I presume that you have check the "Dooms Day Book" for your William The Conqueror item?
On Mar 6, 2011, at 7:10 AM, William Boswell wrote: > I agree with you about wishful thinking. I had the same thing happen to me > when an ancestor was supposed to be one of the signers of the Declaration of > Independence. It was even claimed in a few obituaries for a prominent family > member probably to boost his class status. I found out later it was just > family lore. In that same family line, there had been an ancestor who > supposedly came over on the Mayflower as was documented by an LDS member also > in his family. I haven't been able to prove that information either. > > In my direct line, I also have an ancestor who was supposedly "knighted by > William The Conqueror," but I've never been able to prove it. Since I'm > unable to trace my direct line back to Scotland, because this is a major > brick wall, I just put the information into my notes for the Boswell I'm > stuck at. All of this information is contained in a note that I found, but > it is so vague I can't do much with it. Without a name, I really have no one > to attach this information to except as I noted above. > > However, this note was somewhat helpful in matching up other relations that > turned out to be true. This small note is a quick and dirty version of > someone trying to connect the relationships for about five generations. The > information was apparently given by one family member, Emma Boswell Roberts, > whose family still has that bible. However, that family will not let me see > the bible because they claim it's too fragile. I'm wondering if this bible > even exists. They did provide me with information from it, but this knighted > stuff was not revealed in that information so I don't know where it > originated from. Probably more wishful thinking. The notes are on the back > of a utility bill with a date and address so I have a timeframe for when this > was written and who could have written it. > > I have also turned some family lore into facts when they could be verified by > newspaper articles. All other lore goes into To Do's and notes. > > I also agree with James that it shouldn't be buried only in To Do's because > it will be forgotten. My To Do's have about one hundred entries or more and > it's easy to get buried. It should be noted somewhere else too. > > Bill Boswell > > -----Original Message----- > From: Jan Roberts [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2011 8:03 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] Best way to record someone was a Knight (as in > shining armor)? > > I'd be very wary of accepting, without some corroborating proof, what amounts > to a family story unless it comes from someone actually involved. I grew up > with the 'knowledge' that my family was related to Admiral Sir William Loring > - a leading light in Australia's naval history. As I got involved in family > research I even uncovered other, distantly related, family members who 'knew' > the same thing. Then I uncovered some newspaper clippings from both > Australia and New Zealand, including my grandfather's death notice, which > claimed relationship to the Admiral. However, what I haven't uncovered is > any possible connection to this man and his well documented family. A recent > DNA study undertaken by a One-Name researcher HAS shown that there is a > family link SOMEWHERE way back in time but neither he, nor any other > researcher has been able to make that link between any known ancestors. The > original family story must have been wishful thinking based on the shared > surname. Yet it had spread far and wide within the family and was taken as > gospel. It could easily have been written in a 'book' by an earlier family > researcher, read by me and cited as gospel in my data. My point being that > the report by my deceased (and in some cases still living) ancestors > regarding our connection to the famous Admiral is far less valid as a source > than SOME books on the library shelf - provided those books have documented > their sources and those sources are also valid (i.e. a marriage register > entry rather than 'Uncle Jim told me'.) > > Cheers > Jan > > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > > To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
