I recently found out that one or more of our ancestors (for Anderson descendants) are possibly descended from royalty. I did not believe it at first because I’d already seen a lot of ridiculous claims in the familysearch.org tree. But looking into it more, it does get believable. There are several books about royal ancestors of American immigrants and several of our ancestors are in those books. Today we are going to learn about Christopher Branch.
Christoper Branch has a very well documented history. Why is that? Well, Christopher Branch is our ancestor and also the third great grandfather of President Thomas Jefferson, and Presidents’ ancestries are generally well researched. We have common ancestors with other presidents too: Harry Truman, Barack Obama, Lyndon Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, and Vice President Dick Cheney. Others are claimed but good evidence is not there.
Christopher Branch was born around 1598 in London, England and married Mary Addie in 1619 in London. According to the muster (census) taken in January 1624: “Christopher Branch came in the London Marchannt, Mary, his wife in the same shipp.” Christopher and Mary Branch survived the devastating Indian Massacre of 1622. Tobacco was the big crop and Christopher was one of the viewers of tobacco in Henrico County. He was a representative for Henrico County in the house of Burgesses in 1639 and Justice of the peace in 1656. Our ancestor is his son Thomas Branch born soon after Christopher and Addie’s arrival in Virginia. Christopher Branch Jr’s daughter Mary married Thomas Jefferson, great grandfather of President Thomas Jefferson. And that’s how we got related. President Thomas Jefferson and we are all descended from Christopher Branch.
Now for the other part of the story… The one in this story is an illegitimate child. That does not mean you are not descended from royalty, just the child was was not born from the king’s lawful wife… This illegitimate child is Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester.
Christopher Branch was also the descendant of several signers of the 1215 Magna Carta, a document that established the principle that the king and his government were not above the law.
This is the line from Charlemagne to Henry I. And/or as we find in his findagrave entry via King William I, Christopher Branch, Sr.’s lineage is proven to Charlemagne through King William I (the Conqueror) and his descendants qualify for membership in the Jamestowne Society. We have a number of ancestors who would qualify us for the Jamestowne Society and I will write a blog post about them some time.
1. Henry I, King of England, d. 1135 = Matilda of Scotland
2. (illegitimate by —) Robert of Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester = Mabel FitzHamon
3. Maud of Gloucester = Ranulph dc Gernon, Earl of Chester
4. Hugh Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester = Bertrade de Montfort
5. (illegitimate by —) Amicia de Mcschines = Ralph de Mainwaring
6. Bertrade dc Mainwaring = Henry de Audley
7. Emma dc Audley = Gruffudd ap Madog, Prince of Powys Fadog
8. Margred ferch Gruffudd = Sir John Arderne
9. Agnes Ardeme = Sir John Whetenhall
10. Margaret Whetenhall = Adam Bostock
11. Adam Bostock = Janet Bradshaw
12. Sir Ralph Bostock = Isabel Lawton
13. Sir Adam Bostock = Elizabeth Venablcs
14. Nicholas Bostock = Catherine Mobberly
15. Hugh Bostock = Joan Del Heath
16. William (Richard?) Bostock = Margery Higginson
17. Elizabeth Bostock = Richard Branch
18. William Branch = Catherine Jennings
19. Lionel Branch = Valentia Sparkes
20. Christopher Branch of Va. (1602-1681) = Mary Addie
Two other ancestors that I have not researched much yet on this subject are Ralph Jopling (from King John) and Peter Ware (Ralph de Gaël, de Waer, de Ware, a Court Staller under King Edward the Confessor, and Earl of East Anglia as well as Lord Montfort under William the Conqueror). There are several other suggestions that look dubious to me.
References:
● Christopher Branch and Mary Addie
● The Royal Descent of 600 Immigrants by G. B. Roberts (2010)
● The Royal descents of 500 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States by G. B. Roberts (1943)
● The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States by G. B. Roberts
● Henry I of England (1100 to 1135)
● Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147)
● Christopher Branch (1598 – 1682) at findagrave
● Magna Carta Legacy
● Jamestowne Society
