Am I really related to William the Conqueror??

[LizzieW]

It is possible to get back to earlier centuries, with Inquisition post mortems, Chancery Proceedings etc.  and I have wills dated 1400s/1500s.  I wouldn't say I'd got as far back as William the Conqueror though, or Adam and Eve. 

[davidft]

In one simple search for the details about Richard, the half-brother of my illegitimate Great-great-grand-mother I found that Richard had a family tree online and when clicked I was taken to a tree with people from the FIFTH CENTURY.  I wandered around the tree for awhile but I couldn't find Richard but I did find William the Conqueror.

Yes a lot of online trees have problems and are inaccurate for a host of reasons. However, some people can trace their tree back to William I or whoever with a good degree of accuracy. In large part it all comes down to having a "gateway" ancestor i.e. one who connects to the aristocracy as by and large the records kept for them are more abundant and so there is a greater chance of finding a match. That said even if you do stumble across a tree that takes you back that far you should endeavour to verify each step of the way starting without yourself and working backwards.

Still at the end of the day if you can not prove a line of descent all is not lost as it has been variously estimated that between 20 and 40 per cent of "British" people (by ethnicity) are actually descended from William I.

And yes I have a tree that goes back to William I, and indeed further back due to my "gateway" ancestor Anne Bowyer

[Guy Etchells]

It is possible to construct genealogies from today’s generation right back to biblical times but because many if not most of the original records have been lost these depend on older constructed pedigrees.
These older pedigrees in turn cannot now be proved to be accurate.

In some case it is possible to construct accurate pedigrees back to the 5th century by use of a gateway ancestor into a royal line or for example some Welsh pedigrees that have shown to be accurate back to the 4th century (see Celtic culture: a Historical Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A-Celti).

The secret is knowing which medieval pedigrees have been shown to be accurate and which include flights of fancy, the subject has engrossed a number of medieval experts for many years and should not be dismissed out of hand due to ignorance of the subject.
By the same token we cannot simply accept everything just because it is in print or was printed a few hundred years ago.
Then as now some people took pains to produce accurate work others too shortcuts and added ancestors without adequate checking of sources and still others (including heralds) constructed bogus pedigrees for money.

Cheers
Guy

[JanPennington]

I realise that statistically many people are descended from William 1.  So far my searches  show that on both my father's and mother's side everyone is English so there is a possibility.  It's the fifth century ancestors that I find hard to believe.

Because my great-great-grandmother was illegitimate I can't be certain I have the right father even though she names her father on her marriage certificate. He had gone to Canada by then so couldn't agree or disagree.  He proving hard to track back to parents.  It is one of his legitimate children who I was tracking when I found the tree going back so far.  It's going to tkae a long time to prove or disprove my link into the tree.  But it will fun to try.

Jan

[youngtug]

Like Guy mentioned, "Ancestry" fantasy trees are not a new phenomenon. Apart from wishful thinking there was also the need to prove lineage for personal gain, be it power, money or property. Also there were the "genealogists" such has Gustav Anjou who made up family trees, to order almost.
I suppose that William can be tracked back to Rollo but that was 9th? century, and Rollo's birth data is a mystery so far has I know.

[JanPennington]

Guy,

The line lead from 5th century to William the Conqueror.  Is he a gateway person back to that time?


I know some Norse legends include lists of ancestors but I am not sure whether they could be considered accurate as the stories told by bards were intended to flatter the person paying, or impress the audience.

Jan

[Guy Etchells]

Guy,

The line lead from 5th century to William the Conqueror.  Is he a gateway person back to that time?


I know some Norse legends include lists of ancestors but I am not sure whether they could be considered accurate as the stories told by bards were intended to flatter the person paying, or impress the audience.

Jan

There are many such pedigrees some are accurate some are not (this can be seen where they disagree with each other). In a similar way there are many pedigrees showing lineage from William the Conqueror to Charlemagne in the 8th century but now some historians doubt whether Charlemagne actually existed or was part of a historical conspiracy theory as suggested by Heribert Illig.

In the end it is up to you to read as much as is available and make your own judgement on each according to its merits.

Cheers
Guy

[JanPennington]

History was one of my worst subjects at school as much that I was supposed to learn seemed irrelevant.  Since starting to research family history I have read and learned a lot about nineteenth century England particularly relating to farm workers.  I still have a great deal to learn about earlier times.

I am looking forward to finding out more about my ancestors and what their lives may have been like in earlier centuries - I have a long way to go.

Jan

[Possum26]

Hi,  If I were you,  Id copy the info but file it under a huge question mark [come up with your own title]  Ive been chasing the family tree for a long time and often I've gone and dismissed something as not related or total fantasy 'as if'  and blow me down many years down the track that info i found was true but id be dammed if i could re- find it on line..... always leave a trail of where you searched as its painful  to know the info is out there somewhere if only i could remember just where i found it