors who came over in the potato famine with the very unhelpful surname of Murphy, and my great great grandfather whose mother and her sister appear to have been the village whores, backing the paternal line ineffable. (Their father died young and their mother took in laundry; she and her sister seem to have been contributing to the family income the only way they could ... and between them produced a large crop of illegitimate offspring. I don't judge them for it; it's just a sad reflection of the harsh realities of life before universal welfare.)

Some lines I am back into the 1600s ... with a lot of maternal lines becoming impossible to take further due to lack of surviving records of Commonwealth period marriages before magistrates (very few of my ancestors were wealthy enough to make wills which might enable me to "bridge the gap).

A few lines I've got into the 1500s, with one or two identified ancestors born before the start of parish records.

Most of the lines that reach back before 1700 have at least one conjectural link which I am still working on firming up, or disproving ... I don't mind which because I'm interested in the truth, not a fanciful collection of other people's ancestors masquerading as my own (and yes, I know that maternity is a matter of fact but paternity can only ever be a matter of opinion ... but you know what I mean, and besides, DNA is changing that old adage). Going back past a conjectural link makes sense, I find, because it can often enable a "top down" follow-up which turns up a will or apprenticeship record or something which may either confirm or refute the assumption(s) underlying the original conjecture.

[coombs]

You cannot always be sure who the mother is either, the odd informal adoption or in a more common scenario the mother was actually the grandmother, she helped hide the birth of an illegitimate grandchild. Such as if she had a child at 38 then her next child at 49.

[Blairvadach]

I thought that the most surprising thing to discover about my great grandmother was that she married four times. She first married my great grandfather James McFarlane Brockett in 1893.
I have now discovered that through her line I could be related to royalty (I stress could).........
Margaret's grandmother was Margaret Gray 1818-1892 and through this line back to Andrew Gray 2nd lord Gray who married Elizabeth Stewart......Elizabeth Stewarts father was Sir John Stewart 1st Earl Of Atholl who married Lady MargaretnBeatrix Douglas The Fair Maid of Galloway.
 Sir John Stewart's father was Sir James Stewart The Black Knight of Lorn...he married Joan Beaufort Queen Consort of Scotland who was previously married to James the first of Scotland......
Joan Beaufort's father was John de Beaufort  1st Earl of Somerset and his father was John Gaunt 1st Duke of Lancaster and his father was Edward the third King Of England.
I don't know how factual and accurate this account is but according to Family search I am related to King Edward the 3rd and beyond!!!!!

[Sandrafamilytree]

I remember my late mother telling me that her ancestors used to knit socks for Captain Hardy.

As a child I was greatly impressed by this.

When I grew up I realised that a whole load of people probably knitted - unasked - socks for him.

A bit like all the people who knit booties for royal babies and post them in.