Do you have any notorious/famous branches in your family tree?

[VeIouria]

I'll start -

My many times great uncle on my mother's side was Robert Coates, an infamous actor who was well known for being so bad he was good. Lord Byron was a fan and wrote about him in letters to friends and he was a bit of a celeb.

Anyone interesting in your tree?

I have an ancestor who signed Charles I death warrant(!)

We have someone who was a signatory to American Independence.

One of mum's relatives was a footballer.

An indirect ancestor (as in, I am not directly descended from them, but they are in a branch if my family tree) wrote Colonel Bogey.

We have musicians, an author, actors and a highly esteemed academic. Oh, and a Law Lord!

No one famous, or important, or criminal mostly poor and unimportant back to the 17th century.
Unless you count being 'leibeigen' (in serfdom??) as special.

Bloody Bruce who hacked off the head and hands of an enemy in a Scottish battle. He was a bit bloodthirsty as far as I can tell!

Very distant ancestor signed Charles firsts death warrant!

A minor Jack the Ripper suspect

A nazi spy on my partners side , who was that good at what they did, post war was offered a job with the police!

@Clarinet1 and @tedgran - are you two related?! 🤣

This is my most impressive ancestor

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McElroy

On the other side, there are a challenging father and son; the latter accidentally shot and killed a school friend in the late 19th century and the former went to prison for 18 months in 1874 for attempting to bugger a cow.

A Protestant bishop burnt by Queen Mary. Ridiculously proud of him!

The Duke of Northumberland.

Most Kings and Queens of England inc the current one. Sadly I don’t get invited to any family events. 😆

Betsy Ross, American flag maker is a direct ancestor.

The Tangye engineering family.

OK - mine was Hardress Waller; do you want to reveal who yours was?

One of my ancestors was murdered, and the inquest made the Times. I don't think they ever found the culprit.

A distant relative who is a former politician who has actually been convicted in court. Who shall remain nameless.

This is such an interesting thread! A great uncle was a (minor) poet and playwright; and one of my grandads discovered a new type of alpine plant, that was named after him.

Bradshaw? Hello cousin!

Or @tedgran ?

Me too. My ancestor was hanged, drawn and quartered.

My ancestor was Thomas Scot, although the family name changed to Scott somewhere along the line.

Wow! There are a lot of us on MN today!

Not as far as I know!

Lt Col Oliver North, infamous during thé Nixon years. His parents were from Bradford, relates to the Lascelles family, Churchill etc.