One of the stellar works in our collection of royal and noble ancestry books is the 1996 publication, Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists, by David Faris. As the subtitle explains, this work traces the descent from England’s kings Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III of British emigrants who arrived in the North American colonies before 1701, and who are believed to have progeny living in the U.S. today. In all, Dr. Faris summarizes about one hundred lines of descent back to the Plantagenet (Angevin) kings. Following is a list of those colonists, any one of whom might be your gateway ancestor of royal descent.
“The following alphabetized list includes the names of the seventeenth-century emigrants whose Plantagenet ancestry it the subject of this book together with several emigrants after 1701 who have been incidentally noted in the text or a footnote. The names of women have been provided with a cross-reference to the surname of the husband.
Abbott, Anne (Mauleverer)
Abell, Robert
Abney, Dannett
Allin, Katherine (Deighton)
Alston, John
Asfordby, William
Ball, Elizabeth (Harleston)
Barham, Charles
Batt, Anne (Baynton)
Baynton, Anne (see Batt)
Beckwith, Marmaduke
Bernard, Richard
Bernard, William
Beville, Essex
Bolles, Joseph
Bosvile,Elizabeth (see Pelham)
Bourchier, Mary (see Whitaker)
Brent, George
Brent, Giles
Brent, Robert
Brewster, Thomas (or Sackford)
Brooke, Mary (Wolseley)
Bulkeley, Grace (Chetwode)
Bull, Stephen
Burrough, Nathaniel
Calvert, Charles
Carleton, Edward
Carter, Sarah (Ludlow)
Chetwode, Grace (see Bulkeley)
Clarke, Jeremy
Claypoole, James
Clopton, William
Codd, St. Leger
Cooke, Elizabeth (Haynes)
Coytemore, Elizabeth (see Tyng)
Crowne, Agnes (Mackworth)
Culpeper, Katherine (Saint Leger)
Dade, Francis
Dale, Diana (Skipwith)
Davie, Humphrey
Deighton, Frances (see Williams)
Deighton, Jane (see Lugg)
Deighton, Jane (see Negus)
Deighton, Katherine (see Hackburne, Dudley, Allin)
Digges, Edward
Dudley, Katherine (Deighton)
Dudley, Thomas
Eddowes, Ralph
Eddowes, Sarah (Kenrick)
Ellis, Rowland
Farrar, William
Farwell, Olive (Welby)
Fenwick, John
Fisher, John
Fleete, Henry
Foliot, Edward
Gerard, Thomas
Gill, Mary (Mainwaring)
Gorsuch, Anne (Lovelace)
Gurdon, Muriel (see Salstonstall)
Gye, Mary (see Maverick)
Hackburne, Katherine (Deighton)
Harleston, Elizabeth (see Ball)
Harleston, John
Haviland, Jane (see Torrey)
Haynes, Elizabeth (Cooke)
Horsmanden, Warham
Humphrey, Anne (see Palmes)
Hutchinson, Anne (Marbury)
Jennings, Edmund
Kemp, Edmund
Kemp, Matthew
Kemp, Richard
Kenrick, Sarah (see Eddowes)
Launce, Mary (see Sherman)
Lewis, Elizabeth (see Marshall)
Ligon, Thomas
Littleton, Nathaniel
Lloyd, Thomas
Lovelace, Anne (see Gorsuch)
Ludlow, Gabriel
Ludlow, Roger
Ludlow, Sarah (see Carter)
Lugg, Jane (Deighton)
Lunsford, Thomas
Mackworth, Agnes (see Crowne)
Mainwaring, Mary (see Gill)
Manwaring, Oliver
Marbury, Anne (see Hutchinson)
Marbury, Catherine (see Scott)
Marshall, Elizabeth (see Lewis)
Mauleverer, Anne (See Abbott)
Maveriick, Mary (Gye)
Negus, Jane (Deighton)
Nelson, John
Nelson, Margaret (see Teackle)
Nelson, Philip
Nelson, Thomas
Owen, Joshua
Oxenbridge, John
Palgrave, Richard
Palmes, Anne (Humphrey)
Pelham, Elizabeth (Bosvile)
Pelham, Herbert
Peyton, Robert
Pynchon, Amy (Wyllys)
Randolph, Henry
Randolph, William
Reade, George
Rodney, William
Saint Leger, Katherine
Saltonstall, Muriel (Gurdon)
Saltonstall, Richard
Savage, Anthony
Scott, Catherine (Marbury)
Sherman, Mary (Launce)
Skipper, William
Skipwith, Diana (see Dale)
Skipwith, Grey
Smith, Maria Johanna (Somerset)
Somerset, Maria Johanna
Spencer, Nicholas
Stockman, John
Teackle, Margaret (Nelson)
Throckmorton, John
Torrey, Jane (Haviland)
Tyng, Elizabeth (Coytemore)
Washington, John,
Washington, Lawrence
Washington, Richard
Welby, Olive (see Farwell)
West, John
Whitaker, Mary (Bourchier)
Williams, Frances (see Deighton)
Wingfield, Thomas
Wolseley, Mary (see Brooke)
Wyatt, Hawte
Wyllys, Amy (see Pynchon
Dr. Richard Palgrave is a direct descendant of mine. i am interested in him as an ancestor to one of the Scottish kings and Charlemagne. I think William the Conquerer fits in here as well. Would appreciate any help along these lines. Thank you, Patti Brooks
You have mixed up your terms. Ancestors come before and descendants come after
Thanks for making this clear.
Joe Garonzik
Marketing Director
Genealogical.com
I believe this work overlooked William Claiborne and his wife, Elizabeth Boteler; as well as, her two brothers, John and Thomas Boteler (Butler) and Thomas’ wife, Joan Christopher (MountStephen), who had the King James VI/I charter to colonize Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay.
I have several of these people as ancestors
On board the “Seaventure” one of the rescue ships to Jamestown, was shipwrecked on Bermuda with Stephen Hopkins and Henry Bagwell, among many others, my possible ancestor Bagwell, is always listed as Charlamagne Descendant and Ancient Planter on “Miles Files” genealogy of Delmarva peninsula.
Why is George Washington, the first President of the United States not listed as an Ancestor of the Plantagenet?
Lawrence Washington, whose name is on the list, is George Washington’s father
Dear Ellen,
I think Lawrence was George’s half-brother. Their father was Augustine Washington. Please see this bio:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Washington_(1718%E2%80%931752)
I am a person descended from multiple lines of mixed ancestry. As it happens, my matrilineal line descends from Anne of Exeter, through her only daughter Ann St. Leger, Baroness de Ros. Through this line, of course, I was able to trace my European ancestry back through Charlemagne and the Fulks. I am Primarily, interested in any woman who would have come through Virginia, possibly through Jamestown Island, who would have been indentured. I understand that(during the Medieval/Renaissance period) after a royal line is deposed, that it takes about 200 years for certain of the family to fall into poverty, especially females. My ancestress would have married before the Miscegenation laws went into effect. Her baby with her African husband, lover or heaven forbid, rapist was enslaved. The Virginia law at that time, was that the child’s freedom or enslavement was determined by the race of the mother. If she were raped or left alone(the father would have become a slave)after 1620; alone to care for a baby of apparent racial admixture, she might have abandoned her little girl; out of survival instinct and self-preservation. I keep getting notice for relatively distant Caucasian(3rd-5th) cousins in Europe and the Mid-West, mainly. Thankfully, I was able to trace several of my African ancestors back at least to great-great grandparents. Due to racial/family mixture they were generally house servants and were listed in slave records by name. Some even had a birth certificate. I really want to know who she was. I love her, because she is mine. I have great empathy for her , as she was no doubt frightened and rejected much of the time. She probably ran for dear life away from Virginia, her disenfranchised lover/husband and her baby. If there was a rape, then he no doubt would have been hung…? Any information that an informed person of good will can offer will be greatly appreciated. In advance, I say, “God bless you.”
Dear Ms. Wesley,
Thanks very much for your comment and question. In order to narrow down the matter, can you provide us with any surnames that your ancestor might have had?
Joe Garonzik
Marketing Director
I’m sorry that I haven’t responded to your kind welcome, til now. I frankly have been working on multiple ancestry lines. I know that according to DNA results and my research, I descend from multiple Plantagenet lines. John of Gaunt and His wife Katherine Swynford is one. The other is through his brother Edmund. Anne St. Leger is the closest Matrilineal line relative that I know of for certain, that there are three other lines of descent, which need confirmation. I have run DNA tests on MyHeritage , 23&Me and i have one pending on Ancestry.com. I am using these as multiple citations. One ancestry that I am working is through John Henry Hankins(1804-1870), the former owner of Bacon’s Castle, in Surry Virginia. He had a child with his body slave, my Great-great-grandmother, Nancy Drew. His name was Solomon M. Travis, Sr. with no formal education. Private lessons in Reading, Math and English, done as a regular form(with his half-siblings)of play left him able to get a good job, after Emancipation. Collis Potter Huntington gave Solomon the first job, before anyone else, with the Newport News Shipyard, as its first employee, keeping record of tools. John Henry Hankins, it seems descended from John Lackland. The Ancestry.com result will hopefully connect me with some relatives who can inform me of missed details. It appears that I descend through the line of Richard Thomas Hankins and Marilyn Mary Jane Ewing. Who knows? I’m just trying to pull all of the ends of the sheet together that make a 100% me. the final ancestor that I can trace on that line(?) is William Hankins, Sr. William Hankins, Sr. married Katherine Wilsheere in St. Mary’s, Rotherhithe, Southwark, Surrey, England. It is here that the trail appears to grow cold. I hope that the DNA clarifies things. Time and blood, will out.
Lenora, what an amazing family .
You should be proud.
We are cousins from way back.
Joan
How sweet of you to reach out. God bless you. Do you know where we connect? Do you also descend from Anne of Exeter and of York? Which DNA ancestry did you test on? I have to say that there are thousands of DNA relatives, in my heart I love them all. The dilemma is that I can’t separate them into categories that explain through whom and how we are related. in the future, databases that tell or explain all of that will be helpful. AI might be able to help in the long-term. Do you have any family recipes to share, Lol? Folk stories? it appears that I have quite a few relatives in the Midwest are you one? Do you hail from Virginia? Are you a York or Lancaster descendant, or like me both? Those trees didn’t fork a whole lot, :). I guess it was because of fewer numbers of marriageable peers. Maybe we can talk on the phone(if you would feel safe doing that) if we have more to discuss. For now, though, this is very nice. My best to you and yours.
In my Direct Ancestor Lines, I am a Descendant of William, Duke of Normandy, aka William the Conqueror, my 23ed G Grandfather, down thru my 14th Great Grandfather, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. His Daughter Joan married Ralph DeNeville. They are my 13th Great Grandparents… Eleanor Neville married Thomas Stanley, they are my 11th Great Grandparents, and their Descendant Elezabeth Beddy Stanley, married John Rochelle Horton, they are my 2nd Great Grandparents. And my Grandparents are David Pierce Horton, and Mary Ann Warren-Horton… It is easy enough now-a-days with not only all the available Records, but with Ancestry DNA, and DNA Connected Cousins to Share Info with.
William the Conqueror is my 25th great grandfather on wikitree and I am great granddaughter of (so far) 6 magna carta surety barons, many kings,included ‘bad’King John, many ancient kings and Queens whose names I cannot even pronounce. One was a warrior queen whose land was conquered by Rome. They stripped her naked and lashed her severely. When she recovered she put on her army and went after them. She was killed in battle, but not before having children or I would not have her lineage. ..Descendant of Robert the Bruce as is my brother-in-law Gary Bruce. I am searching for my Gateway Ancestors tonight. Might rest in a few. Very interesting stuff. Queen Elizabeth II died today and she is my 14th cousin through Mary (Harley)Throckmorton 13th greatgrandmother of myself and the Queen. Genealogy is exciting and satisfies my love of history which I have a BS degree in from 1970. Also have at least 15 RWS who fought as Patriots and my great grand brought his congregation to South Carolina and established the 1st Baptist church in the South. Rev Screvins, his name. My LongIsland,NY,French Huegenot great grand came to Alabama as first white trader with Creek Indians married my Creek grandmother and they established the town of Tallassee,Alabama. They were Barent and Millie (Reed)DuBois. The DuBois were french nobility at one point, but you know all but about 10% were killed by roman catholics in France many many years prior to Barent moving to Alabama in early 1800’s. The land of course belonged to her nation the Muscogvee at the time and she was princess, daughter of chief. So many great ancestors is so exciting.
Hello cousin I too am William the conquerer descendant then king Henry the 1st Geoffrey anjou henry the 2nd and king John Lackland to his son Robert down the line to me, I am also descendant of the warrior princess you mentioned above, her name was gwenllian daughter of gruffudd prince of Wales, I am connected to most ancient kings Charlemagne Alfred the great , clovis kings of picts kings of Ireland isle of write etc. Seems we are kin nice to meet you cousin 💙
Shannon- we are cousins.
It is just such an amazing and humbling
history we share. So few would understand.
Thanks for sharing.
Joan
Shannon, it seems we are cousins as well! My 30th great grandfather was William the Conqueror and Geoffrey, Henry II, John Lackland, and Henry III were my ancestors. I’m particularly interested in Eleanor of Aquataine and Eleanor of Provence. Very interesting history!
I have bought every book I can find .. of our ancestry that I share with you we need an entire room of books I have found some amazing ones .. some day I can try to read them
The Autosomal DNA tests that Ancestry offers cannot be trusted beyond sixth great-grandparents. The nobles of whom you wrote are twice as far and more as genetic testing can reach. In fact, Autosomal testing can’t even reach the generation of “gateway ancestors” in the early colonies.
We can trace ancestors accurately through baptism records as well as our grandfather William the conquerer doomsday records he created, these lines are pretty accurate assuming one can find their lines of family that connect to these historical ancestors, my 8th great grandmother fortune Gilliam mclemore, her great grandmother’s 3rd great grandfather John st.john was knight of bletsoe also he was the red queen Margaret Beauforts half brother King Henry the 8th s great grandfather. These lines are accurately researched and absolutely provable.
Hello wonderful seeing your post, we are related through William the conquerer as well as John of grunts descendants, my grand mother was lady wells beauchamp wife of Oliver st john knight of bletsoe and mother of The red queen Margaret Beaufort her son john st john was my connection to her the mother of king henry the 7th. Hello from beautiful Alaska cousin.
True. I hope that those of us that connect in this way can become a social panacea for the troubled times that we live in. Prayer changes things. I see that you also descend from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. It is so sad that His Savoy Palace was burned down, it must have been impressive. Be well and God bless you, cousin from the long ago past. I see from my readings that many of the old graves were desecrated during the French Revolution, by grave robbers and the like. I would love to go quietly pay my respects, at least by where they once were laid to rest.
We have traced my great grandfather, William Austin Beene, back to Sir Anthony Cooke, who tutored Henry the 8th’s son in Greek and Latin.
Ruggles (de Ruglé)
Fascinating history of my lineage. I have known l was a descendant of Thomas Wingfield for some time,who was on your list.l did not see his uncle Edward Maria Wingfield who preceded Thomas.
John Fisher is listed. I am Howard Fisher am I another related Fisher? mail@howardfisher.com
The trick, Howard, is to trace your line back so it connects to one of the lines in Mr. Faris’ book. Do your ancestors link to John Fisher?
Joe Garonzik
Genealogical.com