Geneology (was Re: Book Talk

[potioncat]

Potioncat, returning from her reading:

We've talked about genealogy a bit in the past, when we discussed the Heir of Slytherin, or the Black family tree. I was wondering if we could touch on it again. What raised the question in my mind was the book I mentioned earlier, "The Mistress of the Monarchy."  It's about John of Gaunt (son of Edward III) and Katherine Swynford.  Here's part of Carol's response to my post:

> Carol wrote earlier: 
 BTW, "several of their descendants were involved in the War[s] of the Roses" is a bit of an understatement since Richard Duke of York and all his sons, including Edward IV and Richard III, were descended from him on the Yorkist side, and Henry VI and his son Edward of Lancaster were descended from him on the Lancaster side. Even Henry Tudor, ostensibly a Lancastrian though he was only descended from Henry VI's French mother, was a Beaufort (a legitimized descendant of John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford) on his mother's side. (The Yorkists, of course, were also descended from two other sons of Edward III, Lionel Duke of Clarence and Edmund duke of York.)  


Potioncat:
The current British royal family is descended from John and Katherine. According to the book these six presidents are also descended from them: Washington, Jefferson, JQ Adams, F. Roosevelt, Bush senior and junior. I wonder if the Founding Fathers' knew of their royal connections? Weir didn't give her resources, so I Googled a bit. If you only screen for John of Gaunt you'll get more presidents and if you screen for Edward III you'll get even more. One source identifies John Adams as descending from Edward III--which makes it ironic that, he was the first US official to meet with King George after the Revolution. 

With all the battles and murders and beheadings from the War of the Roses and reign of the Tudors, I'm surprised there's anyone from those lines at all. So I'm especially surprised that so many presidents are descended from that line of royalty.  Should I be? Is the number really high---or low---or in between? It seems to make the Founding Fathers a family affair. How likely is it that two random people are related? Is it surprising that so many presidents can trace their line to royalty?  Or is it the norm? What about the rest of us?

BTW, Weir didn't mention if Marvolo Gaunt had any connections to John of Gaunt.  But the duke did wear an SS emblem on his collar, so make your own conclusions. ;-)

Potioncat, hoping there are some genealogy minded folks out there.