Filling in the Branches of the Family Tree

(I should preface this entry with a confession: My on-again status regarding my family tree is due entirely to the fact that I am so easily swayed by things on television. Eli swears I should be a marketing test subject, because I respond so strongly. NBC has started showing a new season of "Who Do You Think You Are" which is basically one long commercial for www.ancestry.com and after the first episode I immediately jumped on and started filling out a tree. I have promised myself that if I make enough progress on my own I will purchase a one month subscription so I can actually see and print all the documents I am searching through.)


Since my early teen years I have held an on again, off again interest in my family tree. I have always loved history (eventually deciding to minor rather than major in the subject in college once political science had wooed me away) and exploration of the family tree is a very personal way to experience history. I shared this genealogical interest with my Great Aunt Corinna, sister to my Gran, and someone I honestly didn't spend much time with. However, when she learned of my interest, she was pleased enough to share what I consider to be treasured documents with me. Through much hard work and many hours of combing through records, Aunt Corinna had compiled a a family tree (well specifically one very long branch) of her father's (my great grandfather's) line. And by very long, I mean the the first entries date back to 1146 ad.

I know, it seems hard to believe. Certainly hard to believe that one could trace their heritage back accurately to such a distant point in history. But it seems that such things happen more than I would have suspected. In the case of this branch, accuracy can be depended upon because this branch had historical significance. I was told Aunt Corinna went no further back than William Marshall of England because she believed he was an orphan. My recent research reveals that in fact there is a record of William Marshall's parents, and I am excited to start researching a bit further back.

So who is William Marshall? Well, according to multiple sources, "Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton. He served four kings — Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III — and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so, one of the most powerful men in Europe. Before him, the hereditary title of "Marshal" designated head of household security for the king of England; by the time he died, people throughout Europe (not just England) referred to him simply as "the Marshal"." Specific to me, he was my great (x29) grandfather. Yes grandfather 29 generations back.

This is very exciting for me, since I particularly love English history, but also because it makes following the family tree down to my grandmother's family much easier because the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and on down the line of William Marshall were members of the royal family or at least members of Court. They married other noblemen and noblewomen, and essentially kept themselves in the record books for long enough that by the time history stopped caring about them we have come forward enough in time that Aunt Corinna could and I can verify their offspring easily by more conventional methods.

Having such a huge head start on one branch of my tree has motivated me to learn as much about the rest of my family as I can. This will be much harder work though for two reasons; first, I have no one forging ahead of me to give me so much to go on, and second, estrangements on both sides of my family (some before my time and others involving me) make it hard to get information that normally you could just call an older family member up and ask about.

Despite those obstacles, I have made some progress. I have learning things in conversation with my father and grandfather that I never knew. I have found that my paternal great great grandmother used to be a telephone operator in the old switchboard days. I have learned I have many farmers in my family, on both sides, and a few coal miners too. I have learned that distant relations on my mother's side helped to form the state of Maryland. All of it is fascinating to me. Everything from the knights to the miners is a little piece of my history. I cannot wait to find out more.

P.S. If I can figure out how to make an image you can actually see, I will post a picture of the hand-written tree my Great Aunt Corinna gave me all those years ago. It is beautiful, and a testament to the hard work she did to provide this information for our family. It is several feet long and all done it tiny, perfect script.