Do you have any famous or we'll known Ancestors or members of your family?

[Buttybach]

I am a massive geek when it comes to family history. Who do you think you are is legit my favourite TV show!

I have a few cool branches of my family tree.

Dylan Thomas is my 3rd Cousin x2
I am a huge admirer of his work so this was a pretty amazing discovery.

I am also distantly related to Jemima Nicholas who was the lady from Haverfordwest who stopped the last British Invasion with a pitchfork and bit of feistyness.

On my paternal side my 26th x great grandfather was Sir Alexander Stewart the 4th High Steward of Scotland. 3 generations later the Stewards became the Stewart royal family!

Also later on down the tree Lord Darnley who was married to Mary queen of Scots is one of my many time grandmothers brother.

My 22x Great Grandfather is King Edward the 3rd
And my 23rd x Great Grandmother is Isabella the she wolf of France (which is pretty epic)

You may have seen the Danny Dyer family tree programme.... we both share the same ancestry in Phillipa Plantagenet.
Probably along with a couple of thousand other people. But it's still epic.

Who have you guys discovered that make up your DNA?

I am directly descended from the man who invented the torpedo. And through him related to the Von Traps. I had been telling DH this for years but he didn’t believe me. Then a few years ago Paul Sinna did a BBC radio 4 show all about famous people you have never heard of and featured my great great grandfather. DH has to eat his hat .

@TeacupDrama I work in Lovat Lane in London which was named after him, I’m a nosey bugger so researched the name and read about him. He was beheaded at the Tower of London wasn’t he?

I’m related to a murdered gangster via my bigamist grandfather, who I’ve never met, someone who went down on HMS Hood and there is a family rumour of being related to the Kennedys, no one knows where this came from but some of my ancestors did emigrate so it’s possible as I haven’t researched them all fully (catholic family so rather large!)

DW's 5 x gt grandfather was Oliver Cromwell's chaplain. Most my lot achieved was being village blacksmith in Godstone

@peterthepainter - my great grandfather was the master baker in Godstone!!

As far as I know we’ve no particularly famous ancestors but we’ve not delved deeply enough!

That's fun to read!!
But for those who do DNA tests - these tests do NOT give you countries of origin, this is a dangerous misconception.
National states are a fairly new invention - there is no " x-nationality DNA".

The Ancestry DNA kit gives you an autosomal DNA test. It goes back 6 generations. I understand that’s as far as possible. It’s very interesting and in my opinion extremely worthwhile. It gives you (likely) areas your ancestors came from but also shows you people you share your DNA with- if they have signed up to be on the database. I know some people have found that their parent is not who they had thought they were so you need to be prepared. I have found a cousin in this way. Fortunately she is able to deal with the realisation that she has not been told the truth about her parentage.

Mark Wrights recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are was the best Ive seen. Absolutely fascinating.

I have found a cousin in this way.

I got a (half) sister.

Im happy.

Our family are related to Anne Boleyn which when I was a child thought was very very impressive and important

Not much, but I do have Sir Stamford Raffles who founded both Singapore and London Zoo - my greatX6 uncle!

I'm on a winner here. A gx3 aunt was the Singing Miller of Northleach and a random G uncle a renowned(!) Morris Dancer. We knew how to live back then.

DW's 5 x gt grandfather was Oliver Cromwell's chaplain. Most my lot achieved was being village blacksmith in Godstone

My godmother was a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell.

But more importantly, I used to get my lunch from The Forge in Godstone. Top jacket potatoes.

We have two very famous names in our family but we don't actually know if we're related. Who Do You Think You Are should do normal folk - if only to confirm or debunk family myths!

@cheesenpickles my grandad Bill (son of my g grandad Bill the bare knuckle boxer) was homeless at age 18 in 1932 so he joined the Communist Party in Manchester who paid him in cash & free meals to break up meetings of Moseley's Fascists.

My grandad enjoyed a fight & hated Fascists so it was an ideal role for him.

(Then in 1933 he joined the Army as they offered a roof over his head, 3 square meals a day which he'd never had & a regular wage which meant he could go drinking & er, fighting down the Mess.)

@tierraJ that sounds so similar to my great uncle. Apparently there was a ruck in a pub (he'd been a bare knuckle boxer) and won, he was asked if he was a member as he was wearing a black shirt and he said "nah. Just doesn't show the blood". There was some talk of Brighton racecourse murders and all sorts of things but my grandad basically told my dad to steer well clear of him. I personally always liked him but that's mainly because i was only really young. At age 3 he'd pick me up from nursery on occasion in a Daimler or Rolls, always had humbugs and called me "worr Jimmy" didn't find out till I was older he was a rather dodgy character.

Alice Molland the last woman to be executed for witchcraft in England.

So far with 2500 names added to my tree, no one at all famous. Even worse nothing outside of the United kingdom. So boring!!

According to my Grandad, Sir christopher Wren (Sometimes when drunk I have pointed at St Paul's Cathedral and said "That's one of mine", but generally I take the claim with a pinch of salt) .

Longwayoff who was the renowned Morris dancer? My parents were very keen folk dancers.
Two of my father's uncles were politicians. One had a block of flats named after him. The other had a block of flats, a cul de sac and a room in a hall in London named after him.

Yes, Anne Askew. The last woman to be burned in England I believe.

Also John Clare who was a moderately well known poet. He has a museum which I keep meaning to visit.

Yes, Anne Askew. The last woman to be burned in England I believe

One of my relatives was the last witch to be hung on Pendle hill.

I did think that was quite cool - but then I realised how many people are probably related to her.

My grandma did our family tree. But she only went up one route. She did get back quite far. If she'd have gone along all the branches where the DNA (both nuclear and mitochondrial), who knows how many people she'd have to research.

@chomalumgma as a child I’d always been told my ancestor was burned for being a witch.

But turns out she was a Protestant heretic who refuse to give up one of Henry vIii’s wives as a Protestant. Think she was tortured on a rack at the Tower of London before being burned.

Someone told me once if she’d dropped whichever wife it was in it then English history could have been quite different.....I assume the .queen would also have been executed.

My Mum's line can be traced in several ways back to William the Conqueror. On this line more recently are people who died in the workhouse. In the 1300s an ancestor was the King's lawyer. Another ancestor made high quality clocks and pocket watches in the late 1600s. It's fascinating.

My Dad traced his mother's line, and went back to William the Conqueror. Apparently quite easy if you can trace back to a well known and traced family - in our case, the Kendal Family.

I love the fact that I can see the direct link to relatives who fought at Bosworth Field etc.