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?

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar
Are you a Bradshaw descendent? Or are there four descendants of death warrant signers on this thread?

Just seen your reply- so no!

I'm descended from the Earl of Uxbridge, who lost his leg at Waterloo and pointed this out to Wellington mid battle. Wellington said 'my God, so you have!'. I share this ancestor with Churchill and Princess Diana.

@StartupRepair ooh nice. I love that story about him and did you know you can visit his prosthetic leg? www.countrylife.co.uk/luxury/art-and-antiques/marquess-angleseys-revolutionary-wooden-leg-one-national-trusts-finest-treasures-210264

There were a lot of death warrant signers and I think they were all older so most likely already had children and grandchildren before the whole retribution thing kicked off, which means that there are a LOT of potential descendants out there.

Not massively famous, but my great great uncle discovered the bridge this national park grew around azstateparks.com/tonto/

I'm related to Sir Isaac Newton. He's something like my great uncle x 8.

Surely the Reagan years?
Famous for saying, "Most people don't give a rat's patootie" about the Iran-Contra scandal.

I have an ancestor who was partially responsible for the terrible catastrophe that was Gallipoli in WW1. What an idiot.

@theluckiest is that Ian Hamilton?

@theluckiest ignore that!

Apparently descended from Sir Thomas More

I too have an ancestor who signed Charles I’s death warrant. 🙈

I'm very distantly related to one of the Cambridge spies - he was involved in the work at Bletchley Park and MI6 and passed info to the Russian government as a KGB spy.

A great-great-grandmother was related to the man who founded Ontario.

Distantly related to Robert Falcon Scott, AKA Scott of the Antarctic.

Am ancestor on my fathers side was the Sheriff of York during King Henry VIII progress to York in September 1541.

Not sure if it counts, but having grown up very poor in slum conditions, thinking parents step family well off, but putting on airs and graces, it's come as a bit of a shock to discover they go straight to Burke's peerage and the airs and graces were genuinely inherited!
It's actually made sense of quite a lot.

We have a great great great (etc) uncle who emigrated to the USA back in the day.
He was so excited that when nearing the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island he fell overboard and drowned

@MumofSpud how sad.

I have an uncle who in the 19th century made a fortune importing opium to the UK. He has a street named after him in Hong Kong. Whilst living there he arranged for one of his nieces to be brought from England to run his house for him. She ended up having a couple of children with him. This meant she struggled to run the house efficiently so another niece was brought over from England. I think you can guess the rest.

I have a several greats Aunt who was French! 😂
For context until my generation all family members, both sides, have lived within a ten mile radius of where I live except for this one exotic relative.

My ancestors went over on The Mayflower, something which I often feel I should apologise for….

Somewhere back in my family tree on my mother's side - according to legend my granny - we have a mutineer from The Bounty and one of the rebels from the Easter Rising from the post office, plus we are also somehow related to Jim Corbett of tiger reserve fame and, highly unlikely because I think Granny was a bit of a fantasist, the Romanovs.

My cousins husband was the first person in this country that the police used a taser on. Fnar fnar.