A big hello to the Canadian Fitz-Henrys!

It shows that sometimes it pays to go back over all those old posts from places like Genforum and Rootsweb from the days when the web was new and shiny and all text was in the hideous Courier font.

Back in September 2000, Garry Fitz-Henry of Ontario left a message asking if anyone knew about the provenance of the names "Woodfield" and "Eagles" in his family.

Two weeks ago I came across that email again, and now have four contacts from the family of William Fitz-Henry and Martha Eagles (see this post for more about William and Martha). Brilliant!

So a big hello from the nerdy world of the "Fitz-Henry Family History" blog to Garry and his wife Laurie, Brian Dulcombe Fitz-Henry and Annabella Fitz-Henry. If there are any other descendants of William and Martha lurking out there, come and join the group hug!

Hands up and mouths open wide for the great Fitz(-)Henry DNA study!

A lot of things have occurred since I last posted. Apart from a trip to Winchester and Ashtead to follow up on the leads about William, Barbara and Martha Fitz-Henry, the worldwide Fitz-Henry / Fitzhenry DNA study is now up and running.
Or rather taking a leisurely stroll, as so far there's only one participant (my Dad).

So what's the DNA study all about?

If you're male, the thing that makes you male is a Y chromosome. You inherit it from your father. If you're female, you get an X chromosome from your dad along with the X chromosome that you get from your Mum. In the patronymic manner of name giving, the surname goes from father to son along with the Y chromosome. It doesn't mutate very often so the same genetic fingerprint is passed on over many generations.

How does this help in creating an extended family tree and finding out whether different branches are linked?
If you're a Fitz(-)henry in the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland or where-ever, then you may have a common Fitz(-)henry ancestor with me in England. If you have are male, then you can take a DNA test to compare your Fitz(-)henry DNA to the DNA from my tree. If they are a close match, it is very likely that we have a male ancestor in common.

If you are interested in taking part, please take a look at the DNA project page at:
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Fitz-Henry

.. and if you want to discuss anything, there is a direct contact email address for me on there. There's no results on there at present as my dad's test is still being processed.

The study is being conducted through FamilyTreeDNA , a well respected genetics firm based in Texas which is hosting most of the DNA studies from Guild of One Name Studies. Unfortunately if you're a woman, you don't have the required Y chromosome (hence I had to test my dad), but you can badger one of your male Fitz(-)henry relatives to take part. If you have been considering getting tested but the price has put you off, there is a discount if you get tested through a One-Name Study.

Cricketing FitzHenrys

I'm studying for the GL6 cricket umpiring exam and looked on the cricinfo.com archive for other cricketing Fitz-Henrys or Fitzhenrys.
I found Russel Charles Fitzhenry, who played one first class cricket match for Eastern Province, South Africa in the 1991-2 season.
I knew there was a Fitzhenry branch in South Africa, but how did they get there and where did they originally come from?
If you are a Fitzhenry or Fitz-Henry from South Africa (or even Russel Fitzhenry himself!) then please get in touch through this blog, and I'd be very pleased to put your family history here if you want to share it.

Article about Nesta of Pembroke in the Guardian 21.12.07

The link below gets you to an article published in the Guardian newspaper yesterday. Simon Jenkins argues that the Welsh princess Nest (or Nesta) of Pembroke has been sadly overlooked in the history of the British Isles. She has been described as the British Helen of Troy and had liasons with at least four different members of the conquering Norman nobility including Henry the First.
How is this relevant to this blog?
Nest is commonly recognised to be the mother of all Fitz-Henrys/Fitzhenrys because she bore the illigitimate son of Henry 1, Henry Fitzhenry. However, Henry 1 is said to have had 20 illigitimate children so maybe there were other separate starting points for other Fitzhenry lines, Fitzhenry meaning "the bastard son of Henry".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2230948,00.html

The Fitz-Henrys of Rock, Worcestershire

I've been back at the National Archives in Kew revisiting some documents that I started on a few weeks ago. The Court of Chancery was where (amongst other things) Wills were disputed. Richard Watkins was the Rector of Rock in the late 1700s and died a very wealthy man in 1805. He had 3 children. Charles his son was his legal heir but he also made provision in his Will for his two daughters Ann and Elizabeth. Ann married Andrew Fitz-Henry in 1799 and inherited her marriage settlement of three thousand pounds. Elizabeth married Thomas Bradley Paget after her father had died on 7 September 1809, 2 days after her 21st birthday when she would have expected to inherit. She didn't get her money or any part of her father's estate.
This Case went on from 1810 when it was first presented to 1835. I've got as far as the early 1820's now. It's all getting pretty fraught.
The great thing for my research is the minute detail in which the family members and their relationship to each other is described, and as the case goes on births and deaths of the interested parties are recorded. This is before the 1837 watershed for the registration of birth marriages and deaths so these documents are a godsend. The downside is the huge often filthy rolls of parchment you have to go through to get the prize - never wear light coloured clothes at the Archives!
The following is a combination of the information from the Chancery Papers and from other sources
Andrew Fitz-Henry married Elizabeth Watkins 22 July 1799
Children: Ann Elizabeth 1800, Catherine 1801, Honoria (also known as Mary)1802, Matilda 1805, Andrew Richard 1807 (died in London 1844), Maria Rosetta 1808, Charles 1810, Thomas 1811, Sarah 1812 and John 1814.
Recognise any of these? Leave me a comment!