My mom worked for Ed Broadbent back in the seventies and got to know him fairly well… I remember one summer we went to Ottawa on holiday and had dinner with him and his wife. This is where I discovered a) French onion soup, and b) Asterix books.
I still read Asterix books.
My great grandfather was Richard Humphrey, cricketer. The first linked page mentions that he died on the 24th of February 1906, in Westminster. Grandma said that they found him floating face-down in the Thames. He had been robbed for his pocket watch. The second linked page does not menion my grandfather among his childern–Grampa was born after the 1881 census.
Sam Bostaph was nominated for the Nobel Prize? Damn, I didn’t know that. He teaches at my alma mater, and my roommate took his Econ 1301 class. Verrrry interesting!
As for me, I am almost directly descended from the first mayor of El Paso, Ben Dowell. This turns out to have been a fantastic coincidence because our residence in that city was due entirely to my father’s being stationed at Fort Bliss, and we didn’t discover our relationship to the aforementioned mayor until after we’d been living there for some 15 years.
I’m probably also distantly related to another of El Paso’s most celebrated citizens, John Wesley Hardin (the gunfighter).
There’s a very strong suspicion in the family that we are direct (male) decendants of Willem Barentsz (Dutch Navigator for whom the Barents Sea and Region are named).
Unforetunately, the family research stops a couple of generations before it gets back to him. It’s something I would like to try to figure out once and for all. Unforetunately, I don’t speak a lick of Dutch. The research goes back 1 or 2 generations before the family came to the New World. I suspect that I will need to travel to Nijmegen to go any further. (If my schedule works out, that might take place as early as summer of '07.)
(And, yes, I find it really ironic that I am now studying oceanography…)
I’ve not been very clear on the details–still trying to do research–but apparently, on my father’s side, I’m descended from an early Governor-General of Canada and, depending on his title, might be able to affix a title to my own name.
Probably not. But it makes me a little glowy inside.
My grandparents used to live a few blocks away from Donovan Bailey…
Col. William Fairfax Gray was a land agent and was in Texas in 1835-1836. He was present at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-On-The-Brazos, where Texas declared its independance from Mexico. He kept a detailed diary of the events of the time, including the convention activites and the questioning of Travis’ servant, Joe, which provided the details of the actual fall of the Alamo.
Gray came back to Texas later and settled in Houston. He was a lawyer, and was the first clerk of the Texas Supreme Court. His son, Peter, was an influential attorney and politician in Texas as well; Gray County, Texas, is named after Peter W. Gray.
William Fairfax Gray is my great-great-grandfather.
Well, let’s see…My dad did some research on our tree about 20 years ago. He said that he ran into Lady Rebecca (A.K.A. Pocahontas) but I don’t remember how. shrug
My stepmother up until she died of lung cancer this last year had me removedly related to Cher. She’s her second cousin.
That’s it. Nobody famous knows they’re related to ME. That’s the unfortunate part.
I know this because my cousin tells me…so take it with a grain of salt…hah
I believe that someone in my family was married to a relative of the person who started the a horrible lawsuit that involved a company whose name starts with a “McD” and ends in “onalds” involving a warm, caffinated beverage.
Dave Thomas went to high school with my dad, and was best man at my parent’s wedding. I grew up calling him uncle Dave, but we’re not related, and I haven’t seen him in years.
My dad told me he thinks (but hasn’t found proof) that we’re related on his mother’s side to actor Richard Karn (of Home Improvement fame) - same last name & apparently grew up in the same area, I guess.
My late great-uncle (maternal grandmother’s brother) played in Benny Goodman’s band, so his social circle included lots of famous musicians from the big-band era. There’s also a family story I’ve never been able to confirm that he dated Tina Louise - Ginger from Gilligan’s Island. Not as impressive as if it had been Maryann, but still.
My grandfather was the mayor of his hometown in Okinawa, does that count? Also, my piano teacher (hey, I was very close to her) was a Miss Texas, I think. But a really long time ago.
I have a friend who is Henry Fonda’s niece. In high school she took a Spanish class (okay, maybe it was French, I can’t remember) where there were a bunch of statements written in Spanish to which the student was supposed to respond if they were true or false. One of them was (translated), “I am Jane Fonda’s cousin.” Since she was, she marked it as true. Of course then in order to get credit for answering the question correctly, she had to bring in documentation.
I’m a descendant of Grace O’Malley. Yeah,* another *one. We’re all over the damned place. I didn’t even know she was “famous” until recently, when our family found out. My father thinks it’s hilarious; my mother had been hoping for an archbishop.
I once asked my father if his side was descended from anyone well known in any way (the family “Caligula” joke aside), and he immediately said: “There are a lot of gumballs in my family.”
Me: “Gumballs? Did someone invent the gumball machine in our family?”
Him: “Nope. Just descended from them.”
Me: “… are we related to Tom Servo?”
Him: “Distantly.”
No. It’s astonishing. My family is living proof that the whole “six degrees of separation” theory is a crock of shit. I am related to nobody you’ve ever heard of. My ancestors first came to New France in the 1630s, and for these past 370-odd years have made it their mission to do nothing that would draw attention to themselves in any way. It’s amazing they even had the sack to come here in the first place. Not even a notorious criminal! God, what an ordinary lot.
This a stretch, but it’s all I got. My mom’s sister married a man whose brother is half of that couple with all the kids – the Yours Mine and Ours movies were based on them.
And it’s possible that my stepdad was infamous in England. When he came to the U.S., he changed all his names, first, middle and last. Perfectly ordinary names, but he changed them. I’m sure he was running from something. (No, I never liked him.)
