The story of Jenny Cross’ maternal family begins during the reign of Queen Anne, with an illicit romance between a young man and his older married lover. They and their descendants lived in a tiny village in Buckinghamshire where most of them worked the land.
Some of us sigh when we see the words “agricultural labourer” listed as an ancestor’s occupation, believing that there will be little more to find out. However, Jenny’s research has proved how fascinating they can be.
“My quest began in the early 1980s,” Jenny explains. “I knew that my parents Frederick Hills and Gertrude King were distantly related, and I wanted to find out how. It took me 10 years, pre-internet, to discover that they were second cousins. Dad’s grandmother Elizabeth King was the sister of Jesse King, who was Mum’s grandfather.”
Ann had another three children with Valentine while her husband was alive
Jenny knew that the
