Richard III of England - I am in shock & awe about this relation! :)

Hey Kristin
It really is amazing and it all beganless than two weeks ago.
My grandmother had always told me we had a connection to the Spanish royal family but I could not find the link although I have been looking for years and I am a historian.. Then on Jan 26 I had an interesting message from a 24th cousin in Sweden and when I opened her tree there was a link to Eleanor of Castille and that has opened it all up. If you send me your email address I will send you the list that I have o famous relations and then you can check the paths to you. My email address is gilespie@iafrica.com. I live in Cape Town. Best wishes
Daphne

I let Geni do it's work and found Richard III is First cousin 17 times removed, a first cousin as royalty is a first for me. On the other hand this son of a poor dirt farmer descended from other members of the House of Plantaganet, and a direct descendant of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony. Sad part is, I did very little of the work to find that out. This computer called geni is truly a djini.

It is amazing I love it!! This is a first for me about a first cousin being royalty. Like I said I have dukes and such which I thought was grand enough but this..this is HUGE!

He's my 8th cousin 15 times removed (the last time I asked), and I take it with considerably more than a grain of salt. I've exploded several pseudo-connections to royalty so far, so I remain skeptical.

I'm rather fond of old Richard, though - always thought he got the dirty end of the stick, from Luck and Fate and the Tudor historians and of course Shakespeare.

Richard II is my 4th cousin 14 times removed. My connection is through
Edward Southworth's son Thomas Southard who came here with his mother to Plymouth. His mother was Alice Carpenter Southworth who married Governor Bradford as her second husband. It is through the Southard/Southworth line in England that I have found our connection to almost every European Royal family. At 73 years it blows my mind. Wish I had known what I know now while I was in High School as it would have given me knowledge of my family's place in History.

Let's have a family reunion! What a great tree of descendants Richard has! And with a wider lens of understanding, history can look a little brighter. Thanks Geni for making this possible. I know we're all connected, but maybe, in some way, we each 'have the blood of Kings' running through our veins, too. We just have to find it. My awestruck moment - Richard is my 16th great uncle. Deep bow to each and every one of us!

I say we "party like it's 1485!"

Umm ... Maybe not. What was in the local grog / moonshine then? :):)

The DNA discovery really is a wonderful, and cheers to the scientists, historians and ordinary folk who made it possible.

Hello cousins! This is so exciting. It shocked me to find Richard III is my 17 great uncle on my mothers side and my 1st cousin 17X removed on my fathers side. I am in favor of Plantagent family reunion. Lets ask our dear cousin HRH Elizabeth II to host.

Hi Kristin i am amazed and excited to find out that i am related to Richard the 111 of England he is my 4th cousin 16th cousin removed Judy Rice

Carrie he was 1st cousin 17X R for me too on my maternal grandfather's side...so you and I are in that close boat! :) This is great! You folks are wonderful! nice to *meet* you all:)

15th great uncle...decended from his Brother on my Dad's side.
1st cousin 16 X removed on my Mom's side.

interesting note. Carrie Todd, I am one gereration closer to Richard III on both Mom and Dad's side, but when I checked our relationship it connects us even closer...Carrie Todd is your 9th cousin twice removed. The link to my Dad is through his Paternal side, but his link to Richard is through his Maternal Grandfather. Hmmm...now I have to go check on Mom's side.

ok, Carrie, on Mom's side I get: Marie Spears (my Mother) is Carrie Todd's 8th cousin four times removed.

Judy Rice is your 16th cousin.

Danny, that is awesome you are a 1st cousin to Richard III!!

hey Beverly so am I! *( a first cousin!)

Richard III of England is your second cousin 16 times removed.
Here's my connection-
You

→

Henry Swalley
your father

→

Vesta Petrelli
his mother

→

Charles I Rogers
her father

→

Florence Palmer (Rogers)
his mother

→

Benjamin Palmer
her father

→

Daniel Palmer
his father

→

Samuel Palmer
his father

→

Mary Palmer
his mother

→

Mary Palmer
her mother

→

Deacon Gershom Palmer
her father

→

Walter Palmer
his father

→

Sir John William Palmer, Sr., Dr.
his father

→

Catherine Palmer (Stradling)
his mother

→

Sir Edward Stradling
her father

→

Thomas Stradling Esq
his father

→

Sir Henry Stradling
his father

→

Jane [Joan] Stradling
his mother

→

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
her father

→

Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland
his sister

→

Cecily Neville, Duchess of York
her daughter

→

Richard III of England

lol I'm ONLY 2nd cousin. :/

1st cousin 18 times removed. Great job!!

I just looked and he's my mothers 1st cousin 18 times removed as well. Mom and dad have lots in common.

1st Cousin 20 times removed from grandma's side

Woe
Hi to all of you Plantagenet cousins. This is awesome! Where are we going to hold the Cousin Reunion. I live in Cape Town. I am a historian and love picking up snippets... Henry I(I used to ride around the countryside with a sprig of yellow Broom Plant in his hat (planta genista in latin). Hence the name. It is a good name. Wonder if we can adopt it? Cheers for now
Daphne

Henry II got the idea from his father Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, who started it all. :-D

How he got to be king of England was, his mother Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, but her cousin Stephen usurped the throne and there was a nasty civil war that didn't come close to being settled until Henry was of age to lead armies and kick Stephen's butt. Stephen had to agree that Henry would be his heir (which happened pretty soon, as Stephen hadn't taken good care of his health and was much too fond of good food and good living).

Thanks Mave
Lets all add interesting bits that we know. Have just read a fabulous book by Helen Castor with a forward by Hilary Mantel called She Wolves. lt is well researched and tells the story of Matilda up to Margaret of Anjou and how these strong women were left to rule England.
Last year we went to France to view the site where Richard the Lionheart was fatally wounded. It was awesome. Cheers and I look forward to the next post. Daphne

great stuff here :)

Made some more connections, and things have changed:

"Richard III of England is your first cousin 17 times removed. "

Wow.

Might as well admit I like the idea, but I'm highly skeptical. The descent runs through a known highly dubious link (Frances White Wells, drat her!).

I don't have a Frances white wells running thru.mine at all....

The story behind Frances White Wells is that she was *supposedly* the daughter of Sir Richard White and Lady Catherine Weston (both of whom had royalty fairly far in their backgrounds). They were ardent, even fanatical Catholics in an increasingly Puritan England, and finally got leave/were ordered to get out of the country. Parliament issued them a pass in 1642, and they packed up and left, first for France, then on to Rome.

Frances, supposedly, had been sent to Virginia before this for "safety", where she met and married a Dr. Richard Wells and they had eleven children. Most people who have her in their lines trace their descent through her oldest daughter.

There's a catch, however: she was too old, or Lady Catherine was too young, for them to have been mother and daughter.

Stepmother and step-daughter is a distinct possibility, as Sir Richard White *had* been married before and not all the children from his first marriage have been identified. (His first wife was from a line of untitled gentry, with no known royal connections.)