Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (78 page)

Many of the Chancery Division equity records for the Supreme Court of Judicature are simply continuations of the earlier material. Proceedings are in series J 54, depositions in J 17 and affidavits in J 4. The decree and order entry books are in J 15, whilst exhibits are in J 90.

Chapter 4 has already examined the subject of pedigrees, blue-blooded ancestors and the work of royal heralds. This is a popular subject and more people than you might imagine are able to prove a connection to royalty, using standard genealogy to unearth an ‘aristocratic' family name and then using this to fast-track back using pre-researched and well-established pedigrees to link into the royal family tree. Many people make this connection around the late fourteenth or early
fifteenth century, mainly because Edward III (1327–77) had so many offspring – fourteen children, to be precise, though two died as infants. In particular, four sons – John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence; Edmund Duke of York; and Thomas Duke of Gloucester – had numerous children, both legitimate and illegitimate, and consequently they intermarried with the other leading noble families and gentry of the day.

Here are a few reminders about how and where you can check to see if you have a chance of making a similar connection.

1
.
Find a gateway ancestor

Someone who has proven links to royalty or aristocracy. They are usually of higher social status, often with military connections or a role in the church – favoured professions for younger sons of gentry or nobility.

•
 
The Dictionary of National Biography
will provide information on their lineage and background

•
 
Publications such as
Debrett's Peerage, Burke's Peerage
or the
Complete Peerage
may provide a pre-researched genealogy

2
.
Find a famous surname in your family

There may be chance that you can prove a link to a more famous or well-to-do branch.

•
 
Standard genealogy will help you to prove or disprove a match

•
 
Surnames often appear through the female side through marriage, so ensure you check both sides of the family tree

•
 
Look for family or estate papers for further clues

3
.
Coat of arms

The right to armorial bearings or an inherited coat of arms is a strong signal that there is some connection with an ancient family line.

•
 
Check the collections of the College of Arms, where they can verify the lineage and right to bear arms

•
 
Heraldic visitations published by Harleian Society

•
 
Check for pedigrees at The National Archives, British Library, Society of Genealogists

4
.
Investigate stories of illegitimate links

Many children were fathered on household servants by sons of nobility or lesser royals, and were often financially helped in later life. In particular, look out for:

•
 
Children receiving a better education than their social status would suggest

•
 
Regular financial payments to ‘parents'

•
 
Expensive baptism gifts, engraved heirlooms or other presents from a noble family

•
 
Purchase of a military commission or an army career for a boy, which provides social status

•
 
Good marriage into gentry or wealth for a girl, which provides social status

•
 
Investigate the credibility of the story – geography, time period and key players have to match

Matthew Pinsent was able to research both his paternal and maternal lines quite a way back in time, using standard resources such as census returns, certificates, wills and parish registers. However, on his mother's line a few interesting surnames kept cropping up, such as Landale – and by continuing to link certificates with census records, particularly through the female lines of the family, he discovered he was related to General Sir George Anson, a renowned and titled military commander who died in 1858 and was actually Matthew's 3 x great-grandfather.

Since General Sir George Anson was well known, it was relatively easy to track down his background in standard history textbooks and use him as a ‘gateway' ancestor. Indeed, Anson warranted an entry in
Burke's Peerage
– a standard genealogical reference work that lists the nobility and their connections to the past – and from there it was fairly easy for Matthew to establish a link to the Howard family who were particularly prominent in the sixteenth century, mainly because they often fell foul of the Crown. For example, Matthew was descended from Lord William Howard, who was the uncle of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife who was beheaded in 1542.

Matthew was then able to trace the Howard genealogy back through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mainly through female descent and marriage, to prove a connection with William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, whose maternal grandparents were Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile. This journey led Matthew to the College of Arms, where a family pedigree confirmed the connection and even extended the royal lineage via William the Conqueror back to biblical times!

In addition to the sources listed above, there are original documents relating to aristocratic, gentry and noble families in archives around the country. Most of these can be located online at websites such as www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra, www.a2a.org.uk, www.bl.uk and www.archiveshub.ac.uk amongst deposited family and estate papers, pedigrees and legal paperwork relating to marriage settlements and assignments of dower.

Official sources can also help, especially Crown surveys of its rights in relation to landholding and leading aristocratic families. The most famous is Domesday Book, available to view online at The National Archives, but other works can also help push your family tree even further back in time. For example, in 1166 the Domesday Book was found to be so out of date that a new survey was commissioned, with tenants-in-chief sending in data about their landholding and military service; the resulting data was compiled into a document now called the Cartae Baronum. Material from other surveys was copied by Exchequer staff in the early fourteenth century, covering material from the late twelfth century, into a book called the Book of Fees, or Testa de Nevill, whilst another composite volume, Feudal Aids, brings together similar information from a range of records dating from 1283 to 1431.