Portrait in Westminster Abbey
Thought to be of King Edward I.
Learning about my Royal connection came about rather unexpectedly. My first genealogy related trip to the FHL at Salt Lake City was in 1999 when my husband and I went with the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) tour group. The days were filled with research and some lectures. We were given a tour of the city, which included seeing where the 2002 Olympics were going to be held, something I enjoyed visiting.
One of the highlights was my one-on-one consult with Gary Boyd Roberts, from NEHGS, whom I already knew. Armed with my family group sheets, another sheet with my "brick walls" and a four page listing of my surnames (see example below), all were prepared a good six months earlier. Gary's eyes flew down my list of surnames, and with the fastest hand I had ever seen, he quickly made notations of where I could find additional information. He rambled off all kinds of facts, and even noted that I had several Royal lines, but I wasn't too impressed, because I had decided to concentrate my research in the states, not in England. For Anne Bradstreet, he jumped up and ran over to his book, located in the nearby stacks, and opened it to show me my lineage to King Edward I. Ok, that was nice, was my attitude and still is.
It is a good 10 years since that visit, and I had completely forgotten all about Anne's ancestry, until I went through my file on her for this 3-part blog. I do remember though, that in that same one hour meeting, he told me that Princess Diana and I shared the same ancestry, and Gary then solved one of my brick walls. That wall led me to discovering I had a Mayflower ancestor, John Alden. Now, that I liked, and I will cover it at another time.
With my good fortune to meet with Gary because I was able to save probably hundreds of hours of research time. It is one of the best reasons to use a qualified genealogist if you can afford one. And a great benefit if it is included as part of a tour package. I am looking forward to using a professional at the NGS conference next year in Salt Lake City to help me solve another "Brick Wall." I hope. (Note: I went three times alone after that first trip.)
Copies of his book, which were made in Salt Lake City.
Below, the Bradstreet and Dudley names with Gary's notations. The RD pertains to his book, Royal Descents (above), and the AAP refers to his book, Ancestors of American Presidents.
