Welcome! Thank you for stopping by. My Name is Tonya Marie 
Brown my maiden name was Christensen.
 
My site is ongoing and you will see that I add new information and also correct 
existing information as I continue my research. I try to not only to include my 
family information, but also all and any that I dig up. 


(Scroll down to bottom of page to view list of Last Names in 
Alphabetical order).
 


My love for genealogy has turned into an obsession at this point. I have been working 
on my family history now for about seven years.  I think it is so important to know 
where you came from.  I have found great joy in uncovering my families past.  It took 
a lot of work and a lot of research. I hope that my daughters will pick up were I 
left off and continue to record/research our family. 

I have only entered a small portion of our family history on this web site. I still 
so much information to enter.  It is alot of work! 

My family's ancestry traces back to mainly Norway, Denmark, England, Ireland and 
Scotland. However the farther back I go in history there is also France, Spain, 
Portugal, Wales, etc.  I guess you can call me a Euro mutt.  My husband Chris his 
family traces back to Sweden, England, Ireland and Scotland. On his fathers side, he 
is part Cherokee.  

I have gathered my information from census records, also birth, baptism, marriage and 
death records.  Also, war records, wills probates, obituaries.  I have found a lot of 
information from web sites such as Family Search, which is maintained by the 
L.D.S.church, Ancestry.com as well as similar web sites and also look ups done by 
volunteers from all over the world.  These people are willing to look up any from 
land/farm records to census/church records and they will also translate any documents 
one may have written in another language.  

It has been both frustrating and wonderful uncovering my ancestry. It took me several 
years of footwork, detective work, time and money. The information I have found is in 
some ways more than I dreamed of.  At times it has been like reading a history book 
and then other times a romance novel. I pray the information I have been able to 
find will never be lost again.

So with this I will record all my research, my frustration, my sweat, my love.  

And so it begins...  



Family Surnames worth mention:

Benkestok

The research for this family history is from the book Slægten Benkestok, written 
by Wilhelmina Brandt, published in 1985. The first publication of the book was in 
1901.The translation from Norwegian to English was by Marit Blatman Falk. 


The Family Benkestok, is one of the early families of nobility in the history of 
Norway. They are one of the few noble families of Norway to survive the middle ages. 
A part of their genealogical line back to our day is only made possible through the 
records produced by women of the family. The earliest records of the family date back 
to Trond Benkestok born in about the year 1437.

During the Middle Ages, Norway was ruled by a number of small kingdoms. It was during 
this period of time, that the life of one the king's was threatened by his enemies, 
which caused him to flee for his safety. He fled into the countryside with the enemy 
in pursuit. As they drew closer and closer, he felt it would be prudent to seek 
refuge. He happened upon a farm where those living there were friendly, and offered 
to hide him from his pursuers. There are two legends telling where they hid him. One 
has it that the farmer hid the king from his pursuing enemies in a large hollow log 
(stok). The other, they hid him in a large trunk at the foot of a bed where blankets 
and bedding were stored. Which is right is of no consequence, since the life of the 
king was saved. After the rebellion was put down and under control, the King 
expressed heartfelt gratitude to the family for saving his life. For their bravery, 
loyalty, faithfulness, and fidelity, he conferred titles of nobility on them, and a 
new family name Benkestok. In addition he gave them a large island estate which they 
named Melø. It was located in Rødø Helgeland, Nordland, Norway.

During the ensuing years due to their aristocracy they became very wealthy, 
accumulating a large fortune in the service of the king. Eventually they became one 
of the wealthiest families in Norway. It was reported that the amount of money they 
possessed was so huge that they were unable to count it. It is thought that they kept 
track of it by weight rather than by count. The women and men alike had the finest 
clothing to be had, made from brocaded silks and linens. They adorned themselves with 
jewelry made from gold and silver, and the finest attainable jewels. They had the 
finest quality of everything befitting their high station in life, and lived the life 
of royalty.

Due to their titles of nobility the king had his artisans design and make a family 
coat of arms and signet-ring for them. The ring was made of gold with a large black 
agate stone in the center. The stone was engraved with the family coat of arms, and 
three initials T.B.S. The initials were taken from the name Trond Benkestok. This 
ring was used to imprint the wax which was used to seal all-important family 
documents and letters. The signet ring was passed on to the oldest son of the 
following generation.



In the year 1565, Trond the grandson of the first Trond, sponsored a very large 
wedding for his daughter Brynhilda in Bergen, Norway. All of the nobility, and 
aristocracy living in the city and surrounding area attended the wedding, which was a 
befitting honor to this noble family.

Denmark had a famous poet by the name of Holberg. He was a Baron, and a member of the 
Danish Aristocracy. His niece, with the surname of Tosterup, traveled to Nordland 
Norway where she met and married a Benkestok. The Tosterup family was very wealthy. 
They were engaged in a large jewelry and silver business, in Denmark, and Norway. 
This marriage created a new dynasty joining together two of the wealthiest families 
in Scandinavia.

The last Benkestok to live on the estate at Melø was Ermegaard. She was the daughter 
of Trond Benkestok, who died 1607, and Gjertrude Peitersdatter. She married Jon 
Gunderson from Meløen, who proceeded her in death. She died in 1695. Her son?s, Trond 
and Gundar Gunderson inherited the estate Melø.

As the family grew in size, the family fortune and the estate Melø, was divided, 
many, many times during the ensuing years. With these divisions of wealth the noble 
name Benkestok began disappearing with the passage of time until all family members 
were finally reduced to middle class citizens, farmers and fishermen. There are many 
people still living in and around Melø who remember this noble family and are 
descendants of "The Benkestok's."


Bruce

The House of Bruce originated in Normandy in the 11th century, where the family took 
its name from Bruis (present-day Brix). It was here that the earliest known member of 
the family, Adam de Brus, built a castle. His descendant, Robert de Brus, was a 
Norman knight who came to England with William the Conqueror and was granted lands in 
Yorkshire. His son, the second Robert de Brus (c.1078-1141), received from David I of 
Scotland the lordship of Annandale, in Scotland. He renounced his lordship of 
Annandale after supporting the English in the Battle of the Standard 1138, but it was 
later restored to his younger son, the 2nd Lord of Annandale.

His grandson, Robert, 4th Lord of Annandale, married in 1219 Isabella, the second 
daughter of David of Huntingdon and the great-granddaughter of David the 1st. This 
marriage provided the Bruces with an important link to the Scottish Royal House, and 
a future claim to the throne. The 5th Lord of Annandale, Robert the Bruce's 
grandfather, was named as heir-presumptive to the childless Alexander III, but never 
gained the throne as Alexander later fathered three children. Bruce's grandfather was 
also a competitor for the throne in 1292, but his claim was ignored in favour of that 
of John Balliol.


Capet

House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, (French: Les Capétiens, la Maison 
capétienne), also called The House of France (la maison de France), or simply the 
Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line 
of the Capetian dynasty - itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers 
of France, the dynasty succeeded the Carolingian dynasty. The name derives from the 
nickname of Hugh, the first Capetian King, who was known as Hugh Capet.

The direct House of Capet came to an end in 1328, when the three sons of Philip IV 
all failed to produce surviving male heirs to the French throne. With the death of 
Charles IV, the throne passed to the House of Valois, the direct descendants of 
Charles of Valois, a younger son of Philip III. It would later pass again, to the 
House of Bourbon and the House of Orléans (both descended from Louis IX), while 
always remaining in the hands of agnatic descendants of Hugh Capet.


The first Capetian King of France was Hugh Capet (c.940?996), a French nobleman from 
the Île-de-France, who, following the death of Louis V of France (c.967?987) ? the 
last Carolingian King ? secured the throne of France by election. He then proceeded 
to make it hereditary in his family, by securing the election and coronation of his 
son, Robert II (972?1031), as co-King. The throne thus passed securely to Robert on 
his father's death, who followed the same custom ? as did many of his early 
successors.

The Capetian Kings were initially weak rulers of the Kingdom ? they directly ruled 
only small holdings in the Île-de-France and the Orléanais, all of which were plagued 
with disorder; the rest of France was controlled by potentates such as the Duke of 
Normandy, the Count of Blois, the Duke of Burgundy (himself a member of the Capetian 
Dynasty after 1032) and the Duke of Aquitaine (all of whom facing to a greater or 
lesser extent the same problems of controlling their subordinates). The House of 
Capet was, however, fortunate enough to have the support of the Church, and ? with 
the exception of Philip I (1052?1108), Louis IX (1215?1270) and the shortlived John 
the Posthumous (1316) ? were able to avoid the problems of underaged Kingship.



 Dishington

The surname of DISHINGTON is that of a family prominent first in Angus and afterwards 
in the East Neuk of Fife, from the early 14th century to the 16th century. Through 
intermarriage the DISHINGTONS became connected with many prominent families. 


The first of the name recorded in Scotland appears to be Sir William de DISSINGTOUN, 
who received from Robert I, a charter of the lands of Balglassy in the thanedom of 
Abirlemenache in Angus. William de DYSSINGTOUN witnessed a donation by Henry de 
Aynestrother to the Abbey of Dryburgh, circa 1330. 


The first people in Scotland to acquire fixed surnames were the nobles and great 
landowners, who called themselves, or were called by others, after the lands they 
possessed. Surnames originating in this way are known as territorial. Formerly lords 
of baronies and regalities and farmers were inclined to magnify their importance and 
to sign letters and documents with the names of their baronies and farms instead of 
their Christian names and surnames. 


The abuse of this style of speech and writing was carried so far that an Act was 
passed in the Scots parliament in 1672 forbidding the practice and declaring that it 
was allowed only to noblemen and bishops to subscribe by their titles.
 

Later instances of the name include Sir William DYSSHYNGTON, who was a Scottish 
hostage in England in 1427, and John DYSHYNTON, a Scotsman, was granted a 
safe conduct to travel into England in 1447. A branch of the family of DISHINGTON 
settled in Orkney about the end of the 16th century, and John DISCHINGTOUN appears 
there as depute of the earl of Orkney at the Castle of Scaloway in 1602.
 

Some DISHINGTONS emigrated to Norway and appear there as DESSINGTON. In the Middle 
Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used 
to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on 
seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle 
of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of 
Western Europe.



Douglas

Clan Douglas, also referred to as the House of Douglas, is an ancient family from the 
Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence 
spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does 
not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an Armigerous clan.

The Douglases were once the most powerful family in Scotland. The chiefs held the 
titles of the Earl of Douglas, and following their forfeiture the chieftancy devolved 
upon the Earl of Angus (see also: Duke of Hamilton). The 4th Earl of Morton held the 
chieftaincy during the 16th century, the Earldom of Morton was then a subsidiary 
title of the 8th Earl of Angus after the 4th Earl's forfeiture and death in 1581.

The family's original seat was Douglas Castle in Lanarkshire, but they spread to many 
properties throughout Southern and North-Eastern Scotland. [1]




Folkunga / Bjelbo



The House of Bjelbo (Swedish: Bjälboätten), also known as the House of Folkung 
(Folkungaätten), was an Ostrogothian Swedish family that provided for several 
medieval Swedish bishops, jarls and kings.


The traditional name of this house is "House of Folkung", which is still the most 
commonly used in Swedish works of reference. This name is probably derived from the 
oldest known member of the family who is certain to have existed, i.e. Folke who 
lived about the year 1100, or their legendary forefather Folke Filbyter who lived in 
pagan times.[1] In an effort to avoid confusion with the Folkunge Party some modern 
historians have argued that "House of Bjälbo" would be a better name because Birger 
Jarl lived there and it is the family's oldest known manor. Bjälbo is located in 
Östergötland, outside of Skänninge in the present-day commune of Mjölby.[2] In any 
way the members of this dynasty never used a name to refer to themselves since family 
names were not widely adopted in Sweden until the 16th century, thus there is 
no "correct name" of the dynasty which would have precedence over the other.



Sweden history dates back to 9000 B.C. when a high concentration of petroglyphs can be
discovered in different regions of Sweden. The early Sweden had been born out of a 
display of warfare. The first king of Sweden about whom the historians have reached a 
conclusion is Olof Skötkonung who ruled over Svea and Göta Riken. The dynastic 
struggles in Sweden continued in the 12th century. The Erik and Sverker clans often 
got engaged in the struggles. During that period, a new clan came to the throne. This 
new one was the Folkunga dynasty which was formed after a third clan married into the 
Erik clan. The Folkunga dynasty brought a stability in the Sweden history of empires. 
This dynasty gradually brought together the pre-Kalmar-Union Sweden to an actual 
nation. This amalgamated state of Sweden included the modern Finland

The Folkunga family - a power behind the throne in 12th and 13th century Sweden
The Folkunga family(the name is a fifteenth-century construction)from Ostergotland 
first comes to prominence in written sources with the appearance of Birger Brosa 
as "jarl of the svear and gotar" in the late twelfth century. During the following 
seventy years six jarls, two bishops and three lawmen came from this family, until 
one of its members, Valdemar Birgersson, was elected king in 1250. This paper will 
argue that the highly regionalised nature of early medieval Sweden made the 
friendship and cooperation of other nobles with local power bases essential 
for kings to govern effectively, and examine how the members of the Folkunga family 
used this to their advantage. For the purpose of comparison reference will also be 
made to the factions of neighbouring Norway and Denmark, for which there is more 
plentiful evidence.

 In 1275 King Magnus  Ladulås adopts the coat of arms of the Folkunga dynasty, 
which incorporates the symbol of a yellow lion on a blue background. 
    
 
But the stability of the Sweden history of empires did not last long. There were 
frequent civil wars in Sweden. Finally after the Black Death, Queen Margaret I of 
Denmark took a bold decision to bring peace in the land of Sweden. She had talks with 
the Swedish nobility and with their approval forwarded to unite the Nordic countries 
in the Kalmar Union in 1397. But unfortunately, this decision could not bring peace 
in the nation. The Swedes and the Danes often led themselves into serious conflict. 

The modern Sweden history starts in the 16th century when Gustav Vasa fought to bring
independence in Sweden. This attempt ultimately led to the foundation of modern 
Sweden. The Reformation was established in Sweden followed by the break with the 
Roman Catholic Church. Sweden engaged in a war last in 1814. Since then, the Sweden 
history has not witnessed any major bloodshed.


Mamikonian
Mamikonian or Mamikoneans was a noble family which dominated Armenian politics 
between the 4th and 8th century. They ruled the Armenian regions of Taron, Sasun, 
Bagrevand and others.


The origin of the Mamikonians is shrouded in the mists of antiquity. Moses of Chorene 
in his History of Armenia (5th or 6th century) claims that three centuries earlier 
two Chinese noblemen, Mamik and Konak, rose against their half-brother, Chenbakur, 
the Emperor of Chenk, or China. They were defeated and fled to the king of Parthia 
who, braving the Emperor's demands to extradite the culprits, sent them to live in 
Armenia, where Mamik became the progenitor of the Mamikonians.

The first known Mamikonid lord, or nakhararq, about whom anything certain is known 
was a certain Vatche Mamikonian (fl. 330-339). The family reappears in chronicles in 
355, when the bulk of their lands lay in Tayk. At that point the family chief was 
Vasak Mamikonian, a commander-in-chief (sparapet) of Armenia. Later, the office of 
sparapet would become hereditary possession of the Mamikonians. Vassak Mamikonian was 
in charge of the Armenian defense against Persia but was eventually defeated through 
the treachery of Marujan Ardzruni (c. 367-368).

Following that defeat, Vasak's brother Vahan Mamikonian and multiple other feudal 
lords defected to the Persian side. The Emperor Valens, however, interfered in 
Armenian affairs and had the office of sparapet bestowed on Vasak's son Mushegh 
Mamikonian in 370. Four years later Varazdat, a new king, confirmed Musel in office. 
The latter was subsequently assassinated on behest of Sembat Saharuni who replaced 
him as sparapet of Armenia.

On this event, the family leadership passed to Mushegh's brother, Enmanuel 
Mamikonian, who had been formerly kept as a hostage in Persia. The Mamikonids at once 
broke into insurrection and routed Varazdat and Saharuni at Karin. Enmanuel, together 
with his sons Hemaiak and Artches, took the king prisoner and put him in a fortress, 
whence Varazdat escaped abroad. Zarmandukht, the widow of Varazdat's predecessor, was 
then proclaimed queen. Enmanuel came to an agreement with the powerful Sassanids, 
pledging his loyalty in recompense for their respect of the Armenian autonomy and 
laws.

Upon the queen's demise in 384, Enmanuel Mamikonian was proclaimed Regent of Armenia 
pending the minority of her son Arsaces III and had the infant king married to his 
daughter Vardandukh. It was Enmanuel's death in 385 that precipitated the country's 
conquest by the Persians in 386-387.


Another 5th-century Armenian historian, Pawstos Buzand, seconded the story. In his 
History of Armenia, he twice mentions that the Mamikonians descended from the Han 
Dynasty of China and as such were not inferior to the Arshakid rulers of Armenia. 
This genealogical legend may have been part of the Mamikonians' political agenda, as 
it served to add prestige to their name. Although it echoes the Bagratids' claim of 
Davidic descent and the Artsruni's claim of the royal Assyrian ancestry, some 
Armenian historians tended to interprete it as something more than a piece of 
genealogical mythology. A theory from the 1920s postulated that the Chenk mentioned 
in the Armenian sources were not the Chinese but probably from a different ethnic 
group from Transoxania, such as the Tocharians. Edward Gibbon in his The History of 
the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire also believed that the founder of Mamikonian 
clan was not Chinese but merely from the territory of the Chinese Empire and ascribes 
a Scythian origin to Mamgon stating that at the time the borders of the Chinese 
Empire reached as far West as Sogdiana.

Today, some historians are of the opinion that the Mamikonians were probably 
descended from chieftans of the Tzans (Chanik-in medieval Armenian, Tzannoi in 
medieval Greek). The Tzans were a tribe that once inhabited a mountainous region to 
the south of Trebizond. They postulate that the tradition of the Chinese origin arose 
out of the similarity of the name Chanik to the Armenian word for China, Chen-k.

Hamazasp Mamikonian was recorded as the family leader in 393. His wife is known to 
have been Sahakanoush, daughter of Saint Sahak the Great and descendant of the 
Arsacid kings. They had a son, Saint Vartan Mamikonian, who is revered as one of the 
greatest military and spiritual leaders of ancient Armenia.

After Vartan became Sparapet in 432, the Persians summoned him to Ctesiphon, forcing 
him to convert to Zoroastrianism. Upon his return to home in 450, Vartan repudiated 
the Persian religion and instigated a great Armenian rebellion against their 
Sassanian overlords. Although he died in the doomed Battle of Vartanantz (451), the 
continued insurrection led by Vahan Mamikonian, the son of Vartan's brother, resulted 
in the restoration of Armenian autonomy with the Nvarsak Treaty (484), thus 
guaranteeing the survival of Armenian statehood in later centuries. Saint Vartan is 
commemorated by an equestrian statue in Yerevan.

After the country's subjugation by the Persians, Mamikonians sided with the Roman 
Empire, with many family members entering Byzantine service. Not only did they rise 
to the highest offices of Constantinople, but even some of the emperors - conceivably 
Leo the Armenian and Basil I - could have been their descendants. Theodora the 
Byzantine regent and her brothers Bardas and Petronas the Patrician were also of 
Mamikonian heritage. Unsurprisingly, Mamikonians form a crucial link in the 
postulated descent of modern European nobility from antiquity.





Plantagenet

The House of Plantagenet, also called the House of Anjou, or the First Angevin 
dynasty, was originally a noble family from France, which ruled the county of Anjou.

They later came to rule the Duchy of Normandy (1144/1204 and 1415?1450), the Kingdom 
of England (1154/1485), the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1131/1205), and the Duchy of 
Aquitaine (1153/1453).

The name Plantagenet is derived from the plant common broom, which is known 
as "planta genista" in Latin. It was originally spelled Plante Genest or Plantegenest 
or Plantaginet. It originated with Geoffrey of Anjou, father of King Henry II of 
England.

It is most commonly claimed that the name arose because he wore a sprig of it in his 
bonnet[1] though perhaps otherwise that he planted broom to improve his hunting covers
[2] or used a broom to scourge himself. Its significance has been said to relate to 
its golden flower[3] or contemporary belief in its vegetative soul.[4]

The surname Plantagenêt has been retroactively applied to the descendants of Geoffrey 
of Anjou as they had used no surname. The first descendant of Geoffrey to use the 
surname was Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, father of both Edward IV and Richard 
III, who apparently assumed it about 1448.[5]




Ptolemy


The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy 
I's father, Lagus) was a Hellenistic Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic 
Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC.

Ptolemy, a somatophylax, one of the seven bodyguards who served as Alexander the 
Great's generals and deputies , was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexander's death 
in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as "Soter" 
(saviour). The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the 
pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest 
of 30 BC.

All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens, some of 
whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or 
Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known 
for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and 
later between Octavian and Mark Antony. Her suicide at the conquest by Rome marked 
the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.


Sinclair

Sinclair is one of the oldest surnames in Europe, first adopted by our ancestors in 
Normandy after a local saint, Saint Clare, and also spelled numerous ways, such as 
Sinkler and St. Clair.

Clan Sinclair is a Scottish family of lowland extraction with lands in the north of 
Scotland, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians which they received from the Kings of 
Scotland.

The Sinclairs were a lowland noble family which has its origins in Saint-Clair-sur-
Epte, in Normandy, France. William "The Seemly" Sinclair, among others, accompanied 
William the Conqueror in 1066 on his invasion of England. He also accompanied 
Margaret, daughter of Edward the Exile to Scotland in 1068, where she eventually 
married Malcolm III of Scotland. In return for his efforts, the king supposedly 
granted Sinclair the barony of Roslin "in free heritage".

Battle of Alnwick, Northumbria England, 1093. Sir Henry Sinclair (1060 - 1110) led a 
successful attack on England at Alnwick Castle. After the battle during a ceremony 
where the keys to the castle were to be handed over to the Scottish King an 
Englishman speared Malcolm III of Scotland to death. Today the castle still remains a 
very impressive fort with a central keep and a massive encircling wall.

Battle of the Standard, 1138. Here Sir Henry Sinclair (1100_1165) won high 
distinction in defending Scotland and was rewarded lands in Cardaine. He was later 
sent to England as a Scottish ambassador to resolve land disputes. He also succeeded 
in claiming back Northumberland for Scotland.

Legend has it that the Earls of Caithness engaged in a long succession of feuds with 
their neighbours and within the family. Many of the clans most notable battles were 
between them and the Clan Sutherland. Rebellion of the Sinclairs, 1222. This Sinclair 
rebellion does not seem to have been recorded in any chronicle or record accounts and 
is completely unknown to scholars of the period. The origins of the story probably 
rest in 18th century romantic literature. The story goes that the trouble was over 
tithes imposed by the Bishop of Caithness whose seat was at Dornoch, and is probably 
based on a diocesan dispute resolved by King Alexander. The Sinclair Earls of 
Caithness (according to the story, but in fact the Sinclairs would not become 
northern landowners for another century) had long resented the fact that the 
bishopric was under Sutherland control and decided to exploit the discontent over 
tithes, to get rid of the bishop and have the seat moved. There was soon a riot, said 
to be incited by Sinclair gold. The unfortunate bishop was roasted alive and his 
cathedral was set on fire. The rioters then headed north to join up with their 
Sinclair allies. Once again the Lord of Sutherland was given responsibility by the 
crown for restoring law and order, and for punishing Sinclair for his instigation of 
the incident. The Sutherland force was gathered and the far northeast was laid waste 
in a campaign of revenge and repression. Wick and Thurso were burned and the Sinclair 
stronghold razed to the ground. Eighty men were tried at a summer court session at 
Golspie and there was strict punishment for the rioters. Four of the ringleaders were 
roasted and then fed to the town dogs for good measure.




Stuart/Stewart

The House of Stuart or Stewart was a royal house of the Kingdom of Scotland, later 
also of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Ireland, and finally of the Kingdom 
of Great Britain. Mary Queen of Scots adopted the French spelling Stuart while in 
France to ensure that the Scots Stewart was pronounced correctly. The name itself 
originates from the ancient hereditary Scottish title High Steward of Scotland.

The House of Stuart ruled the Kingdom of Scotland for 336 years, between 1371 and 
1707. Queen Elizabeth I of England's closest heir was King James VI of Scotland via 
her grandfather King Henry VII of England, who was founder of the Tudor dynasty. At 
Elizabeth's death, James Stuart ascended the thrones of the Kingdom of England and 
the Kingdom of Ireland and inherited the English claims to the French throne. From 
1603, the Stuarts styled themselves "Kings/Queens of Great Britain", though there was 
no parliamentary union until the reign of Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House 
of Stuart. The Stuarts were followed by the House of Hanover, under the terms of the 
Act of Settlement 1701. Members of various cadet and illegitimate branches still 
survive today.

The earliest known member of the House of Stewart was Flaald I (Flaald the 
Seneschal), an 11th century Breton follower of the Lord of Dol and Combourg. Flaald 
and his immediate descendants held the hereditary and honorary post of Dapifer (food 
bearer) in the Lord of Dol's household. His grandson Flaald II was a supporter of 
Henry I of England and made the crucial move from Brittany to Britain, which was 
where the future fortunes of the Stewarts lay. Walter the Steward (died 1177), the 
grandson of Flaald II, was born in Oswestry (Shropshire). Along with his brother 
William, ancestor of the Fitzalan family (the Earls of Arundel), he supported Empress 
Matilda during the period known as the Anarchy. Matilda was aided by her uncle, David 
I of Scotland, and Walter followed David north in 1141, after Matilda had been 
usurped by King Stephen. Walter was granted land in Renfrewshire and the position of 
Lord High Steward. Malcolm IV made the position hereditary and it was inherited by 
Walter's son, who took the surname Stewart. The sixth High Steward of Scotland, 
Walter Stewart (1293-1326), married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, and also 
played an important part in the Battle of Bannockburn currying further favour. Their 
son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce; he eventually inherited the Scottish 
throne when his uncle David II died childless in 1371.

In 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VII's 
daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of 
Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. 
Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their 
daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, 
Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, the daughter of James V. Darnley's father was 
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, a member of the Stewart of Darnley branch of the 
House. Lennox was a direct descendant of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of 
Scotland, also descended from James II, being Mary's heir presumptive. Therefore 
Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side and at the time of their 
marriage was himself second in line to the Scottish throne. Because of this 
connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stewart. Because of the long 
French residence at Aubigny, held by Darnley's branch in the Auld Alliance, the 
surname was altered to Stuart. In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on 
French support was revived during the reign of Charles II, who had an illegitimate 
son by Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. This descent received the main 
Stuart appanages of Lennox and Aubigny, as well as the main Tudor appanage of 
Richmond.

French connections were notoriously unpopular and resulted in the downfall of the 
Stuarts, whose mutual enemies identified with the emergent Protestant nationalism and 
urban mercantilism as opposed to Catholic feudalism and rural manorialism. The 
Glorious Revolution caused the deposition of James II in favor of his son-in-law and 
his daughter, William and Mary. James continued to claim the thrones of England and 
Scotland, and encouraged revolts in his name, and his grandson Charles led an 
ultimately unsuccessful rising in 1745, becoming ironic symbols of conservative 
rebellion and Romanticism. Due to the identification of the Roman Catholic Church 
with the Stuarts, Catholic Emancipation was not passed until Jacobitism (as 
represented by direct Stuart heirs) was extinguished. Despite the Whig intentions of 
tolerance to be extended to Irish subjects, this was not the preference of Georgian 
Tories and their failure at compromise played a subsequent role in the present 
division of Ireland.



Tudor


The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor (Welsh: Tewdwr) was an English royal dynasty that 
lasted 118 years, beginning in 1485. It was founded by Henry Tudor, who, of his 
patrilineage, was a grandson of the mere Welsh courtier Owen Tudor but who, after 
years of engaging and surviving the horrific political battles of England's civil 
Wars of the Roses, triumphed, and acceeded to the English throne as Henry VII.

Of his matrilineage, Henry descended (via an illegitimate son) from John of Gaunt, 
first Duke of Lancaster and a son of King Edward III of England?through his mother 
Lady Margaret Beaufort; and he descended on a separate line from Edward I through his 
great-grandmother, Margaret Holland who married John Beaufort, that illegitimate son 
of John of Gaunt.

Himself of the house of Lancaster, Henry allied himself early on with the Lancastrian 
King Henry VI; later, after the Yorkist Edward IV's return to the throne in 1471 and 
through the political influence of his remarried mother, Lady Margaret he was 
permitted to pledge allegiance to Edward. Finally, emerging victorious over Yorkist 
Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry gained the throne himself in 1485 
and moved to end the Wars of the Roses.

He united the two fractious royal houses by marrying Elizabeth of York; and 
thereafter he implemented critical reforms that consolidated and modernised the 
national government.

Henry Tudor was succeeded by his second son, who became Henry VIII, the famous king 
who married six wives, and who established the Church of England, then broke off its 
fealty to the Roman Catholic Church.

Henry VIII was succeeded by his devoutly Protestant son, Edward VI, who attempted to 
cement the establishment of Protestantism by introducing and requiring the Book of 
Common Prayer. His half-sister and successor, the equally devout Catholic Mary I, 
attempted to reverse Edward's reforms, and burned hundreds of Protestants at the 
stake for heresy. Mary's efforts, however, were overtaken in turn by her half-sister 
Elizabeth I, who re-introduced Protestantism during her long forty-five-year reign 
between 1558 and 1603.

None of Henry VIII's children had any children of their own. After Elizabeth I's 
death in 1603, the crown passed to Henry VII's great-grandson, James VI of Scotland, 
who became James I of England. The Tudor dynasty was succeeded by the House of Stuart