Q & A
ANTHONY ADOLPH is a genealogist and the author of Tracing Your Family History
KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset
ANTONY MARR is a former deputy registrar and the chair of AGRA
REBECCA PROBERT is professor of law at the University of Exeter
JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist
ALAN STEWART is a family history writer, and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree
PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors
SIMON WILLS is the author of Tracing Your Seafaring Ancestors
How am I related to the 2nd Earl of Essex?
Q I believe that one of my ancestors is Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. I have researched as far as I can using the main sources, but am stuck. I’ve been in contact with a family member through Ancestry, and her Devereux family came over with William the Conqueror. I did a DNA test, which suggests that I’m 25 per cent French. Can you help me prove my Devereux link?
Sarah Hayes
You kindly sent a chart that appears to show your descent from William Devereux (1729–1785?), who married Susanna Smyth in Norfolk on 19 August 1755. The chart shows him with a son William (born 1759) and a grandson Francis (1769–1807; baptised on 22 March 1769), but I think that this William and Francis) that Francis is alleged to have been buried at Redenhall, Norfolk, on 15 January 1807, so that is a start. The next steps would involve parish register work – using wills, settlement certificates and so on – in the Norfolk archives to take the line further back.
