Any evidence that Buxton Lawn was son of King George III of England?

Question

Family lore is that the Conerly family is descended from a son of King George III : from his first wife Hannah Lightfoot.

Anyone have any information on this?

Comments

As an Australian, I had never heard of Buxton Lawn, but just did some reading. It's an interesting story, but how do you prove it, unless you do some DNA testing? The articles I read have no mention of illegitimate children.. In fact his wife was almost constantly pregnant! The British royals weren't backward about acknowledging their illegitimate children. Throughout British history, most of them have been given titles eg The FitzRoys (descendants of Charles II) and their descendants still occupy the stately homes they were awarded. It seems strange that, if Buxton was a royal scion, that he was not acknowledged in any way. As I said, do some DNA testing and get it compared to the royal DNA. But remember: it might answer the question, but it will not entitle you to anything. There are millions of people with royal descent, and illegitimacy has traditionally barred them from inheriting the throne or receiving anything financial from the Royal Family.

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I've edited the orignal question to add the tags for euroaristo and England.  Nothing was ever done after this question appeared; renewed interest has resulted in more people becoming aware of this.  See David's response on this G2G question:  https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/954087/george-iii-mad-for-cabbage-and-bastards

Answer 1

Hi Bill,

I don't know if you have read this post by Ed Merritt but he may be worth contacting:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/lawn/messages/20.html

Kevin

Answer 2

This seems to be one of those wishful thinking theories so common in genealogy. This is the first I've heard of this one, but on Hannah Lightfoot's Wikipedia page it is described as a story that has been embellished over the years. On George III's Wikipedia page Hannah isn't even mentioned. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that George III ever married Hannah Lightfoot.

Comments

Lianne,

I really believed that this wasn't likely for many years: but there are many folks much more experienced than I: that say it's a reasonable possibility.

There have been books written on this subject, and genetic research on this subject: that tends to be censured by the English when conclusions are reached.  For example, this English newspaper article describes why I have some suspicions it could be true: http://www.essexcountystandard.co.uk/news/168278.print/

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I dunno, that article reads a lot like a conspiracy theory to me. I'm not so beholden to my queen that I'd ignore evidence to support this theory, but without any actual evidence the story doesn't hold much water.

Answer 3

Hi Everybody,

Because of the later g2g post, which is here, and the lack of sources and evidence, I have created an evidence page for Buxton Lawn with a view to disconnecting him from King George III of England.

If anybody has any concrete source or proof for a discussion that Buxton should stay connected, or if there are any objections to Buxton being disconnected from King George III, please throw your ideas into the ring, or put your hand up now.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

Thank you, David. More facts about Buxton which might perhaps go on the evidence page.

• The 1795 admission record for two of his sons, Buxton Reuben and Robert, to St Paul’s School, London can be found in The Admission Registers of St Paul’s School from 1748 to 1876, pub. George Bell and Sons, 1884, p. 211, Internet Archive. In them he is described as a baker and corn chandler of Providence Row.
• He is said in the current bio to have attended Eton but does not appear in Eton College Lists 1678-1790, published for Eton College by Spottiswoode and Co, 1907, viewable at Internet Archive
• Henry Colburn’s A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland, printed for him in 1816, has an entry describing him as a baker of Bath who had served for 20 years in the Correspondents Department of the Excise Office and in 1801 published a work on the corn trade - p. 198, Google Books

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Hi Michael,

Thank you for those sources. They're great !!

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As a member of the Conerly family whom claims descendancy from Buxton and Hannah. My 4th great grandmother was Anne Lawn born in England to Buxton Lawn and Mary Dawson her Christening being recorded Christening: 
09 AUG 1795   Saint Luke Old Street, Finsbury, London, England. Her elder brother Robert Lawn came to New Orleans, La where he changed his name to Layton. His mother and siblings followed. Roberts son's name was Buxton Lawn Layton and the name Buxton has been passed down through the family until modern times. As a matter of fact Robert's son Thomas wrote a book entitled, Buxton Lawn and Mary Dawson, List of Their Descendents and of the Members of the Families with which They are Allied and Connected.

This was not too far disconnected from memory and times to get too far fetched. A Conerly cousin wrote a book entitled A Girl from Texas which goes into detail about her grandfathers life and painful death, as well as the attempts to prove the relationship to the royal family, including the various family members who suffer from porphyria.

I originally created the profile for Buxton without adding him as a son of King George, but since then someone has added him.

Our family has never tried to make an issue of this lineage, we know it to be true and that is all that matters to us.

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Hi Michelle,

I'm sorry if I have caused you and your relatives any upset. My only goal was accuracy. I have previously had discussions with relatives from my Urquhart line regarding erroneous connections back in the 18th century and trying to correct them. This was my reason for joining WikiTree in the first place, and the goal of an accurate tree.