The Unofficial British Royal Family Pages

Sunday 20 January 2008

Tracing Kate's Family Tree

As the renewed relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton seems to be moving inexorably toward an eventual engagement and marriage, more and more attention is being paid to Ms. Middleton�s family background. Claudia Joseph�s fascinating article in the 30 December issue of The Daily Mail provided an in-depth look at the family of Kate�s mother, and particularly the stories of Carole Goldsmith Middleton�s mother and grandmother, Dorothy Harrison Goldsmith (who died in 2006) and Edith Chandler Goldsmith. The tale certainly gives a bit of a �Cinderella� aspect to Kate Middleton�s story, or perhaps Eliza Doolittle might be more apt.

According to Ms. Joseph�s research, Edith Chandler Goldsmith was forced into deep poverty in the wake of the death of her husband Stephen in 1938. The family had already suffered struggles due to the emphysema Stephen contracted while serving in World War I, but after his death the single mother with her two youngest children (Kate�s grandfather, Ronald Goldsmith being the youngest) were forced to take accommodations in a condemned flat while Edith went to work to support them in a jam factory. Great-grandmother Edith was a chain smoker, and liked her beer, but reportedly raised her children to be solid hardworking people.

When �young Ronnie� Goldsmith grew up, he met and married Dorothy Harrison, �Lady Dorothy� as she came to be called. The description offered in the article makes her sound a bit like the infamous Hyacinth Bucket (�that�s Bou-quet!�) of the popular comedy Keeping Up Appearances. The family started out sharing the humble flat of grandmother Edith, but by the time Kate�s parents were married they hired a carriage and had a catered reception in a rented manor house. Quite respectable!

According to Ms. Joseph�s article, the family roots of Kate�s father, Michael Middleton, are much more in the middle and upper classes, in contrast with his wife�s working ancestry. And as I decided to look a bit more deeply into that side I found online a very helpful genealogical compilation by William Reitweisner and Michael Wood. Offered with the caveat that it is neither exhaustive nor authoritative, their information is really quite fascinating.

Among the things I noted is that Michael Middleton�s ancestors and near relations include a variety of lawyers, mayors, businessmen, non-conforming clergy, and others of the educated and aspiring sort. His grandparents were married in the Unitarian Church, and the family line of his grandmother Olive Lupton Middleton stretches back through generations of non-conformity to some ejected Puritan clergy in the late 17^th century.

The Lupton ancestry of Kate�s great-grandmother also provides her with a claim to royal descent. Following a typically labyrinthine trail back across the centuries, Ms. Middleton�s fourteenth generation (14xg-) great-grandmother, who lived in the early 16^th century, was one Anne Gascoigne Fairfax. And Anne Gascoigne�s 5xg-grandparents were King Edward III (founder of the Order of the Garter) and his wife Philippa of Hainault. That makes Kate a 21xg-granddaughter of Edward III. Anne Gascoigne was also descended from a variety of noble families including Percy of Northumberland, Neville, Mortimer, and de Burgh� a virtual �Who�s Who� of 15^th century English notables.

In addition to this generally accepted lineage, there is another branch of the Lupton ancestry that contains some intriguing �plausible� but not �proven� ancestral ties. Kate Middleton�s 7xg-grandfather William Davenport (d. 1723) is believed by some researchers to be the son born in 1679 at Worfield in Shropshire to Henry Davenport of Hollon and his wife Elizabeth Talbot. If that identification is accurate � and perhaps eventually confirmed by some DNA sleuthing � then the Middletons are descended from some of the closest relatives of Queen Elizabeth I. Henry Davenport�s wife, Elizabeth Talbot, was the 3xg-granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, the �other� Boleyn sister whose story has gotten renewed notice of late. Mary Boleyn was Henry VIII�s mistress before her sister Anne came along, and there is some thought that her daughter Catherine Carey might in fact have been Henry VIII�s child. (See Anthony Hoskins, "Mary Boleyn's Carey children - offspring of King Henry VIII?", Genealogists' Magazine, vol. 25, no. 9 [March 1997], pp. 345-352.) Be that as it may, it is well known that Anne Boleyn�s daughter, Elizabeth I, was quite fond of her Carey cousins right up to the end of her life.

Catherine Carey, the daughter of Mary Boleyn, married Sir Francis Knollys. He was a prominent courtier in the inner circles of Elizabeth I�s government. The Knollys� granddaughter married Sherrington Talbot of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, and the Talbots were the grandparents of Henry Davenport�s wife. (Lacock Abbey, by the by, is one of the great properties of The National Trust and has been a location site for parts of several of the Harry Potter movies, including the one currently being made.) Prince William is also descended from the Boleyn-Carey-Knollys line via the Spencers, but not � so far as I know � from the Talbots of Lacock Abbey.

So what is the significance of all of this? Not all that much, really. But it is a bit of genealogical fun. It seems that every time a U.S. Presidential election rolls around someone manages to trace how the various presidential candidates, now including Barak Obama, are descended from this or that British monarch. The descendants of royalty are legion, and so it�s not at all surprising to find some distant royal connections for William�s Kate. As far as I am concerned, the far more significant (and slightly distressing) fact is that Kate is only 6.25% Scottish, via her g-g-grandfather Gavin Fullarton Robison. Otherwise she is 93.5% English, and has just a wee drop of French Huguenot blood. No Welsh or Irish blood at all, alas. But at least she went to school in Scotland, and she seems to be such a nice lassie.

Yours Aye,

- Ken Cuthbertson