Oooh! 1090

[louisedennis]

Late last night I ended up making contact with a second cousin once removed who has traced one branch of the family back to 1090. This is quite exciting even taking into account the fact that conventional wisdom in genealogy is that most people who claim their family go back to the conquest are indulging in a wish-fulfilment fantasy. I've

Comments

[philmophlegm]

Is it a myth then that the only two families in England capable of tracing lineage back to 1066 are the Windsors and the Astors?

[louisedennis]

They're certainly not the only people capable of tracing it back. They might be the only people capable of tracing it back correctly :-)

I'm fairly sure you only get back beyond a certain point by finding a handy noble in your tree and it's the "finding a handy noble" bit where a lot of the wish-fulfillment comes in. The Benthalls would appear to be my handy noble.

Conventional wisdom in genealogy further states that any one who has traced their lineage back to a character in the bible is clearly mad. The Windsors, incidentally, can do this (if you allow medieval genealogies as evidence).

[philmophlegm]

Cool. Which character in the bible? Is it Cain and Prince Philip is a vampire? (Sorry, been paying too much attention to Egyptian grocers...)

[louisedennis]

I believe there are family trees showing the descent of William the Conquerer from King David, and thus Abraham, and thus Adam and Eve and, ultimately, God. I think Jesus gets a look in too somewhere, but can't off hand remember where it fits.

I got this off Who do you think you are? the Matthew Pinsent episode