Magna Carta ancestry for Christopher Branch?

+6 votes
1.3k views

Was Christopher Branch's grandmother a daughter of Thomas Jennings of Abingdon, Berkshire?  Thomas Jennings' will shows that Christopher's grandfather William Branch was Thomas's son-in-law, but it seems that William had two other wives.  It seems that there is no proof that Christopher Branch's grandmother was a Jennings, but it seems plausible.

For the alleged Branch/Jennings/Bostock medieval ancestry, see this forum post: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.genealogy.medieval/P7lQlupuUXI

For a discussion of the ambiguous evidence concerning which of William Branch's wives was the mother of his son Lionel (father of Christopher), see http://genforum.genealogy.com/branch/messages/2141.html

Is there sufficient evidence to keep Katherine Jennings as the mother of Lionel Branch?

WikiTree profile: Christopher Branch
in Genealogy Help by Living Schmeeckle G2G6 Pilot (103k points)

2 Answers

+2 votes
John, based on all the evidence we have seen, it appears we don't have any source connecting Lionel Branch to a daughter of Thomas Jennings. We know William married Barbara Jennings, but we do not know which one of William's wives was the mother of Lionel.

I would agree that it is plausible that she was a Jennings. I think we are one source away from proof, one way or the other.

Until we can make this connection, I do not think we can conclude that Christopher Branch was a Gateway.
by PM Eyestone G2G6 Mach 3 (36.2k points)
Thanks; I've detached Lionel's mother (currently shown as Katherine Jennings) and added an "Uncertain Mother" paragraph at the beginning of Lionel's profile.  If better evidence does show up, it will be easy to reattach the lineage.
+1 vote
I've updated the section on Lionel's mother that I think adquately establishes his descent from Thomas Jennings.  See https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Branch-51
by Kerry Larson G2G6 Pilot (232k points)
Thank you Kerry, but your work might not adequately establish the mother of Lionel.  First of all, I'd like to see a primary source for Lionel's alleged birthdate.  Second, Thomas Jennings appears to have died in 1561, and we have no way of knowing if his daughter (allegedly mentioned in his will -- where's the will?) was still alive in 1566.  Perhaps solid documentation on the birth years of Lionel and his siblings would strengthen your case.  I've marked Lionel's mother as uncertain.
Lionel was baptized on 18 Aug 1566 according to the Parish Registers of St. Helen’s as reported by Cabell.  I don't know where Thomas Jennings' will is, but there is no disagreement amongst the references that his daughter married William Branch about 1556.  The "uncertain" tag would apply to the majority of profiles of that era.  There is better evidence in this case than most that I've seen.

Edit:  See the Cabell reference, Note B, p. 91- for baptismal dates of children.
I think it's important to see primary source documentation for both the baptisms and the will of Thomas Jennings.
Brereton-43
He match's me, on a very rare line to William VI (Brereton)

I have 8 of the MCB match me Martin-32982 , and some 30 presidents!

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