Which colorful character are you most closely connected to?

Question

Easter eggs aren't the only thing that are colorful this week; we've got notables with all sorts of colorful names in the Connection Finder.

Here are some colorful characters to check your connection to:

• Billy Blue, Australian convict known as "The Old Commodore"
• Harald Bluetooth, king of Denmark and Norway
• John Brown, abolitionist
• Blanca de France, aristocrat
• Nigel de Grey, World Wars I and II codebreaker
• Redd Foxx, actor
• Rose Maddox, musician
• Dr. Samuel Smith Purple, physician
• Shirley Temple Black, actress and ambassador
• King Willem I Orange-van Nassau, founder of Dutch republic
• Lorne Greene, actor

Which one is most closely connected to you? If you're one of the 29 million of us who are connected to each other on our big tree, you can check with the Connection Finder.

In addition to the above and our many Featured Connections, you can check your connections to any category on WikiTree, such as Comedians and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Click the green MyConnections button in the upper right hand corner of the category page.

Let us know how you're related below. If you want to share your connection on social media with cousins and friends, click the "get shareable image" below the results, e.g. Jonathan Swift and Billy Blue. Then just upload it along with the URL of your direct connection. (Please refrain from sharing your connection on the featured profiles themselves, though. It clutters conversations on research and collaboration. Thanks!)

Help us find and improve the profiles for next week's Notable Germans feature.

Answer 1

Samuel Smith Purple, 15d

John Brown, 15th cousin 4x removed, 16d

Nigel de Grey, 18d

Shirley Temple Black, 19th cousin 2x removed, 19d

Rose Maddox, 17th cousin 2x removed, 19d

King William I Orange-van Nassau, 9th cousin 6x removed, 19d

Bianca D France 23rd Great Grandma, 25d

Harold Bluetooth, 31th great grandfather, 31d

Answer 2

I am most closely connected to John Brown at 20 degrees

Answer 3

• 25 degrees from Billy Blue
• 30 degrees from Harald Gormsen 30th great grandfather
• 13 degrees from John Brown 4th C 4xr
• 22 degrees from Blanche de Castille 22nd great grandmother
• 20 degrees from Nigel de Grey 12 C 1xr
• 26 degrees from Redd Foxx
• 17 degrees from Rose Brogdon 14th C 1xr
•  17 degrees from Samuel Purple
•  18 degrees from Shirley Temple-Black 19th C1xr
• 21 degrees from Willem I van Oranje-Nassau 14th C 4xr
•  22 degrees from Lorne Greene 

Comments

And YOU are my 25th cousin once removed!! 

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It's nice to meet you!   25th cousins 1xr!  I will have to take a look at that!

Answer 4

Nigel de Gray is a 12th cousin three times removed

William I of Orange is a 12th cousin 10 times removed

Blanche de Castille is a 28th great grandmother

John Brown - 18th cousins 7 times removed

Rose Brogdon - 22nd cousins four times removed

Shirley Temple - 22nd cousins three times removed

(Loretta Buckner - 10th cousins once removed)

Answer 5

• Billy Blue.....None
• Harald Bluetooth.....None
• John Brown....21st C 4xR
• Blanca de France...5th C 25xR
• Nigel de Grey...18th C 3xR
• Redd Foxx.....None 
• Rose Maddox.....None
• Dr. Samuel Smith Purple.....None
• Shirley Temple Black 24th C 1 R
• King Willem I Orange-van Nassau 20th C 5xR
• Lorne Greene.....None

Answer 6

As it turns out, I am most closely related to Charles Alden Black (10th cousin twice-removed) whom I had already looked up today for another reason. He may have enjoyed his genealogy as I see it's mentioned in his bio in Stanford magazine.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120204003903/http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2005/novdec/classnotes/black.html

Answer 7

24 Degrees from Billy Blue

35 Degrees from bluetooth

27 degrees from John Brown,

 10 degrees from Blanche de Castille  closest

, 28 degrees from Nigel de Grey,

 42 degrees from Redd Foxx, 

31 degrees from Rose Brogdon, 

30 degrees from Samuel Smith Purple, 

31 degrees from Shirley Temple-Black,

 23 degrees from Willem I van Oranje-Nassau,

 34 degrees from Lorne Greene

Answer 8

11 degrees from Rose Brogdon (15th cousins, 3x removed)
16 degrees from John Brown (6th cousins, 5x removed)
17 degrees from Samuel Smith Purple (7th cousins, 6x removed)
18 degrees from Willem I van Oranje-Nassau (9th cousins, 6x removed)
19 degrees from Shirley Temple-Black (10th cousins, 1x removed)
20 degrees from Nigel de Grey (11th cousins, 3x removed)
23 degrees from Lorne Greene
25 degrees from Billy Blue
25 degrees from Blanche de Castille (23rd ggm)
29 degrees from Redd Foxx
31 degrees from Harald Gormsen (31th ggf)

Answer 9

16 degrees from Rose Brogdon. 8th cousin. MRCA Elizabeth Jayne (Garnett) Charlesworth (abt 1660 - abt 1744).

17 degrees from John Brown. 13th cousin  4 times removed. MRCA Alice (Montagu) Neville (abt 1405 - bef 1462).

17 degrees from Shirley Temple-Black. 18th cousin 1 time removed. MRCA Eleanor (Mautravers) FitzAlan (abt 1345 - 1405).

19 degrees from Nigel de Grey. 12th cousin. MRCA Julian (Erisey) Arundel (1505 - 1567).

19 degrees from  Samuel Purple.

20 degrees from William I Van Orange-Nassau. 11th cousin 6 times removed. MRCA Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran (bef 1452 - abt 1488).

24 degrees from Blanche de Castille. 22nd great grandmother.

24 degrees from Lorne Greene.

26 degrees from Billy Blue.

28 degrees from Redd Fox.

31 degrees from Harold Bluetooth. 32nd great grandfather. Some uncertainty..

Answer 10

Ancestors and Cousins:

17 degrees - John Brown (15th cousins, 4x) - MRCA - John of Gaunt KG
19 degrees - Rose Maddox (8th cousins, 2x) - MRCA  - James Smallwood
19 degrees - Shirley Temple Black (10th cousins, 2x) - MRCA - Andries Arentse Bradt
19 degrees - Loretta Buckner (16th cousins) - MRCA - Countess Margaret Douglas
20 degrees - Nigel de Grey (12th cousins, 3x) - MRCA - James IV Stewart
21 degrees - King Willem I Orange-van Nassau (9th cousins, 6x) - MRCA - James IV Stewart
25 degrees - Blanche de France (23rd great grandmother) - 55 paths
31 degrees - Harold Bluetooth (31st great grandfather) - 273 paths

Connections:

19 degrees - Dr. Samuel Smith Purple
23 degrees - Lorne Greene
24 degrees - Billy Blue
30 degrees - Redd Foxx

Answer 11

My closest by degrees is Willem I van Orange-Nassau at 12 degrees (fifth cousin, seven times removed), followed by Niles de Grey at 13 degrees.

Blanca of Castille is my 21st great, grandmother.

Answer 12

Shirley Temple 8th cousin

Harald Bluetooth 32 grandad

Blanca de France 22 grandma

Rose Brogdon 9c3r

Nigel de Grey 9c4r

Zane Grey 7c6r

John Brown 6c4r

Answer 13

Colorful Names Connections

*17 degrees from John Brown, Brown-4000, 14th cousin twice removed

*18 degrees from Shirley Temple Black, Temple-886, 10th cousin three times removed

19 degrees from Dr. Samuel Smith Purple

*19 degrees from Rose Maddox, Maddox-3654, 16th cousin once removed

*20 degrees from King Willem I Orange-van Nassau, 14th cousin once removed

*20 degrees from Nigel de Grey CMG OBE, De_Grey-301, 10th cousin once removed

21 degrees from Lorne Greene

*25 degrees from Blanca de France, Castilla-110, 23rd great grandmother

27 degrees from Billy Blue

30 degrees from Redd Foxx

*31 degrees from Harald "Bluetooth" (Gormsson) Gormsen VIII, Gormsson-36, 32nd great grandfather

Answer 14

19 degrees from John Brown
20 degrees from Billy Blue
20 degrees from Nigel de Grey
22 degrees from Willem I van Orange-Nassau

Answer 15

This was a fun one, and I was surprised to learn how many colorful relations and connections I have!

11 degrees from Shirley Temple -- 4th cousin, twice removed.  I was surprised to learn we are related!  We share common ancestor Nathan Fell: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fell-1052

More relatives:

Blanca de France -- 23rd great-grandmother (uncertain)

Harald Bluetooth -- 33rd great-grandfather (uncertain)

John Brown -- 4th cousin, 6 times removed (another surprise!)

Rose Maddox -- 7th cousin, 3 times removed

Nigel de Grey -- 9th cousin, 3 times removed

King Willem I Orange-van Nassau -- 13th cousin, 6 times removed

And closest of all but not on the list, my first cousin and fellow WikiTreer, Jim Gray.

Comments

Definitely better connected than me.

I'm closest to the author Zane Grey, also not on the list.

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Another interesting colorful connection.  I am 16 degrees from Zane, and he is my 16th cousin, 5 times removed.

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Zane Grey- 7c6r that would please grandpa to no end- one of his favorites.

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What a fun find, K. Smith!

Answer 16

16 degrees from all three:  John Brown (12th cousin, 5 times removed), Rose Maddox (16th cousin, twice removed), and Shirley Temple (17th cousin, 3 times removed)

More relatives:

Blanca de France--26th great grandmother (uncertain)

Harald Bluetooth--34th great grandfather (uncertain)

Nigel de Grey--12th cousin, 5 times removed

King Willem I Orange-van Nassau--13th cousin, 7 times removed

Answer 17

John Brown is a 16th-degree connection, but also my 5th cousin 5 times removed.

I've been to Harper's Ferry National Historic Park. It's amazing to walk in the footsteps of history.

Answer 18

I am most closely connected to Shirley Temple-Black at 15 degrees of separation.

• 15 degrees from Shirley Temple-Black
• 17 degrees from Rose Brogdon
• 17 degrees from John Brown
• 17 degrees from Nigel de Grey
• 19 degrees from Samuel Smith Purple
• 22 degrees from Willem I van Oranje-Nassau
• 23 degrees from Lorne Greene
• 26 degrees from Blanche de Castille
• 28 degrees from Billy Blue
• 28 degrees from Redd Foxx
• 32 degrees from Harald Gormsen

Answer 19

Ancestors and Cousins

• 16 degrees from John Brown (15^th cousin, 1x removed) – MRCA – Thomas Holland KG
• 18 degrees from Rose Maddox (16^th cousin, 1x removed) – MRCA – Gwladus (ferch Dafydd) Herbert
• 19 degrees from Nigel de Grey (12^th cousin) – MRCA – William Duke
• 19 degrees from Shirley Temple Black (19^th cousin) – MRCA – Eleanor (Plantagenet) de Arundel
• 20 degrees from King Willem I Orange-van Nassau (11^th cousin, 3x removed) – MRCA – Mary (Stewart) Hamilton Countess of Arran
• 22 degrees from Blanca de France (22^nd great-grandmother)
• 28 degrees from Harald Bluetooth (30^th great-grandfather)

Connections

• 19 degrees from Dr. Samuel Smith Purple
• 21 degrees from Lorne Greene 
• 26 degrees from Billy Blue
• 29 degrees from Redd Foxx 

Answer 20

John Brown is 16 Degrees from Beth Schmillen

1st wife: Dianthe Brown is 17 Degrees from Beth Schmillen

2nd wife: Mary Brown is 17 Degrees from Beth Schmillen

Comments

Captain Blood is my 10th great grandfather and what a scoundrel he was!! He was born in Ireland in 1617 and died in1680. There is a novel/movies about his adventures. Lots of info on the internet for him.  

Captain Blood tried to steal the crown jewels in 1671 with no success. As he was making a run for it, he dropped the scepter and was captured. Ironically, the king pardoned him while giving him land in Ireland worth 500 pounds!  

There is a lot more to this wild story!

Liz McPherson Howard

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Are you telling me that John brown is aka Captain Blood?  so I may be descended from a scoundrel! that is good to know. thanks for brightening my day...