Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Question from Lawrence - George Gregory Fiennes

I am questioning the authenticity of Tudorplace.com remarks about George Gregory Fiennes. It states he had a Bastard daughter Mary Fiennes born in 1566 and married a Wheatley. Other books say he had a daughter that died young and Ann Sackville would not or did not recognize her. How can I contact them about the information? Does anyone have confirmation one way or the other?

9 comments:

Lara said...

There is an email link to the owner of http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/ at the bottom of the main page. I've corresponded with him previously, although it's been ages.

PhD Historian said...

I have done quite a lot of research on the Dacres (for an article to be published in 2013), so if it is not too late, I would like to weigh in here. The young man who runs the TudorPlace website is quite enthusiastic, but his information is occasionally incorrect, since he gathers most of it from other websites (think "Wikipedia") rather than published sources. Yes, some other genealogical sites contain discussions about a Mary Fiennes Wheatley who, at least by one account, may have been an illegitimate child of Gregory Fiennes, Lord Dacre. The one account was written by a Wheatley descendant and includes a lot of family traditions that cannot be proved. The actual historical record indicates that Gregory had only one daughter, Elizabeth, who died young. Gregory never acknowledged any illegitimate child, making it impossible for any claimant to take his Fiennes surname. Thus Mary Fiennes Wheatley must have been a member of some other branch of the Fiennes family, not the Dacre branch. Further, Gregory Fiennes's will indicates that he had no surviving children, whether legitimate or illegitimate.
For a thorough history of the Fiennes (one based on surviving documentation), see Thomas Barrett-Lennard, An Account of the Families of Lennard and Barrett, published in 1908.
I have tried many times over the years to contact the owner of TudorPlace (he lives in Argentina), but he seldom responds.

Unknown said...

Can you shed any light on the TudorPlace's use of George along with Gregory? Is there any reason for that?

Thanks,
Maggie Secara

Unknown said...

The parentage of Mary (Fiennes)Wheatly is quite perplexing. It is surmised that the reason she was not in her father's will, not acknowledged by her father, was because Anne Sackville, (wife of Sir George Fiennes) would have nothing to do with Mary because she was a bastard daughter of her husband. This is most likely not true. Nevertheless, has there been any DNA research done on descendants of Mary and Frank Wheatly to see if there is a connection to the Fiennes? This would put all doubt to rest.

Anonymous said...

Hi I am a descendant of Frank and Mary and I plan on taking the ancestry DNA test so I will let you know

emma schuster said...

i am also a decendant from mary and frank and have taken the dna test, my mother who is of that lineage and her uncle who is as well have also taken the dna test. how can i use this info to prove or disprove this connection. my email is Emaziingg@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Emma,
Your DNA would have to be compared to a known descendant of Gregory Fiennes to see if it is a match.

Nicholas Cali said...

Hello, I'm a direct descendent of Mary and Frank Wheatley and I've found a document on Ancestry.com named North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 and at the bottom of the page it says something very interesting, take a look if you'd like. Link is found below.

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61157&h=568910&ssrc=pt&tid=163831565&pid=252137321133&usePUB=true

Anonymous said...

My late husband was a descendant of Mary and Frank Wheatley so I would also like to authenticate that Mary was Geoffrey Fiennes illegitimate daughter as well.