1911 Census - more family tree details revealed

I've just looked at some records from the recently released UK 1911 Census (at www.1911census.co.uk)

So far I've discovered that my grandmother on my Dad's side was known as Lizzie in 1911 (when she was 6), and that my Mum's grandmother on her Mum's side was called Kate.

I tried searching for my Mum's father, to find out who his parents were - but there were about 50 results for his name and birth year, so I might need more credits...!

Who Do I Think I Am? (2)

I've been doing a bit of research into my family tree.

In my last post I described how I'd managed to trace my roots back as far as Ragnar Lodbrok Siggurdsson - semi-legendary King of Sweden from the eighth or ninth century (not to be confused with Ragnar Sigurðsson, the 21st century Icelandic footballer).

The emphasis here is 'semi-legendary' - once your family tree connects with one of those crusty old Vikings frankly you can trace it back to wherever you please. Once I got to King Ivar Vidfamne (via Ragnar's grandmother Aud) I was connected with the Skjöldungar - legendary Kings of the Danes which means, basically, that I'm directly descended from Odin, King of the Gods.

As an aside - it's worth mentioning here that I've owned a copy of Snorri Sturluson's Edda for years and years, but never bothered to read it. In it, (to quote from wikipedia) he proposes the theory that "mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults. As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others."

So, according to the Prose Edda, Odin is directly descended from Mennon (Munon) of Troy (who incidentally, was married to the daughter of King Priam of 'Trojan War' fame). Some sources give Memnon/Mennon/Munon a father named Tithonius, who apparently was the great-great-great grandson of Dardanus(King of Arcadia), who in turn was one of the many offspring of Zeus. Which still makes me directly descended from the King of the Gods, only Greek ones this time.

Unless you believe those other sources which cite Dara/Dardanus as the child of Zerah, son of Judah. Which, I have to say, is all rather convenient - because Zerah is the son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham... blah blah blah blah... all the way back to the beginning.

So, it turns out I'm a direct descendant of Adam and Eve.

But then aren't we all?

Who Do You Think You Are? Ancestry, Family Trees and my Viking roots

Who Do I Think I Am?

I've been half-heartedly tracing my family tree for a while now, and recently made a rather startling breakthrough.

The name 'AFFORD' is not really that common - in fact it seems that ALL Affords can be traced back to the same family from the small village of Oundle in Northamptonshire. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather it turns out was a chap named John Aford. Spelling wasn't so great back in those days - his son is recorded as John A'foord (b 1686), but his son and all subsequent descendants all spelt the surname as 'Afford'. But sadly that is as far as I (or anyone else) has managed to trace the name. I'm told it's probably down to the fact that records go a bit sketchy around the time of the Civil War.

But the family tree doesn't stop there.

My great-great-great-great-grandfather John Afford (1767-1854) married Mary Glitherow (1760-1842). I can trace her ancestry directly from father to father back to Roger de Montgomery (1052-1123) - Lord of Lancaster and Honour of Clitherow (hence Mary's surname). Roger's father was Roger 'The Great' de Montgomerie, First Earl of Shrewsbury - born in Normandy and by all accounts one of William the Conquerer's trusted advisors.

If we pop back four more generations we get to Roger de Monte Gomeric - born in 904 at Monte Gomeric, Normandy. Now, his father was Gomeric Yngvarsson - a proper Viking from Denmark, son of Igvar (Ingvar/Yngvar) Ragnarsson, son of Ragnar 'Lodbrok' ('Hairy Breeches') Siggurdsson.

I Googled this Ragnar fellow and he turns out to be a 'semi-legendary king of Sweden and Denmark who reigned sometime in the eighth or ninth centuries. According to the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, Ragnar belonged to the Swedish Yngling Dynasty. Both Saxo and Icelandic sources describe him as the son of Sigurd Ring, a king of Sweden who conquered Denmark, but they are divided on whether Ragnar mainly resided in Sweden or in Denmark'.

Blimey. The King of Sweden....

Anyway. That's all for now. I will reveal the rest of my research next time...