[mobertol]

Originally Posted by garinda

Down my paternal grandmother's line, even though she could be a bit snooty about her Morton Hall links, none.

Down another line, via Pendle villages, and then through someone called Marmaduke Beckwith, directly back to King John.

Sounds odd, but was just lucky, because they didn't move around much for a couple of hundred years.

Though if you bear in mind that if you go back 1,000 years we all have literally tens of thousands of great grandparents many times removed, so half the country will have a direct link to Lackland too.

Nnety percent of us all will be in some way related.

Genetic studies have shown that we all originate from seven different female lines -known as the seven sisters. Also mathematically we all have a common ancestor going back to the seventh generation. Seven is a mystical number.
My family have humble working class origins but my looks -which are unique in my family, suggest a viking influence - probably due to some pillaging etc. going back many centuries!!
My hairdresser, Andrea (a frequent visitor to Mykonos!) assured me on my last visit that i am part of a rare breed -threatened by extiction due to interbreeding of the races i.e. a real blonde. Apparently he'd read this in a trade magazine!
Just a small aside Garinda -you need to update your profile, i'd add charmer of snakes and teller of tales to your interests