Friday, March 04, 2011

Question from Guy - Tudor relations of Kate Middleton

I've read that Kate Middleton is distantly related to Prince William and thus descended from historic aristocrats or royalty. Does anyone know if she is descended from any Tudor notables?

11 comments:

Marilyn R said...

I met Gary Boyd Roberts of the New England Historical Geneological Society at a Geneological and Publishing fair at London's Olympia last Saturday and he gave me a leaflet sbout the following:

William Addams Reitwiesner (1954-2010) 'The Ancestry of Catherine Middleton'; published posthumously and edited by his literary executor Christopher Challender Child, and with a foreword by Gary Boyd Roberts. Published by the NEHGS and available in April 2011.

For my own research purposes on the Mowbrays & Howards I am hoping there is a link there. I read some time ago that she is descended from Mary Carey (Boleyn) but the evidence wasn't very convincing. If anyone knows of a Howard/Boleyn/Knollys connection I would love to hear about it. Thanks.

kb said...

"If anyone knows of a Howard/Boleyn/Knollys connection I would love to hear about it."

For Kate Middleton? That would be interesting.

Marilyn R said...

kb
The article I mentioned can be found at
www.unofficialroyalty.com

The Gascoignes would give a Mowbray connection back to a son of Magna Carta Baron, William de Mowbray,but I have never had the time to check any of this out. What do you think?

"The Lupton ancestry of Kate’s great-grandmother also provides her with a claim to royal descent. Following a typically labyrinthine trail back across the centuries, Ms. Middleton’s fourteenth generation (14xg-) great-grandmother, who lived in the early 16th century, was one Anne Gascoigne Fairfax. And Anne Gascoigne’s 5xg-grandparents were King Edward III and his wife Philippa of Hainault. That makes Kate a 21xg-granddaughter of Edward III. Anne Gascoigne was also descended from a variety of noble families including Percy of Northumberland, Neville, Mortimer, and de Burgh… a virtual “Who’s Who” of 15th century English notables.

In addition to this generally accepted lineage, there is another branch of the Lupton ancestry that contains some intriguing “plausible” but not “proven” ancestral ties. Kate Middleton’s 7xg-grandfather William Davenport (d. 1723) is believed by some researchers to be the son born in 1679 at Worfield in Shropshire to Henry Davenport of Hollon and his wife Elizabeth Talbot. If that identification is accurate – and perhaps eventually confirmed by some DNA sleuthing – then the Middletons are descended from some of the closest relatives of Queen Elizabeth I. Henry Davenport’s wife, Elizabeth Talbot, was the 3xg-granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, the “other” Boleyn sister whose story has gotten renewed notice of late. Mary Boleyn was Henry VIII’s mistress before her sister Anne came along, and there is some thought that her daughter Catherine Carey might in fact have been Henry VIII’s child. (See Anthony Hoskins, "Mary Boleyn's Carey children - offspring of King Henry VIII?", Genealogists' Magazine, vol. 25, no. 9 [March 1997], pp. 345-352.) Be that as it may, it is well known that Anne Boleyn’s daughter, Elizabeth I, was quite fond of her Carey cousins right up to the end of her life.

Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn, married Sir Francis Knollys. He was a prominent courtier in the inner circles of Elizabeth I’s government. The Knollys’ granddaughter married Sherrington Talbot of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, and the Talbots were the grandparents of Henry Davenport’s wife. Prince William is also descended from the Boleyn-Carey-Knollys line via the Spencers, but not – so far as I know – from the Talbots of Lacock Abbey."

Anonymous said...

See Thomas Leighton (Governor) article on Wikipedia. There are two sources, which refer to him as a 'Tudor tyrant'. It also states (from thepeerage.com) that he was married to Elizabeth Knollys, daughter of Catherine Carey and granddaughter of Mary Boleyn. Assuming that if they are both descended from him it is by his legitimate children (I could find mention of no others) then both Kate and William are also descended from Catherine Carey. I had read that Princess Diana was descended from one or other of the Careys before, so this would match up.

History Chick said...

According to this article, Kate is descended from Elizabeth Knollys (scroll down to the family tree chart for the break down):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1330370/Kate-Middletons-family-Prince-Williams-racy-laws-wholl-spice-royal-life.html

But lets take this with a grain of salt since it's the Daily Mail. Also, according to this more reliable website:
http://www.thepeerage.com/p1271.htm#i12702

Sherrington Talbot only had one child (Sir John Talbot) - Sherrington had no daughter named Elizabeth as the Daily Mail is claiming. So it's entirely possible Robert Barrett (who is credited with the tree on the Daily Mail) is making a connection that isn't there (certainly wouldn't be the first time this happened in genealogy).

Anonymous said...

There is no evidence that William Davenport of Reading was descended from the 'gentry' Davenports of Shropshire/Cheshire.

See an account of the research at www.jwgs.co.uk/davenport.html

Guy said...

I've just seen this:
http://www.suite101.com/content/prince-william-and-kate-middleton-share-ancestors-a353582

which claims that they are both descended from Sir Thomas Fairfax (ca. 1475-1520) and the former Anne/Agnes Gascoyne/Gascoigne

Foose said...

There is an article in the March 12 edition of The Spectator magazine, "Another Boleyn Girl," which details how Kate Middleton is connected to Henry VIII. It relies on the thesis that Catherine Carey and her brother Henry were the children of Henry and Mary Boleyn, presenting much of the evidence that kb has discussed on this blog. There are other points that she has considered dubious, such as Catherine Carey accompanying Anne Boleyn in the Tower.

There is some disagreement in the comments, too.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/
all/6766908/another-boleyn-girl.thtml

Anonymous said...

i maybe wrong but till this day i still think henry fathered mary boleyn children the fact that you cant completely verify it because of how far back it goes is somewhat upsetting because it seems that he had love for both of them who he loved more could be debated but the fact remains mary was hes mistress before anne so it makes it possible that he might have fathered those two children please feel free leave me any remarks to my email address maritzalozano36@hotmail.com thank you

Anonymous said...

go to www.famouskin.com and you will see Kate Middleton's ancestry which includes: Ralph de neville, William Gascoigne, William Fairfax, (several more Fairfax's) etc resultin in catherine Middleton. Kate is also a distant cousin of Thomas Jefferson. I'm doing my ancestry and Kate is a distant cousin. Neville family goes back to royalty also. Linda S

Anonymous said...

http://goldenagedregina.blogspot.com/2011/05/mary-boleyn-and-kate-catherine.html?m=1