Having now established the identity of my biological father beyond reasonable doubt, it was clear both to me and my sister that our mother’s small legacy was not an accident. She had kept the menu card because it was probably the only item which contained a lasting reminder of my father. Throughout her life she chose not to tell me his name. I had never questioned this decision.

In viewing the provided military records for my biological father, I noted that he was 5’ 7” with grey hair and blue eyes. I am 5’8” tall, also with early-onset grey hair and blue eyes. He was in the military for 26 years; I spent 12 years in the Royal Air Force. Coincidences?

Having established this key element in my researches, I then proceeded to build up a new family tree on my Ancestry website which now contained details of all branches, both maternal and paternal. I decided to call this the Leonard DNA Devon tree. It seemed an apt name. I kept it private, so that others could only view its details with my permission. It was not available for examination by any casual visitor. I didn’t know the circumstances of John Henry Putt’s family, so this seemed to be the best policy to adopt.

I also sent a private message to Tony Wood, outlining the details of my findings. He was most pleased that his recommendation had delivered results. Later investigations were to show that Tony and I share a 2x great-grandfather, James Putt, born 1803 in Marlborough, Devon.

I then spent time researching further down the paternal line. When looking up details of an individual, the Ancestry site will offer suggestions for matches, particularly those contained in other members’ trees. One thing was soon clear about my research work; there were apparently plenty of trees containing information pertinent to my searches. I was soon going back centuries, discovering significant names amongst my discovered ancestors, including for example the de Courtenay family, owners of Powderham Castle. I was getting most excited with these results, informing my close family of the discovered relationships. Then my analyst fundamentals kicked in: Always look for confirmatory facts.

I took time out to look closely at the information provided on other published family trees on which I had based my conclusions to date. It’s sad to say, but many researchers appear so keen to make associations – particularly where royalty is concerned – that they assign individuals who could not possibly fit into the family structures. This appeared unfortunately to be truest of trees whose authors were resident in the USA. They seem desperate to show regal forebears. I soon learned to treat any of their entries with more than a grain of scepticism. Examples encountered included daughters apparently born before their mothers; a 200 years old husband (really); a fourteenth century family reputedly born in the USA; records of women giving birth as young as 6 and as old at 70; etc. Discovered facts were adjusted to make the desired line fit. Sadly, this was true of my revealed connection with the de Courtney family. There were several reasons why this lineage, suggested by others, simply could not be correct.

Having decided not to get carried away easily, I restarted my investigations of the Putt family ancestry, this time exercising more caution. To my delight I soon found genuine lines of ancestry to nobility.  

 

The most productive line goes back from my paternal great-grandmother Grace Putt, who was born Brooking. The Brooking line can be taken directly to medieval kings such as William the Conqueror (my 26x great-grandfather) and further back to Alfred the Great (my 36x great-grandfather). English, Anglo-Saxon, French, Viking, and Scottish kings, along with Magna Carta barons, are encountered along the way. A selection of persons of historical note who are indicated as direct ancestors in the 2,800+ names now entered on the Leonard DNA Devon family tree include:

• Baldwin III King of Jerusalem
• Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor
• Sir John Cole, Knight of Agincourt
• Harold “Bluetooth” King of Norway & Denmark
• King Hugh II of France
• King Alfonso IX of Spain
• Sir Pierre de Courtenay, killed on Crusade [This de Courtney connection was found through a different lineage than the original false indication]
• Hugh de Vermandois, Leader of the 1st Crusade
• Egbert, King of Wessex
• Malcolm II McKenneth, King of Scotland
• Prince Owain Gwenwynwyn of Wales
• Plantagenet Kings: Edward I “Hammer of the Scots”; Henry I, Henry II, Henry III and John “Lackland”
• Magna Carta Barons: Sir Robert de Vere and Sir Saer de Quincy.

However, before getting too carried away with the discovered regal lineage, I should make the following comments:

If every generation had two children, who in turn had two children each, the possible number of offspring for example from the William the Conqueror level counted down to me is 2 to the power of 28 (i.e. the number of generations separating him from me). 2 to the power of 28 = 286 million.  

There are many statistical reasons why this simple arithmetic outline is inapplicable, but nevertheless it gives an indication of the huge potential numbers involved when dealing with long lines of ancestry. As a result, the majority of UK citizens could possibly claim royal heritage; the problem lies in proving this.

In the case of the lineage lines in my paternal tree, one characteristic is apparent. Going back from the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries my ancestors, whilst not nobility, were nevertheless persons of substance, probably landowners. This meant that, in all likelihood, they would be sponsors of the local church, guaranteeing that their life events – birth, baptism, marriage and funeral – were recorded in the church annuls. Poorer compatriots of the time, who could quite as easily have royal predecessors, would not have their personal events recorded for future retrieval. For this reason, there will be many persons alive today who have regal antecedents; they just cannot evidence it.  

In this manner, some genealogy researchers have stated that 50% of the population of Europe are descendants of Charlemagne. The validity of this theory cannot be verified, but it puts my position into context. Nonetheless, my first reaction when establishing my regal connections was to think “That’s one in the eye for those schoolmates who took delight in calling me a bastard. If only I could answer them now”.