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Our web publishing projects continue to develop.

We would be very grateful for any ideas for projects, or offers of material for publication, for which we can offer full formatting and printing support. We can also accept material for publication on our website, and we aim for the FMG to provide a lasting and secure repository for scholarly genealogical web pages. All proposals, submissions or queries should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Subcategories

Ancestry of Charles II

from "The Ancestry of Charles II, King of England:A Medieval Heritage"
by Neil D Thompson and Charles M Hansen

King Charles II by John Michael Wright - National Portrait Gallery, London, Creative Commons licence

King Charles II by John Michael Wright
[National Portrait Gallery, London.]
Creative Commons licence.

Those with interests in medieval genealogy will be aware of the long-running series (1981-2012) by Neil Thompson and Charles Hansen entitled "A Medieval Heritage: The Ancestry of Charles II, King of England" in the American journal The Genealogist. As the authors stated in their introduction it provides a sweeping cross-section of the major royal and noble families of medieval Europe. Furthermore anyone who can establish a descent from any English or Scottish king prior to 1688 will have direct access to the best of current knowledge on their most ancient ancestors.

In 2012, on completion of the full 12 generation series, it was republished in hard back book form by the American Society of Genealogists. A copy is available in the FMG library.

By kind permission of the authors, the FMG has produced a graphical summary of this ambitious project, providing an easy visual understanding of the relationships. It is important to emphasise that these charts provide only a skeleton. It is essential to refer to the original work for a full account with comprehensive bibliographic citations. Table 1 shows generations 1-5. Tables 2-17 cover generations 5-10. Click the "Generations 9-12" tab to see the list of tables for these generations. The arrows at either side of the charts provide links to the next generations in each direction. A '+' sign on generation 12 indicates that the original work includes information about further ancestral generations.

The entries for generations 1-10 include a reference to the volume and page numbers of The Genealogist in which the original material appeared, covering vols. 2-19 of the journal. This information is not provided for recent entries in generations 11 and 12 as it is now preferable to use the book version, for which the ancestor number is sufficient reference.

If you have any comments please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Corrections to Domesday People and Domesday Descendants

The brief notes compiled here are corrections and additions to two books published by the Unit for Prosopographical Research, Linacre College, Oxford, England, by Dr Katharine Keats-Rohan: Domesday People (DP) and Domesday Descendants (DD). These are part of a series of publications from the COEL Research Project, a project which has now also produced the COEL Database ("The Prosopography of Post-Conquest England. The Continental Origins of English Landholders 1066-1166"). The full references for the two works are:

  • Keats-Rohan, K S B (1999). Domesday People. A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066-1166 I. Domesday Book. Woodbridge: Boydell
  • Keats-Rohan, K S B (2002). Domesday Descendants. A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066-1166. II. Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Woodbridge: Boydell

The majority of these corrections are compiled from discussions on the Internet newsgroup soc.genealogy.medieval, but contributions are welcome from all sources. The data is in two main lists: Domesday People and Domesday Descendants. There is also an author index, and a list of sources referenced (may be incomplete). Searches may be done via the search box at top right of the screen.

If you wish to submit details of new corrections, or notes on existing corrections, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please send your full information and details of the sources that support your comment; include your own name and email address.

Stammtafeln Westdeutscher Adels-geschlechter im Mittelalter

Pedigree tables of west German noble families in the middle ages, by Walther Möller

A Contribution Towards an Index of German Nobility

This four part work by Möller was published from 1922 onwards, and has been reprinted more recently. It provides several hundred genealogical charts for the nobility of western Germany, with accompanying descriptions (in German). The FMG has compiled an index to these families so that researchers may see whether their family of interest may be found in this important source. We can supply page copies of individual charts and accompanying text, for our members and users. Please identify the entry you require, then order through our online shop.

We would like to provide more such finding aids on our website. Suggestions or contributions welcome, contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Surtees Parishes, etc. of Co. Durham

French iconIn the London Library, Britain's oldest private subscription library, there are two volumes with the above title. They comprise a number of booklets, apparently privately printed - between 1919 and 1930 - by their author, a one-time Member of Parliament, the splendidly named Brigadier-General Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees, CB, CMG, DSO, MVO, JP, DL, FSA, etc (1858-1933). He was clearly an assiduous and accomplished scholar; as he tells us "attempting to complete Mr. Robert Surtees' History of Durham". Robert Surtees (1779–1834) had no children and his collections were dispersed after his death to pay off debts. The residue of his library was inherited by Sir Herbert, a descendant of another branch of the family. The Robert Surtees manuscripts comprise 54 volumes preserved in the library of Durham Cathedral, including his notes for the preparation of his well known "History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham" published in 4 volumes 1816-1840 by J Nicols & son (London). The "Surtees Society" was founded in Robert's honour.

The contents of Conyers Surtees booklets in the London Library are summarised below, highlighting especially those genealogical tables with at least some medieval content. (Pedigrees of families dating from 1500 or later are omitted.) The booklets also contain a wealth of architectural and topographical data.

The order of the contents in the links below follows that of the bound volumes in the London Library.

Please note the FMG does not possess copies of this work, and researchers will need to contact the London Library if they wish to view them.

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