​The Royal Genealogist
Royal Ancestry
I once found a GEDCOM or Family Tree that had my 6th great grandmother’s sister married to a man that was a descendant of Queen Victoria. I thought to myself how awesome it would be to be related to a King or Queen of the United Kingdom (Even, if it were through marriage) What, I could never imagine was that I could ever be directly related to Royalty. I was born in a Blue Collar town in Southern, New Jersey and I am very proud of my Blue Collar (Middle-class) American Roots. That being said as I was researching my Mayflower line when I came across an old manuscript at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Within it contained a chart that took my (Paternal) Grandmother’s side of the family straight back to a man named Ivo de Taillebois. Ive de Tallebois was the best friend and most trusted Aide-De-Camp to King William "the Conqueror." I thought to myself, how cool to have a great grandfather to not only have been the King of England’s best friend but most trusted ally. Incidentally, Ivo de Taillebois’s wife’s grandmother was none other than Lady Godiva herself. Which made her my 32nd great grandmother. I was stunned to learn that not only had I had Mayflower roots but that I also had someone else of Historic importance in my heritage. Being that History was one of my two majors in college, I could have never dreamed that this could actually be possible.
However, what I did not know was that this was only the tip of the iceberg. The contents of this Manuscript would literally change my life forever. Most people who have an account on Ancestry.com just follow the little green leaves that pop up. Never realizing that these in most instances are just hints and most of the time they are wrong the further that you go back. Once you place someone in your tree that is wrong and you build upon that all your hard work is wasted. I had come to this realization early on and I never put anyone in my family tree without sourcing the person and having at a minimum of two to three sources. The manuscript, I had found was one source and I needed to fact check it against other known sources. So began the quest to hunt down and acquire every book that I could find containing Royal Peerages and Ancestral Charts. I collected books and charts by the hundreds everything that I could find in print, I bought. If, I could not find it in print form because of the age of the book, I had it copied. Pretty soon, I had an entire library of Royal Ancestry books, charts and Peerages or Pedigrees. So many in fact that I actually had to convert two of the spare bedrooms in my home in to one giant library and office. Soon, I started to even out grow that so I started digitizing the books and backing them up on my computer.
In this hunt for documentation, I soon was able to document for a fact that Ivo de Taillebois was in fact my 30th great grandfather and that Lady Godiva was my 32nd great grandmother but there was much, much more. I discovered one line to The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, then two, then three, then there were so many that I began to lose count. As, I documented and verified every line that I had stumbled across; I soon discovered what would become my expertise Royal Ancestry.
Now, Ancestry.com states that the majority of people who can claim any Royal Ancestry almost always have to go through (Edward III) King of England’s son John of Gaunt Plantagenét the First Duke of Lancaster. This is because of how many wives and offspring he had. I would have been happy with just one direct line to a British King or Queen. That being said I have since found out that my grandmother’s direct side of the family and thus myself have no less than 100 documented direct lines to Royalty. For me this was mind-boggling to say the very least. For how does it not get passed down from generation to generation that your great grandparents were King’s & Queens. I just really could not believe that my grandmother never knew about the Mayflower let alone that she was of Royal Blood. For me what started out as a hobby had changed into something very personal. For, my ancestry and thus heritage had been lost once and I became determined never to allow it to ever happen again.
Soon fellow Genealogist started asking me for help and started referring me to their clients to help verify their own Mayflower & Royal Lines. I tried to keep up with the influx of work with also working a full-time job but soon started to have to turn clients away due to having time constraints. Then with the turning of fate the course of my life was changed forever. My law firm was moving out of the city and due to the consolidation of the firm and cut backs, I soon found myself out of a job. I thought to myself what to do? I immediately started to look for a new position in my field but due to the recession, jobs in my field were few and far between. That’s when; I was approached by my mentor, the General Historian of the New York Chapter of the Esteemed Mayflower Society to become an assistant Historian. My job would be to review and submit applications for perspective members who wish to join the Mayflower Society. However, the bulk of my work would still be freelance work with perspective members who had hit “Brick Walls” in their own quest to join Mayflower as well as other Hereditary Societies. I thought to myself what a great idea. I can help people rediscover their Heritage and Ancestry; thus the Royal Genealogist was born.
Even though, I have been very fortunate to rediscover my ancestry and Royal heritage; I am still just and will always be a proud American of unpretentious middle-class roots. I have to admit that I have been quite humbled by my findings but I am most proud and fortunate to have been born right here in the land of the free and home of the Red, White and Blue and I would not change that for anything. For that is what makes our country the best in the world is the simple right to rediscover your roots. Having been born in the United States of America is for me the most important aspect of my Ancestry. For in the end it recites the struggle by my ancestors desire for one thing; FREEDOM. Whether it be Freedom of Religion (for my Mayflower and Huguenot Ancestry) or Freedom from the Crown itself! (for my Revolutionary War Ancestry) I am honored to have the people I have in my tree whether they had been rich or poor, common or royal or did things the right way or not; they are all in some way what makes up me as an individual and I am proud of them all…..
