How Far Back Can You Go!

[bevj]

I have no royalty or even landed gentry in my tree, just ordinary ag. labs. and the like.
The furthest I have got back with my own research is a marriage in 1677 (so presumably a birth  around 1655) on my paternal side, thanks to some unusual names and the very well preserved records of Sherborne, Dorset,  I could probably get back a bit more, but unfortunately there is a gap in the parish baptism records between 1655 and 1700, so that's the end of that.
I do have another line which predates this, with a baptism in 1545, in Hunts., but I didn't find these records myself.  They were shared by a distant cousin, but I consider them to be totally reliable since he went to the record office in person to research the family.
Bev

[Guy Etchells]

Having been researching for a lifetime it would take me all night to list the earliest ancestor for each of my lines.
Off the top of my head the earliest is 1270 on the Guy line it is 1450 and my wife Kay's Ecott line is 1602.
The most puzzling is her Fillery line which only stretches to 1770, but getting further back is not really my main aim as I like to build a history of the family as I go back gathering as much info about each as possible.
Cheers
Guy

[Mart 'n' Al]

Being a cheery little soul, I once read that one birth in 100 is illegitimate. Some people call me a right b****** for pointing that out.

It is a valid point, though, even if it is only 1 in 200, or even 500.

Martin

Martin

[Maiden Stone]

I can get back to 1604 in East Grinstead, Sussex on one Maternal side, - purely because they stayed put in one place, and left Wills.

Those are 2 of the reasons why I got back to 1690ish on 2 of mine. On the other hand my poor labouring Davies and Jones families stop at around 1800.

[coombs]

Depends on the surname, survival of records, social status in life, and other factors.

A page missing from a parish register may have held the key to that much sought after but never found marriage.

Irish research can be very difficult. Chances of finding the names of both parents of a Patrick Walsh born c1840 in Ireland who gave just "Ireland" as birthplace on censuses is virtually nil. If he married in England his marriage cert will give fathers name and occupation but that is as far as you will go I think. His dad may also have been Patrick Walsh, a labourer.

[MongoUK]

Have just gotten back to around 1747 on my paternal line.

I need to research settlement certificates to find out where they moved into the parish from but Hunts have just shut their archives for 6 months to do a refurb! Doh!!

[cristeen]

If I accept the years of research done by other historians & descendants my Gilpin line goes back to at least 1272. I am happy with the research & evidence I have accumulated that my gateway ancestor does link firmly with their research.
 Other lines researched by me I think are reliable to the mid/early 1700s on the whole; I have been lucky to find several wills and there is good online access to original documents for Lancashire.

[Deux Chevaux]

One branch on my father's side I'm just about back to the middle of the 16thC. On a branch on my mother's side I've gone back so far the parish records are written in Latin. Have managed to get quite a few branches back as far as the mid 17thC. Definitely no sign of royalty in my tree. My forebears were clearly far too kind and gentle.

[Alberbury]

1066 When the Fewtrell clan arrived.

Coat of Arms to the left. Fewtrell of the Downe in the Parish of Chetton, Shropshire.