NO SURPRISE TO YOU ALL I would imagine!

BIG SURPRISE TO ME!

SEE BELOW………I received this email from a long lost cousin on a SUNDAY morning.

Can I just say it made my week……maybe month…….OH, NO………….. this takes the cake…….It made MY YEAR!

My poor husband…………..now he will have to put up with MORE of ME!Can you imagine where I can go with this……………..!!

 

 

Hello, Elizabeth —

I found your blog quite by accident while I was doing genealogy research this past week.  I trust you and your entire family are doing well, and it certainly seems as if you are enjoying your visit in France.

I don’t believe I’ve ever provided you with all the information I’ve found on our family history, and must do that one day, but as long as you are overseas, I might as well give you something that I’m sure you already knew in your soul.

You are descended from royalty.  

The Greene family came to the US from England in the early 1600’s, to pursue religious freedom, but their family was well established for centuries in the south of England.  The “de Grene’s” or “de Gren’s” apparently arrived in England with William the Conquerer in the early 1000’s, and helped William become the first Norman King of England in 1066 (remember the Battle of Hastings from your early history classes?).  The confirmed research which I’ve seen actually begins the line with Sir Alexander, Baron de Greene de Boketon, who was born about 1183, which was 100+ years after the invasion, but they were knights and well established, leading scholars to believe that they were with William.  

Anyway, the Greene family remained prominent in England through the 1200’s and 1300’s, and it was their strong marriage ties that introduced the royal strain. Lucy la Zouche (born about 1279) married Sir Thomas de Greene (II), who was the Sheriff of Nottingham, and gave birth to Sir Henry de Greene, who was a Chief Justice in England.  He married Catherine de Drayton, who was born about 1324.  Catherine was a descendant of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, William the Conquerer, Henry I, Llewelyn the Great, and Lady Godiva, to name a few noteworthy individuals.  Lucy was a descendant of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, Sir William Marshall, Strongbow De Clare, and Lady Godiva.  

As you trace back their pedigree, ultimately you reach well into all the countries/territories at the time, as noble marriages were made for alliances.  Oh — and that includes a few Italian kings as well …..

And you are VERY MUCH a Greene — the height in our family comes from the Greenes — as does the entrepreneurship, humor, and high energy level.  Granny passed those genes to her sons, and you got them from your father.  Your sons certainly have the height!  Our great grandfather, Nathanael (Granny’s father), was the Secretary/Treasurer for Alaska Public Utilities in Cordova, Alaska, before he passed away in San Francisco, after visiting our fathers and grandmother during the Christmas holidays in January, 1926. 

So, relish your time on the continent, knowing you are walking where your ancestors walked and lived.

There is much more to tell, and when you come back stateside, we are long overdue to catch up with each other.



Love to you and your family.

your cousin —

Barb

 

 

What do you think about MY CREST!I think it is BEAUTIFUL………..

The deer, the leaves…….what kind of leaves are these?

The crown up top.So simple and elegant!!!

The deer are BOYS!!!!!

Well, that figures perfectly into MY LIFE.Even my animals are MALES!!

I canNOT wait to see more…………SHERIFF of NOTTINGHAM………LADY GODIVA……….ITALIAN KINGS!!!

I knew I BELONGED over THERE!

NO WONDER………………..THANK~YOU BARBARA for ALL that YOU have given ME.

MY SONS will be delighted to know their heritage.AS I AM.

XOXO