William the Conquerer
I forgot whether it was my junior or sophomore year in high school, but at the end of class one day, Mrs. Wright asked me if I knew anythying about my family tree. I told her I did not, and a few days later she told me she believed I was a descendent of William the Conquerer. This was in 1988 or so. I never believed it and had always gotten a kick out of it.Â
One thing I’m learning as I explore my family tree is the English kept damn good records, and it seems they tried to impress this upon early American settlers. Maybe life was too tough then, or maybe the constant accounting of life is what they fled for a more simple life in America. The early settlers did enough record keeping to get by, but it was way more than the pioneering generations that soon followed.
Over the past couple of weeks, my family tree has sucked me into a rich family narrative woven into some of the most fascinating moments in history. My weekends have become consumed with exploring one family member or another, imagining their life’s challenges or pondering their noted failures. It’s even more profound seeing some of these ancestors with their own Wikipedia entries.
Last week an email came from Ancestry.com saying records were recently added that showed the Warren line in my family tree now going back to the First and Second Crusades. I opened up the family tree and went back in time to my 30th great grandfather Fulk the Younger, King of Jerusalem. His battles in the Crusades, his involvement with the Knights Templar, his appointment to King of Jerusalem and burial in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are documented. So is his lineage, and it was just a matter of someone entering it into Ancestry.com before the Warren line in my family tree was recognized as a match.
The Warrens who colonized early America trace their ancestors back to the son of Fulk, Geoffrey of Anjou, who is also the father of King Henry II. It was that online bio that made me do a double take. King Henry II is the great grandson of William the Conquerer. I could not believe that when I read it and went back to my family tree. Geoffrey’s wife, Matilda the Empress, is the daughter of King Henry I who did not have an heir and passed the thrown to Geoffrey and Matilda’s son. King Henry I’s father was William the Conquerer, also know as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.
Part of my family descends from there through Geoffrey’s illigitimate son named Hamelin (de Warenne) Plantagenet who begat the Warrens. The descendant Thomas Warren, who dies in Surry, Va in 1670, was the great, great, great grandfather of Catherine Proctor who married my 8th great grandfather Edward Grantham.
How could Mrs. Wright have known this 20 years ago? Even after two weeks of research, I can see how certain surnames have a known traceable history like a well worn path back in time. I assume she knew something about parts of my own family from her studies of English history and literature. Maybe certain points in my surname’s family tree take those well worn paths.
My mom’s side of the family traces roots back to a soldier in William the Conquerer’s army, so our folks once fought together :). Cool.
We’re the conquerizers. How may we conquerize you today? Thank you. Please pull to window #1.
What percentage of your genetic structure would you guess came from William the Conqueror? Since it’s about 40 generations, the answer would be one divided by two to the fortieth power, or one-billionth. Of course there are no doubt intermarriages among descendants, so the actual amount is probably higher.
I was just thinking about that last night, Rob. My guess is very very little. As you point out, each generation back exposes you to twice as many ancestors. So 30 generations back is about 1,000,000 people right there. You can see how easily lost you can get in your own family tree that deep. There is no way I could even fill all those names in even if I knew who they were.
Looking at your family tree you realize in yet another way that the smallest things you do now affect millions of people in the future. If you believe you are leaving nothing behind, think again. The future is your child, and when she’s old enough to want to learn more about you, she will.
You’re right that those of us who bear children potentially affect the genetic structure of millions. But as the generations pass, the effect becomes more and more attenuated. In not very long, it’s a microscopically small fraction. Similarly, the effect of movers and shakers is large today but, like ripples in a pond, of less and less importance as time passes.
The human dread of death is so great that people seek immortality in a variety of ways. They bear children. They try to change the world. They write books. They make movies. But the genetic contribution diminishes, the changes in the world are short-lived, the books and movies are forgotten. Death and entropy prevail.
Have a nice day.
Thanks, Debbie Downer
It’s funny you should mention this. While I was home for the Thanksgiving holidays, my grandmother told me she had found some papers concerning my grandfather’s ancestry. My grandfather’s last name was Hill and this document shows that our earliest ancestor is a man by the name of Robert Hill, born ca. 1612 and died 1687. The supposed earliest ancestor was a man named Robert de la Hill who went from Normandy, France in 1066 with William The Conqueror and defeated the British at the Battle of Hastings. This Robert De La Hill apparently was high in Wm The Conq.’s graces and positions in England.
There is conjecture on the document I have that the person who sent it believes that the Robert (1612-1687) was among the 2nd to charter the Va Colony in 1609, but the author of the document had hit a dead end.
Note: the person who sent this piece of paper didn’t have the luxury of the internet.
So, if you are rummaging around and find anything on the Hill family, let me know… you might have a missing link there. These are my people.
Noted. I’ll let you know what I find.
There is alot of info about Robert Hill on Ancestry, but the Robert Hill mentioned has slightly different birth and death dates. Here’s what it says about that person:
“Robert Hill was born 1615 in Northumberland County, England, and died 1682 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He married Mary Webb in Northumberland County, England, daughter of Steven Webb. She was born about 1621 in Kent County, England, and died after 1684 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. They emigrated to Isle of Wight from Northumberland County, England in 1642. Their transportation was paid by Francis England, who received a headright grant.”
Ancestry has lots of family trees with them in there, so I’m certain you would be able to trace your family all the way back and further into England if this is he right person.
Thanks! I passed that along to my resident family genealogy person — we’ll see what she finds out.
“Hill” is such a common name — it’s like digging in a haystack for a needle. I can only imagine what people with the surname “Smith” experience.