In my “My Campbell Line” post I mentioned about how we Americans seem to want to be related to royalty. Maybe it’s a guilty conscience over the revolution or something. I think that if I ever get the chance to meet the chief of clan Campbell, I know the proper greetings and such. But we rotten colonists don’t go for titles all that much now do we. But I would give him his due respect for being my clan chief.
 |
| Torquhil Campbell the 28th Mac Cailein Mòr, the thirty-fifth Chief of Clan Campbell, His Grace, the 13th Duke of Argyll (S), and the 6th Duke of Arygll (UK) was born Torquhil Ian Campbell on 29 May 1968. https://www.ccsna.org/chief-of-clan-campbell |
In that Campbell post I specifically mentioned that my sister
was contacted by a DNA match that had Anne Boleyn in her tree. As per my usual modus operandi when I see
royalty in a family tree I scoff and dismiss it out of hand. I’ve seen way too many trees clinging to the
barest thread to claim a famous, or even infamous, person – just for the
notoriety. I guess it comes in handy making
small talk at a cocktail party to drop a name as a (very) distant cousin. Not being one to frequent cocktail parties (and
being even worse at small talk) I can only imagine.
One of the resources I just started using is WikiTree. It’s aim is to have a one world tree. Yes, that is a vey big project. What happens is that someone will enter,
manually enter I must say, members of their family. I started with me, then entered my parents,
then their parents and so on. As you
enter a name the site automatically searches it’s database and if a similar
record is found it gives you the option to either accept or reject the match(es). It can be a great time saver, and open up new
lines to investigate. I will say that
since it’s all user entered, not all records are true. Someone can just make up a relationship with
any one else (such as Anne Boleyn) and someone else can accept that. And the trail gets muddier and muddier.
However, if one is serious and looks things over before accepting a match, the
WikiTree doesn’t get bogged down with duplicate names for the same person. I still have about 200 pages of matches for “James
Campbell” to look through. It is a
rather common name. I guess I should be
happy that it’s not “John Smith”!
So what’s this all about? WikiTree has a “Connection” feature. It scans your tree and tries to link it up
with other trees and projects that the site hosts. Since I’m new to the site I don’t know how
strong the connections can be. And it’s
not always a direct line. Meaning that
doesn’t always follow bloodlines. It can
be a marriage connection as well. Maybe someone
in your family married into a more famous family for instance. Think of it as the old “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon”
game. Such as this one below.
Recognize that fellow on the bottom line? Henry Tudor?
You will probably recognize him by his title, King Henry VIII. Yes, that Henry VIII. But unlike the tree that had his second
queen, Anne Boleyn, this line goes through his brother, "His Grace, Henry, Duke of
Richmond and Somerset”. Sheesh…
You will notice two things.
First, it is not a direct bloodline.
In the middle of the third line are two sisters, Rachel, and Elizabeth
Townsend. So, while I may be able to
claim dear old Henry (told you we ain’t all that into titles), as an extremely distant cousin, it’s by marriage not blood.
Second, this match is on my paternal grandmother’s side. She’s smack dab in the middle of the top row,
Josephine Bodle. I have several of these
types of connections and they’re all on her side. I’m sure that she has the connections simply
because I have more data on her side than my Campbell’s. Maybe one day I’ll find a connection to Roibert
a Briuis. Oh, you don’t recognize
that name either? Click here.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find a cocktail party…..
Peace,
B
No comments:
Post a Comment