My Family Tree

This is my family tree as far as I've been able to build it, with the considerable help of numerous others, over the last 20 or so years. It's a quite varied bag with ancestral lines that lead to Ireland, Switzerland and Germany as well as a little bit of English thrown in for good measure. According to my DNA analysis, there's a chunk of Jewish, which came as something of a surprise as the ancestors I know of were all Roman Catholics !

While I have yet to find the fabled 'Title' in the family, or any 'lost fortune', there are a few interesting people and connections. An advisor to the King of Swaziland, a once-famous actress, the founder of a well known museum and a poet laureate all make an appearance. My many cousins can be found today in both North and South America, Australia and New Zealand, various parts of Africa, throughout the British Isles and, undoubtedly, all over Europe, although these last have yet to be discovered.

This tree is based on genuine research and is not reliant on the often imaginary and spurious trees too aften found on the internet. Inevitably, there are many questions still to answer, not least of them being to do with my mother's background. Her parents left little knowledge behind and, apart from knowing that they were from Switzerland and Germany, the cupboard is almost bare. This is also where the Jewish connection comes in, the likelihood being that my grandmother's father was of that faith though his identity remains a mystery. Uncertainty also surrounds my father's ancestry, though much less so. A good part of it is from Ireland, which creates its own difficulties, but even the English bit, the Browns, won't surrender easily. The evidence strongly suggests that they originate in the Cambridgeshire village of Chippenham in the early 1700s, but proving it conclusively is another thing. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal.

I hope others may find at least some of what is here of interest or help and anyone who has any comments, additions or amendments is welcome to contact me, indeed, they are encouraged to do so.