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Archiver > PACHESTE > 1998-02 > 0887833473


From: "Anne Wiegle" <>
Subject: Re: royal relatives.
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 20:24:33 -0000


There is a book by George D. Widener, who married a very distant cousin of
mine, called "Widener, Dixon, Broomall, Elkins & Allied Families etc etc".
in which he traces 6 descents from William the Conquerer, and every other
king of Europe. (We Anglo-Saxons call him William the Bastard!) This is a
pretentious book, full of coats of arms and stuff. Anyway, there are only
one or two ancestors to whom all these Royal descents trace. How accurate
it is I don't know, probably not very. But if you are related to one member
of European nobility, you are probably related to hundreds.Those people
were so inbred!

Thomas Martin & Margery Mendenhall are my 7th Gt. Grandparents, which would
make Joan Strode my 8th Gt. Grandmother. I will be perfectly happy if she
doesn't descend for Henry I, although better than Henry VIII.

However, it is not impossible for many commoners to descend from Royalty,
because those Kings used to mess around with common ladies other than their
wives. Even Princess Di descended from a Royal mistress. I also read that
Gen. Colin Powell has some Royal Ancestors.

Anne Broomall Wiegle

----------
> From: Robert D Bacher <>

>
> Very interesting. A couple of months ago I received some emails and came
> across some information on various sites on the internet which seemed to
> indicate a connection with Robert of Gloucester, illegitimate son of
> Henry I (son of William I, aka, William the Conqueror, who invaded
> England in 1066). I was astounded. .
><snip>
> Here is the supposed connection: I am descended from Hannah Clayton
> (b.1736) and Robert Green (b.1731). Hannah's parents are Edward Clayton
> and Ann Whitaker. Ann's parents are James Whitaker and Mary Martin.
> Mary's parents are Thomas Martin and Margery Mendenhall. Margery's
> parents are Thomas Mendenhall and Joan Strode. So far, so good. As far
> as I know, the foregoing is not in dispute.
>
> The problem is the identity of Thomas Mendenhall's wife. There was a
> Joan Strode in the same vicinity and the same time period who was
> descended from a line of English aristocracy, including King Henry I and
> King William I, etc. The question is whether that Joan Strode is the
> person who married Thomas Mendenhall. If so, a connection to Henry I
> (and many others) is established.

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