I have a question regarding the Magna Carta.

Question

I was reading that there are no relatives for the Surety Barons. However, I seem to be related to all of them, Is that possible? And it seems I am also related to all but 2 of the Illustrious Men as well. Can I get some insight into this being true or not. Thanks in advance.

Comments

Hello cousin. We're both descended from Francis Dighton (Deighton) and with that in mind be prepared to become a WikiTree junkie and really learn history.  :-)

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Sounds great!!!

Answer 1

It is not possible to be shown as descended from more than 17 Magna Carta Sureties out of the 25, and among these 17 are two father-and-son pairs. Only these 17 had known descendants beyond the 4th generation.

For one of the Sureties, nobody knows anything about his family. Several had no known surviving children.

These families intermarried quite a lot, and people of this period can have millions of descendants alive today. If you can establish a descent from one Surety Baron, there is a high chance you are descended from some of the others.

Answer 2

There are hundreds of thousands of descendants of the barons that can be proven

Comments

on wikitree

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Magna_Carta_Project

Answer 3

There are Magna Carta barons with known modern descendants, and there are a few for whom there are no known descendants past four generations.

Before I would accept a descent I would examine the documentation for each generation in the descent.

To be a descendant of someone who lived 30 generations ago is not surprising, but to prove it is another issue. See for example the Numberphile’s video “Every Baby is a Royal Baby.”

In the 30th generation back a person has over a billion ancestors much greater than the population of Britain at that time, the population being, perhaps, in the 1-2 million range. Thus, the possibility is somewhat high.

Edit ... see https://www.magnacharta.com/bomc/magna-charta-barons/

Comments

Yes the guy with the speech impediment has made himself an "expert" in number manipulation. Not really what I was asking but I appreciate you taking the time to answer my humble question. Just out of curiosity how many are you related to?

I do appreciate the Baron link below that very interesting group.

Answer 4

The descendants of the barons intermarried a lot.

According to your tree you're a descendant of Frances Deighton.  She's a recognized gateway ancestor, with direct descents from about 14 of the barons.  Mostly by more than one route.

Answer 5

Rachael,

You asked, "Can I get some insight into this being true or not."  The answer is actually a simple one (although doing it can be very challenging).  To "prove" any lineage, whether it be from great grandpa Joe to a surety baron requires that each and every direct parent-child relationship in the line between you and your direct ancestor.  In the case where the direct ancestor may be a Magna Carta surety baron that can mean establishing (by original sources if possible) the parent-child relationship for 20 or more generations. It helps if you happen to have a known Magna Carta Gateway Ancestor in your direct line since their Magna Carta lineage has been established and documented.  Since you are possibly descended from Frances Dighton, a known MC gateway, your task would be to "prove" the direct lineage between you and her.