| Royal Blood |

The family tree of Peyton Townes extends back to early European monarchs who were great grandparents. Among them was Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror. Because of the intermarriage of royal families of Europe, the line of great grandparents even extends back to unlikely monarchs of other countries, including France and the Grand Prince of Kiev (Ukraine).

The links at the bottom of the page go to charts of these ancestors and their direct lines to Peyton.

This is primarily due to the fact that Peyton's forebearers include "gateway ancestors" among the early settlers of Virginia, including Maj. Robert Peyton and Col. Thomas Ligon who were members of families in the British aristocracy, including monarchs, nobles and their descendants.

However, before you might be tempted to buy a crown, its not totally rare to be related to members of royal families given the mathematics of genealogy and the nature of settlement in Virginia. But the fact that there were a notable number of direct royal grandparents is an interesting aspect of the family tree.

In addition to Alfred and William, the direct family tree of great grandparents includes the Plantagenets. Among them are King Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (portrayed by Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn in the film the Lion in Winter). Others in that branch include Kings Edward I,II and III. (Edwards I and II were considered among early England's most successful kings, although Edward II was one of the least successful.) Another grandfather is King John, the villain in the Robin Hood saga who is considered one of England's worst Kings.

Across the channel in France, Hugh Capet established the long-lasting Capetian dynasty which ruled France for several centuries. Several of his direct descendants are grandfathers, including Kings Henry 1, Robert 2 "The Pious," Phillipe August, and Louis VI.

And surprisingly, Vladimir the Great Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' was also a grandfather, through the marriage of his granddaughter to France's Henry 1.

Another reputed grandfather was John Oldenburg King of Sweden, King of Denmark, and King of Norway in the 15th Century.

I have not had the time to dig further back, but the lineage likely extends to other monarchs and earlier generations of various hairy warriors.

A word about the charts on the pages: Click Expand to Open and Collapse to close. All of the names are grandparents. There are several  direct lines when there is more than one path to an early ancestor. For example, separate lines are created if a couple has more than one offspring who are also grandparents through different descendants. Also both spouses in a marriage may be descendants of a common ancestor.