Four times great grandfather Thomas Watson was a drystone waller in rural east Cumberland, and a mason. But he was also a poet, whose work was published by and for his friends after his death.
The Handloom Weaver
Fifth-Great Grandfather Richard Burton was a handloom weaver in Lancashire
The Victorian Innkeeper
Richard and Mary Burton took on the Cross Keys Inn in Brindle in Lancashire in the 1860s
The Spitfire Pilot
Uncle Allan was a Spitfire pilot during World War 2. He lost his life after taking part in the Allies’ disastrous raid on Dieppe. He was just 21.
Shakespeare’s Hotspur
Henry Percy, ‘Hotspur’, is one of Shakespeare’s best-known characters. And he’s our 19th Great Grandfather.
Abducted by Native Americans
Mary Jemison – our first cousin eight times removed – was captured by Shawnee Indians as a child, adopted into the Seneca tribe, and chose to live her life as a Seneca woman.
Lay on MacDuff
We’re descended – a long way back – from the Earls of Fife, of the clan MacDuff. The most famous MacDuff appeared in Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ – though he may not have existed at all.
American migrant
Edwin J Beard, our second cousin twice removed, left for the new world in 1904
The Swedish Bishop – and Torturer
Annette’s 11th-great aunt married a man who seems to have been… well, let’s just say he wasn’t husband of the year.
The Victorian Bobby
London’s Metropolitan Police Service was formed in 1829, the first modern police force in England – and Annette’s third great uncle John Glayzer became a ‘Bobby’ in November, 1857.