Lady "Godiva" GODGIFU (990-1067)

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Leofric (968–1057) “the Great MALET” Earl of Mercia &

Lady Godiva GODGIFU (990–1067) Countess of Mercia

Lady "Godiva" oil painting by John Collier © 1874

Prelue

Sir Knight John de RADCLIFFE (1454–1497) "Knight of the Shire" of Ordsall, Lancashire and Radcliffe & Lady Elizabeth BRERETON (1458–1497) are the Common Ancestors between our Linton and Bird family tree. They are the 12^th great-grandparents of Charles Edward Linton (1890-1958); 11^thgreat-grandparents of Clara Myrtle GREY-SADLER Bird (1900-1988); 13^th great-grandparents of Kirk Louis Linton (1914-1987) and the 12^th great-grandparents of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012).

Sir knight Nicholas de LANCASTER (1125–1195) Baron Lancaster and Radcliffe was the 4^th great-grandson of Leofric (1003–1057) “the Great Malet”, Earl of Mercia & Lady Godiva GODGIFU (990–1067) Countess of Mercia. Nicholis was the 22^nd great-grandmother of Charles Edward LINTON (1890-1958); 23^rdgreat-grandfather of Kirk Louis LINTON 1914-1987); 21^st great-grandmother of Clara Myrtle GRAY-SADLER Bird (1900-1988) and the 22^nd great-grandmother of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012)

Leofric (1003–1057) “the Great MALET”, Earl of Mercia & Lady "Godiva" GODGIFU (990-1067) Countess of Mercia are included in our Radcliffe Family Tree and is the 29th great-grandmother of Charles Edward LINTON (1890-1958); 30^th great-grandmother of Kirk Louis LINTON 1914-1987); 28th great-grandmother of Clara Myrtle GRAY-SADLER Bird (1900-1988) and the 29th great-grandmother of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012)

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Leofric (968–1057) “the Great MALET”, Earl of Mercia &

Lady Godiva GODGIFU (990–1067) Countess of Mercia

29th great-grandparents of Charles Edward LINTON (1890-1958)

30^th great-grandparents of Kirk Louis LINTON 1914-1987)

28th great-grandparents of Clara Myrtle GRAY-SADLER Bird (1900-1988)

29th great-grandparents of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012)

updated July 19, 2017

Leofric (968–1057) “the Great MALET”, Earl of Mercia & Lady Godiva GODGIFU (990–1067) Countess of Mercia were the 30^th great-grandparents of Kirk Louis LINTON (1914-1987) and the 29^th great-grandparents of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012).

The common ancestors between our LINTON & BIRD family tree are Sir Knight John de RADCLIFFE (1454–1497) "Knight of the Shire" of Ordsall, Lancashire and Radcliffe & Lady Elizabeth BRERETON (1458–1497) They are the 12^th great-grandparents of Charles Edward Linton (1890-1958); 11^th great-grandparents of Clara Myrtle GREY-SADLER Bird (1900-1988); 13^th great-grandparents of Kirk Louis Linton (1914-1987) and the 12^th great-grandparents of Evelyn Virginia BIRD Linton (1922-2012).

Leofric (968-1057) “The Great MALET”, Earl of Mercia Alfar, was the son of Leofwine, Earl of Mercia, Ealdorman of Hwicce & Alwara Countess of Mercia daughter of Athelstans. [i] Leofric was born on May 14, 968, in Mercia, England. Leofric’s father witnessed a charter in 997, for King Æthelred II. Leofric had three brothers; Northman, Edwin and Godwine. [ii]

The Mercia Kingdom was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. The name is a Latinisation of the Old English Mierce or Myrce, meaning "border people". The kingdom was centered on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries, in the region now known as the English Midlands. The kingdom's "capital" was the town of Tamworth, which was the seat of the Mercian Kings from around AD 584, when King Creoda built a fortress at the town. Between AD 600 and 900), having annexed or gained submissions from five of the other six kingdoms of the Heptarchy (East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex), Mercia dominated England south of the River Humber. Nicholas Brooks noted that "the Mercians stand out as by far the most successful of the various early Anglo-Saxon peoples until the later ninth century". [iii]

Leofric was awarded the earldom of Mercia by King Cnut following the death of the first Earl, Eadric, in 1017. As Earl of Mercia he was second in importance only to Earl Godwin of Wessex. Leofric was a loyal supporter of Edward the Confessor, who succeeded Cnut's unpopular son, Harthacanute, in 1043, and helped raise an army to halt the hostile advance of Earl Godwin in 1051. The dispute was settled by diplomatic means, however, and Godwin was sent into exile. [iv]

Leofric married Lady Godiva GODGIFU (990–1067) Countess of Mercia, the daughter of Thorold "The Dane", Lord of Godgyfu, Sheriff of Lincoln, Lord of Buckingham, Earl of Coventry and Lady Beatrice Beatrix Lady, in Mercia, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. [v] Lady Godiva was born on September 5, 990, in Newark, County Nottinghamshire, England. [vi] Godiva is the latinized form of the Old English name Godgyfu or Godgifu, literally, "God's gift" or "good gift".

The first written record of Lady Godiva is in 1035, when she was already married to Leofric, Earl of Mercia. She held three land holdings in Leicestershire, one was in Appleby. She also had land holding in Nottinghamshire and Warwicks. [vii]

According to a legend dating at least to the 13th century, Lady Godiva rode naked, covered only in her long hair, through the streets of Coventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband imposed on his tenants. The name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend in which a man named Thomas watched her ride and was struck blind or dead. [viii] The oldest form of the legend has Godiva passing through Coventry market from one end to the other while the people were assembled, attended only by two knights. This version is given in Flores Historiarum by Roger of Wendover who died in 1236. [ix]

Both Leofric and Lady Godiva were generous benefactors to religious houses. In 1043, Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry on the site of a nunnery destroyed by the Danes in 1016. He also founded a Benedictine monastery at Much Wenlock. [x] Writing in the 12th century, Roger of Wendover credits Godiva as the persuasive force behind this act. In the 1050s, her name is coupled with that of her husband on a grant of land to the monastery of Saint Mary at Worcester and the endowment of the minster at Stow St Mary, Lincolnshire. [xi] Leofric and Lady Godiva are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham. [xii] Lady Godiva gave Coventry a number of works in precious metal by the famous goldsmith Mannig and bequeathed a necklace valued at 100 marks of silver. [xiii] Another necklace went to Evesham, to be hung around the figure of the Virgin accompanying the life-size gold and silver rood she and her husband gave, and St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London received a gold-fringed chasuble. [xiv] Leofric and Lady Godiva were among the most munificent of the several large Anglo-Saxon donors of the last decades before the Norman Conquest. The early Norman bishops made short work of their gifts, carrying them off to Normandy or melting them down for bullion. [xv]

Lady Godiva and her sister Wulviva, endowed the cathedral at Hereford with The manor of Woolhope in Herefordshire, and four other manors. They are honored there by a modern stained glass window, while a window depicting her and Leofrac was placed in Trinity Church of Coventry. Her signature, "di Ego Godiva Comtissa diu istud desideravi", is found on the charter of the Benedictine Monastery at Spalding. [xvi] Leofric died on August 31, 1057, in Bromley, Staffordshire, England, "at a good old age" and was buried in the monastery in Coventry that he and his wife had founded. [xvii]

Leofric died on August 31, 1057, at his estate at Kings Bromley, in Bromley, Staffordshire, England, "at a good old age" and was buried in the monastery in Coventry that he and his wife had founded. [xviii] Leofric was buried on October 30, 1057, in the Coventry Monastery, Coventry, Warwickshire, (now West Midlands), England. [xix] Leofric’s estate was probated on September 30, 1057 in Coventry, England. [xx]

Lady Godiva died in September, 1067, in Coventry, County Warwick, England, at age 77, and was buried on September 10, 1067, at Trinity Church, Saint Mary's Priory and Cathedral Coventry, Coventry, Warwickshire (now West Midlands), England. [xxi]

Leofric & Lady Godiva had three known Children:

i. Edgar MALET (1022-1059) was born in 1022 in Mercia, England and died in 1059 at age 37. [xxii]

ii. Aelfger MALET (1025-1062) 2nd Earl of Mercia, Duke of Mercia, Earl of Merciaf, 7^th Earl of Leicester, Earl of East Angelia and Du was born in 1025 in Mercia, England. He died in 1062 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, at age 37. Aelfger was buried in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Aelfger married Aetfgifu de Wessex, in Wessex, England. [xxiii]

iii. Thorold MALET (1028-1066) Sheriff of Lincoln was born in 1011 in Mercia, England and died in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. [xxiv]

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Sources

[i] Ann Williams, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, online edn, May 2005 (N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2004.), online edn, May 2005 .... Ancestry.com, Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data - Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. London, England: Oxf).

[ii] Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[iii] Brooks, N. (1989). "The formation of the Mercian kingdom". In Steven Bassett. The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. Leicester. p.159

[iv] Ancestry.com, Web: International, Find A Grave Index (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Original data - Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 15 February 2013.Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cg).

[v] Ann Williams, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, online edn, May 2005 (N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2004.), online edn, May 2005 . .... Ancestry.com, Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data - Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. London, England: Oxf). .... Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[vi] Ancestry.com, Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). 8. Heritage Consulting, Millennium File (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA:).

[viii] Joan Cadogan Lancaster. Godiva of Coventry. With a chapter on the folk tradition of the story by H.R. Ellis Davidson. Coventry [Eng.] Coventry Corp., 1967. OCLC 1664951….… French KL (1992). "The legend of Lady Godiva". Journal of Medieval History. 18: 3–19. doi:10.1016/0304-4181(92)90015-q.….Lady Godiva, Historic-UK.com….Marina Warner. When Godiva streaked and Tom peeped The Times, 10 July 1982

[ix] The first Flores Historiarum was created by St Albans writer, Roger of Wendover, who carried his chronology from the creation up to 1235, the year before his death. Roger claims in his preface to have selected "from the books of catholic writers worthy of credit, just as flowers of various colours are gathered from various fields." Hence he also called his work Flores Historiarum. However, like most chronicles, it is now valued not so much for what was culled from previous writers, as for its full and lively narrative of contemporary events from 1215 to 1235, including the signing of Magna Carta by King John at Runnymede.

[x] Ann Williams, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, online edn, May 2005 (N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2004.), online edn, May 2005 .... Ancestry.com, Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data - Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. London, England: Oxf).

[xi] Ann Williams, ‘Godgifu (d. 1067?)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, October 2006 accessed 18 April 2008

[xii] The Chronicle of John of Worcester ed. and trans. R.R. Darlington, P. McGurk and J. Bray (Clarendon Press: Oxford 1995), pp.582–583

[xiii] “Anglo-Saxons” Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66

[xiv] "Anglo-Saxons” Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66.net, S 1230".

[xv] "Anglo-Saxons” Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66.net, S 1230".

[xvii] Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[xviii] Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.). Anglo-Saxons” Dodwell, C. R.; Anglo-Saxon Art: A New Perspective, 1982, Manchester UP, ISBN 0-7190-0926-X (US edn. Cornell, 1985), pp. 25 & 66.net, S 1230".

[xix] Ancestry.com, UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). .... Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[xx] 1057 England. Worcester. Source (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1057 noted "...In this same year, on 30 October, Earl Leofric passed away. He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation. He was buried at Coventry, and his son Ælfgar succeeded to his authority..." (G.N. Garmonsway translation).).

[xxi] Ancestry.com, Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). ….Heritage Consulting, Millennium File (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.Original data - Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: Heritage Consulting.Original data: Heritage Consulting. The Millennium File. Salt Lake City, UT, USA:). .... Ancestry.com, Web: International, Find A Grave Index (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.Original data - Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 15 February 2013.Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cg). .... Ancestry.com, Web: Netherlands, GenealogieOnline Trees Index, 1000-2015 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). .... Ancestry.com, UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.).

[xxii] Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[xxiii] Ann Williams, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, online edn, May 2005 (N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2004.), online edn, May 2005 .... Ancestry.com, Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22 (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.Original data - Stephen, Sir Leslie, ed. Dictionary of National Biography, 1921–1922. London, England: Oxf). .... Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

[xxiv] Millennium File (Heritage Consulting. Millennium File [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2003.).

Below: Lady Godiva statue by Sir William Reid Dick unveiled at midday on October 22, 1949 in Broadgate, Coventry, a £20,000 gift from Mr. WH Bassett-Green, a Coventrian.

The Historical Godiva

by Octavia Randolph

This essay serves as an afterwards to my short fiction Ride published in Narrative Magazine

Godiva is the latinized form of the Old English name Godgyfu or Godgifu (literally, "God's gift" or "good gift"). Godgyfu was an 11th century Anglo-Saxon aristocrat whose life spanned one of the most tumultuous periods in early English history. Despite her illustrious husband, renowned piety, and religious benefactions, without the tantalising legend of her ride she would likely be completely forgotten.

What is known of Godgyfu is found in the chronicles of various religious foundations, mentions of her or her husband in charters, and the post-Conquest compilation known as the Domesday Book. The first positive record of her is in 1035, when she was already married to Leofric, Earl of Mercia. In this novel I place her from Newark in Nottinghamshire, as her estate of single greatest value was there, but this is conjecture on my part. Likewise, I have made her thirty-eight years old in 1042; her actual birth date is unknown. Similarly, the date of her ride through Coventry cannot be known; I have placed it the year before the dedication of the Priory she and Leofric built there. Here I must also acknowledge that despite records dating to the late 12th century concerning her ride, there are some modern scholars who doubt that it ever took place. I am persuaded that it did.

To return to fact: Like other Anglo-Saxon women of her class, Godgyfu owned property in her own right, both given to her by her parents and acquired through other means - gifts from her husband, inheritance from relatives, and purchases and exchanges from individuals and religious foundations. The modest farming village of Coventry was one of them. Domesday lists it, twenty years after her death, as having sixty-nine families.

Prior fic of Evesham was a vitally important figure in Godgyfu's life, and after she and her husband came under his influence Leofric restored to the Evesham foundation lands which he had previously alienated from it. We are further told by the Evesham chronicler that Godgyfu attended the burial of fic in 1038 and kept his memory ever in her heart.

It is not known why Godgyfu and Leofric turned their attention to Coventry. As early as 1024 Bishop thelnoth (later to be Archbishop of Canterbury) gave to Leofric a priceless relic, the arm of St. Augustine of Hippo, which had been purchased by the bishop in Rome and which he apparently indicated was intended for Coventry. The Benedictine Priory of St.Mary, St.Osburgh, and All Saints was dedicated by Archbishop of Canterbury Eadsige in 1043, on property owned by Godgyfu. Within was a shrine to St. Osburgh which held her head encased in copper and gold. St. Augustine's arm took its place in a special shrine, and they gave also to the new Priory many ornaments of gold, silver and precious stones, so that it was famed for its richness. Leofric further endowed the Priory with estates in Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, and Worcestershire.

Their religious endowments were many, restoring, enriching, or founding houses in Much Wenlock, Worcester, Evesham, Chester, Leominster, and Stow in Lincolnshire. This last, the Priory Church of St. Mary's Stow-in-Lindsay, is of particular interest as a significant portion of the beautiful and impressive extant church there issued from their hands. The earliest stonework in the church dates from 955; Godgyfu and Leofric greatly endowed and enriched it from 1053-55. The lofty crossing features four soaring rounded Saxon arches (which now enclose later pointed Norman arches built within the original Saxon arches). A 10th or 11th century graffito of an oared ship is scratched into the base of one of the Saxon arches, possibly a momento from a Danish raider who sailed up the nearby Trent. The north transept houses a narrow, deep Saxon doorway of honey-coloured stone, which would originally have been lime-washed and over-painted with decorative designs. It likely led to a chapel in Godgyfu's day, and surely she passed through this very arch. To experience St. Mary's Stow, built just ten years after the dedication of the Coventry church, is to begin to imagine what the Priory Church of St. Mary, St Osburgh, and All Saints may have been like.

Leofric was a man of considerable talent and statesmanship; no man could survive forty years as Earl without these qualities. Elevated to Earl (a title and position new to the English, replacing and expanding the Anglo-Saxon ealdorman) in 1017 by the Dane Cnut, he survived and thrived through Cnut's reign. Then followed that of Harold Harefoot (1035-1040), in whose selection as successor to Cnut Leofric was instrumental. Hardacnut, Cnut's other son, reigned next (1040-1042), and then began Edward the Confessor's rule (1042-1066).

Unsurprisingly for his age, Leofric could alternate between great rapacity and great piety, his depredations and subsequent generous benefactions upon Worcester being a case in point. Near the end of his life he experienced four religious visions which were carefully recorded by the monks at Worcester and published after his death in 1057. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1057 noted "...In this same year, on 30 October, Earl Leofric passed away. He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation. He was buried at Coventry, and his son lfgar succeeded to his authority..." (G.N. Garmonsway translation).

Following his death, Godgyfu made additional gifts to the religious foundation at Worcester to aid in the repose of Leofric's soul, and for the benefit of her own. These gifts included altar frontals, wall hangings, bench covers, candlesticks, and a Bible, and joined a long list of items and estates the two had granted to Worcester in the years prior to Leofric's death.

Leofric and Godgyfu had one known child, the above-mentioned lfgar, who died in 1062. His daughter Ealdgyth was wed briefly first to a Welsh king and following his death, to Harold Godwineson, killed by William of Normandy's men on the field at Hastings. Thus for nine months Godgyfu was grandmother to the queen of England.

Godgyfu died in 1067, the year following Hastings. At her death she was one of the four or five richest women in England, with estates valued at £160. Her lands were then forfeit to new king William. Godgyfu was buried next to her husband in the Priory church in Coventry they had created. According to chronicler William of Malmesbury, her dying act was characteristically pious: as a final gift to the Priory, she ordered hung about the neck of a statue of the Virgin Mary her personal rosary of precious stones.

The Legend

Over the centuries the story of Godgyfu's ride has enjoyed a life of its own. The oldest surviving account of it, dating from perhaps 1175, is reprinted in the front of this book. Later chroniclers embellished and expanded upon the legend:

But Gaufride sayth that this gentle and good Lady did not onely for the freeing of the said Citie and satisfying of her husbands pleasure, graunt vnto her sayde Husband to ryde as aforesayde: But also called in secret manner (by such as she put speciall trust in) all those that then were Magistrates and rulers of the said Citie of Couentrie, and vttered vnto them what good will she bare vnto the sayde Citie, and how shee had moued the Erle her husband to make the same free, the which vpon such condition as is afore mencioned, the sayde Erle graunted vnto her, which the sayde Lady was well contented to doe, requiring of them for the reuerence of womanhed, that at that day and tyme that she should ride (which was made certaine vnto them) that streight commaundement should be geuen throughout all the City, that euerie person should shut in their houses and Wyndowes, and none so hardy to looke out into the streetes, nor remayne in the stretes, vpon a very great paine, so that when the tyme came of her out ryding none sawe her, but her husbande and such as were present with him, and she and her Gentlewoman to wayte vpon her galoped through the Towne, where the people might here the treading of their Horsse, but they saw her not, and so she returned to her Husbande from the place from whence she came, her honestie saued, her purpose obteyned, her wisdome much commended, and her husbands imagination vtterly disappointed. And shortly after her returne, when shee had arayed and apparelled her selfe in most comely and seemly manner, then shee shewed her selfe openly to the peuple of the Citie of Couentrie, to the great joy and maruellous reioysing of all the Citizens and inhabitants of the same, who by her had receyued so great a benefite.

-from the account of Richard Grafton (d.1572) M.P. for Coventry

The introduction of the voyeur famously to be known as Peeping Tom is even more recent, a 17th century embroidery:

...In the Forenoone all householders were Commanded to keep in their Families shutting their doores & Windows close whilest the Duchess performed this good deed, which done she rode naked through the midst of the Towne, without any other Coverture save only her hair. But about the midst of the Citty her horse neighed, whereat one desirous to see the strange Case lett downe a Window, & looked out, for which fact, or for that the horse did neigh, as the cause thereof. Though all the Towne were Franchised, yet horses were not toll-free to this day.

- from the account of Humphrey Wanley (1672-1726)

It was left to Alfred Lord Tennyson, in 1842, to codify the tale into the form in which it became known around the world.

Godiva

I waited for the train at Coventry;

I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge,

To watch the three tall spires; and there I shaped

The city's ancient legend into this:-

Not only we, the latest seed of Time,

New men, that in the flying of a wheel

Cry down the past, not only we, that prate

Of rights and wrongs, have loved the people well,

And loathed to see them overtax'd; but she

Did more, and underwent, and overcame,

The woman of a thousand summers back,

Godiva, wife to that grim Earl, who ruled

In Coventry: for when he laid a tax

Upon his town, and all the mothers brought

Their children, clamouring, 'If we pay, we starve!'

She sought her lord, and found him, where he strode

About the hall, among his dogs, alone,

His beard a foot before him and his hair

A yard behind. She told him of their tears,

And pray'd him, 'If they pay this tax, they starve.'

Whereat he stared, replying, half-amazed,

'You would not let your little finger ache

For such as these?' - 'But I would die', said she.

He laugh'd, and swore by Peter and by Paul;

Then fillip'd at the diamond in her ear;

'Oh ay, ay, ay, you talk!' -'Alas!' she said,

'But prove me what I would not do.'

And from a heart as rough as Esau's hand,

He answer'd, 'Ride you naked thro' the town,

And I repeal it;' and nodding, as in scorn,

He parted, with great strides among his dogs.

So left alone, the passions of her mind,

As winds from all the compass shift and blow,

Made war upon each other for an hour,

Till pity won. She sent a herald forth,

And bade him cry, with sound of trumpet, all

The hard condition; but that she would loose

The people: therefore, as they loved her well,

From then till noon no foot should pace the street,

No eye look down, she passing; but that all

Should keep within, door shut, and window barr'd.

Then fled she to her inmost bower, and there

Unclasp'd the wedded eagles of her belt,

The grim Earl's gift; but ever at a breath

She linger'd, looking like a summer moon

Half-dipt in cloud: anon she shook her head,

And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee;

Unclad herself in haste; adown the stair

Stole on; and, like a creeping sunbeam, slid

From piller unto pillar, until she reach'd

The Gateway, there she found her palfrey trapt

In purple blazon'd with armorial gold.

Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:

The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,

And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.

The little wide-mouth'd heads upon the spout

Had cunning eyes to see: the barking cur

Made her cheek flame; her palfrey's foot-fall shot

Light horrors thro' her pulses; the blind walls

Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead

Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: but she

Not less thro' all bore up, till, last, she saw

The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field,

Gleam thro' the Gothic archway in the wall.

Then she rode back, clothed on with chasity;

And one low churl, compact of thankless earth,

The fatal byword of all years to come,

Boring a little auger-hole in fear,

Peep'd - but his eyes, before they had their will,

Were shrivell'd into darkness in his head,

And dropt before him. So the Powers, who wait

On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misused;

And she, that knew not, pass'd: and all at once,

With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon

Was clash'd and hammer'd from a hundred towers,

One after one: but even then she gain'd

Her bower; whence reissuing, robed and crown'd,

To meet her lord, she took the tax away

And built herself an everlasting name.

All of these accounts ignore important facts, and are fraught with inconsistency and illogic. Coventry at the time of the ride is depicted not as a small village but as teeming metropolis (recall that twenty years after Godgyfu's death it had less than seventy families). There is no corroborating evidence to suggest that Leofric warranted the reputation of a husband who would order his virtuous wife to parade naked through town in an attempt to humiliate her at worst, or at best to prove the sincerity of her compassionate leanings. On the contrary, the long record of the joint benefactions of Godgyfu and Leofric indicate that theirs was a marriage of more or less equal tastes and aims. Divorce was far from uncommon amongst Anglo-Saxon aristocracy; if Godgyfu had found herself in an untenable marital situation the union could have been speedily dissolved, with her retaining all the property she had brought into the marriage, and custody of any minor children. Since only women mention household property in their wills, it is very likely that they alone were considered to own, and have the right to dispose of, furnishings acquired during the marriage. Thus separation from a husband who exhibited sadistic behaviour could be accomplished without undue economic hardship upon the departing wife.

But by far the most vital fact ignored in these retellings is that Godgyfu possessed the village of Coventry outright. She need not ask Leofric or anyone else to suspend or repeal any tax or toll upon it, as she controlled the collection of these herself. The sole exception was the heregeld, an onerous levy instituted by Cnut to pay for the king's personal body-guard. Until revoked by Edward the Confessor in 1051, it was a national tax, required of all. Godgyfu would not have been able to suspend it - but she certainly could have paid it from her own purse.

The reason for this persistent misrepresentation is simple, but profound in its implications to the unfolding of the tale. Because Anglo-Saxon woman - indeed all women in England - had by the time of even the earliest extant retelling lost the extensive property (and other personal and legal) rights they had enjoyed prior to the disaster of 1066, chroniclers wrote from the perspective of Norman law and mores. As the tale became sentimentalized and ever-more erotically charged, the victimization of Godgyfu became paramount - she must become a virtuous victim, compelled by an unfeeling husband to perform (in the chronicler's eyes) a humiliating act, in a Coventry subjected, as was she, to his utter domination. There is no room in these later recountings for a woman of independence and intelligence, acting out of deep-seated devotion, and inspired by well-remembered (and in some instances, still enacted) pre-Christian agricultural rituals and Biblical acts of religious dedication and contrition.

Despite - or because of - the perverting of the tale, it grew. But however obscured, its underpinnings remain sound. As Joan C. Lancaster, former City Historian of the City of Coventry, states in her definitive study, Godiva of Coventry, the legend was predicated on a

"genuine local tradition known to the Coventry people in the 12th century...It was based on memory of her piety and her share in atoning for her husband's sins, and also the removal of the heregeld when she was ruling over them."

It is this Godgyfu I choose to celebrate and honour.

Selected Bibliography

Godiva of Coventry, Joan C. Lancaster, Coventry Corporation, 1967

Lady Godiva: Images of a Legend in Art & Society, Ronald Aquilla Clarke and Patrick A. E. Day, City of Coventry, 1982 (pamphlet)

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, G. N. Garmonsway, trans., J. M. Dent & Sons, 1975

Domesday Book, Thomas Hinde, editor, Coombe Books, 1996

The Beginnings of English Society, Dorothy Whitelock, Penguin, 1974

In addition Prof. Daniel Donoghue of Harvard University graciously allowed me to review several chapters of his manuscript, which has since been published as Lady Godiva: A Literary History of the Legend, Blackwell, 2002.

Countess Godiva

____________

A legend is a valuable asset to any location, over the years attracting many pilgrims, visitors and tourists to the area associated with it; one has only to think of legendary figures like Robin Hood or King Arthur. Indeed so valuable is the legend of King Arthur that he is associated with many parts of the British Isles. The value and strength of a good legend lies in its relevance to and interpretation by the audience of the time and not allowing historical facts get in the way of the creation of an heroic figure, but the dangers are of an idealized or nostalgic view of our past. Like most ancient and mixed peoples we have a folk memory drawn from many different sources that were originally preserved or elaborated on, presented and passed on through an oral storytelling tradition. Our rich legacy of myths and legends and stories have been gathered together from many sources, over centuries, by the many inhabitants, invaders and settlers in the British Isles. The later tradition of recording through writing preserved only a fraction of these stories and in doing so captured a particular version, for a purpose desired by the writer, thus losing the original context of the story. This transformation is probably most obvious with Arthur whose origins as a local historical figure, a Romano British warlord for a small part of Britain, was taken out of time and overlaid with medieval or middle ages trappings to transform him into a powerful hero King of Britain; part myth, part legend and part fairytale, waiting only for the direst need of those listening to the story, to come again to the aid of Britain.

The legend of Godiva, who dates from the first half of the eleventh century, has been valuable to Coventry ever since the earliest version of the tax-lifting ride was written down at the turn of the thirteenth century. In common with many figures from myth, very little is known about the real eleventh century woman who gave her name to the legend, and in common with other legendary figures very little evidence can be assembled that can substantiate the legend.

Godiva is the Latin form of the Saxon name Godgifu or Godgyfu, meaning God’s gift; it was a popular female name of the time. She was a highborn Anglo Saxon woman, who lived in the eleventh century. She became the wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia one of the most powerful men in England. She was a wealthy and powerful woman yet despite this, the lady, around whom the myth was woven, remains a shadowy figure in history, even the place and dates of her birth and death are by no means certain. Various dates have been suggested for the birth of Godiva, none of them verifiable, she was born sometime between 980 and the turn of the century probably somewhere in England into a noble family. There are also several dates for her death which was probably sometime between the 1066 and 1086. The most popular date seems to be 1067 though this may be too early as she is mentioned in Doomsday, as one of few Anglo Saxons to retain land after the conquest, and the only woman mentioned as a landholder. It is possible to conjecture that she retained her lands through an agreement between William 1 and Leofric prior to the conquest. She is recorded as holding many estates in Warwickshire including Coventry. Godiva died and was buried somewhere in Mercia, possibly in Coventry though more likely in Evesham where she was living in retirement after the death of Leofric.

There is some confusion about her family; her father was possibly Thorold Sheriff of Lincoln though there is other perhaps stronger evidence that Thorold was her brother, as his name appears in Doomsday, which would indicate that he was her peer. He is, along with Godiva, one of few Saxons who retained land after the conquest. She was married to Leofric III Earl of Mercia who was born in 968 and who died in 1057. They married in 1016 when Leofric would have been 48 and Godiva was probably in her early to mid 30’s. The marriage of Leofric and Godiva took place in Norfolk in 1016. There is evidence that their union produced two children; a son lfgar who eventually succeeded his father as Earl, and also a daughter name unknown. Their daughter may have eventually married into the Malet family. There is a possibility that this union with Leofric may have been Godiva’s second marriage because depending which birth date is considered she may have been older than was normal for it to have been a first marriage. In addition F. Burbage quotes in his book from the Chronicle of Ely Monastery of the earliest reference that he found about Godiva, when she was in communication with Leofric. This same source, he interprets as describing Godiva as, "the widow of an earl living in the time of Canute". Dorothy Wenlock (1952) observes that in Saxon England a widow was free to decide for herself about a second marriage. Saxon women could also hold and dispose of land, a right that no longer existed in Norman England.

Leofric was the son of Leofwine, who had been ealdorman of the Hwicce under thelred, and according to Sir F. Stenton was one of only two Englishmen to remain in power during the reign of Danish king Cnut, Earl Godwine being the other. It was Cnut who made Leofric Earl of Mercia. Mercia was a large and important land holding which consisted of the counties of Southern Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Dorothy Wenlock (1952) observes that by the tenth century the office of Ealdorman was more or less hereditary. Both Godwine and Leofric had accumulated extensive lands through inheritance, gift and by purchase. The Anglo Saxon chronicles record that when Harold succeeded to his earldom on the death of his father Godwin, that the earldom he had previously held was given to Leofric’s son lfgar. It further records that in 1055 lfgar was outlawed "without having done anything to deserve his fate", indicating a struggle for power between the families of Wessex and Mercia. It is interesting to note that lfgar took immediate action, he went to Ireland with a force of 18 ships and then to Wales, King Gruffydd in a very shrewd move considering what was to happen in 1056, supported lfgar and they marched on Hereford where they did a great deal of damage. The result of this action was a deal in which the lfgar’s outlawry was revoked and all his lands were returned to him.

By the end of Cnut’s reign Godwine Earl of Wessex and Leofric of Mercia were his chief advisors. Such was their power that Sir F. Stenton comments, "The rivalry of the families which they bought to eminence fatally weakened the possibility of a united English resistance to the Norman invasion of 1066." Commenting on Leofric; Stenton goes on to say that, "Leofric himself was regarded by contemporaries as an upright man…. he seems to have maintained himself in power for more than twenty years without violence and aggression." That they were both accomplished statesmen and the equal of each other in political intrigue is demonstrated by the fact that Leofric and Godwine remained in their powerful positions of influence after the death of Cnut, throughout the violent difficulties of the Anglo Danish successions and on into the reign of Edward I also known as ‘the Confessor’. In 1056 Leofric, though an old man, remained in a position of power and influence, he was one of a powerful group of nobles who negotiated a settlement between Gruffydd ap Llywelyn king of Gwynedd and Powys, and Edward, in which Gruffydd accepted Edward as his lord in return for extensive territories. When Leofric died in the autumn of 1057 his sole surviving son lfgar succeeded him. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle says of Leofric "He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation."

Godiva and Leofric were generous benefactors to a number of religious establishments including Evesham, Worcester and Chester. Their connection with Coventry began in 1043 when Countess Godiva and Earl Leofric founded a Benedictine monastery there. This priory was built on the site of a former nunnery reputed to have stood there for a century or two, which had stood near the River Sherbourne in a clearing in the Forest of Arden. One interpretation of the origin of the name Coventry is to link convent a religious house and tre, which is a Celtic word for settlement. The Danes destroyed this nunnery in 1016. Leofric and Godiva endowed the monastery with great wealth and valuable goods including a decorated copper shrine to St. Osburg the Benedictine nun who had founded the original nunnery. A town began to grow out of the settlement supplying the priory that attracted craftsmen and merchants and employed laborers.

Popular myth places the date of the ride c1045, but it must be noted that by the middle of the eleventh century Coventry was probably little more than a small agricultural and crafts based community of wooden framed wattle and daub constructed houses and workshops around the abbey which was probably also still under construction. If Godiva did ride through Coventry it would have been an extremely brief ride weaving in and out of low timber constructed houses, houses it should be noted that had very few windows. Evidence from Doomsday states that by c1086 there were still only 69 families living in Coventry. There is no evidence that Leofric and Godiva ever spent time in Coventry, though it may be expected that they would have passed through on a visit to the religious house they had endowed. There was no castle or establishment in the area that would have been suitable for their occupation so the only place they could have stayed in locally would be the guest house of the priory if one existed. The priory and priory cathedral would have been the major landmark and the only stone building in the area.

The priory buildings eventually occupied land from what is marked on a modern map as Priory Row to Pool Meadow. It was a huge important building, comparable in size to Lichfield Cathedral and contained many holy relics which made it an important centre for pilgrims. Controversy enveloped the Cathedral of St. Mary’s at the turn of the 12th century when Robert de Limsey ambitious Bishop of Chester persuaded Pope Paschal to authorise him as the first Bishop of Coventry. Once in post he began to strip the cathedral of much of it's wealth and allowed the buildings to fall into disrepair, he was also guilty of forging charters to legitimise his actions. This desecration continued until 1119 when Pope Innocent III was persuaded to hand the Priory back to the monks. Building work began again with the construction of the church of Holy Trinity for the priory. It was around this time that the construction of St. Michael’s church and Coventry’s first Castle were also started. The priory founded by Leofric and Godiva lasted for 400 years, becoming the site of Coventry’s first cathedral, until its destruction during the dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII.

The Coventry that we imagine would have existed at the time of the ride with its two or three storey stone buildings, bustling market place and cobbled streets is a Coventry of a much later age, this is the Coventry recorded by much later poets and artists (refer to the picture at the start of this article). Coventry was not large or important enough to warrant a castle until the reign of King Stephen in the twelfth century. Earl Ranulf Gernons erected a castle (1129 –1153), it is unknown whether the castle was built of wood or stone but it was most likely to have been positioned on an artificial motte. The castle fell victim to the conflict in England at the time between Stephen and Matilda. In 1143 Sir Robert Marmion besieged the castle, presumably because Ranulf Gernons was a supporter of Matilda. In 1145 Stephen imprisoned Ranulf and deprived him of his castles and eventually had the castle in Coventry destroyed. It was later rebuilt and is referred to in a charter by Earl Hugh of Chester (c1160 –1176); this subsequent castle was likely to have been of a more ambitious construction. The Earls of Chester built many stone castles; therefore, it is probable that this castle had a stone keep or tower and perhaps stone curtain walls. Castles of this time had a keep on a mound surrounded by a deep ditch.

Very little is known of Coventry castle or subsequent series of castle constructions and positions, they were likely to have been in existence for a very short period of time, roughly one hundred years, and since then the possible location has been greatly altered and built over. Streets often take their names from local castles, so Broadgate, Bailey Lane and Hay Lane may offer clues to the location of the castle. The castle was still in existence in the early thirteenth century it was referred to in a charter by Earl Ranulf Blundeville (c1200 – 1210), from these dates it would seem most likely that Coventry Castle was finally destroyed by order of King John during a purge of the castles of his opponents. It may be of note that around this time and during this dip in the fortunes of Coventry that the earliest version of the Godiva ride was being recorded. There are no further references to a castle in Coventry. By 1249 Coventry’s fortunes seem to be on the up again with a report that Earl Roger de Montalt was occupying Cheylesmore manor and improving fortifications or building a new manor house. The Coventry eventually had a wall for its defense, which was begun in 1355 and destroyed in 1662.

According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicles Earl Leofric died in October 1057 at his villa at Bromleage (Bromley in Staffordshire). "…who was very wise before God, and also before the world; and who benefited all this nation. He lies at Coventry." His son lfgar inherited his lands and titles. Although it is stated in the chronicles that Leofric was buried in Coventry, in the monastery that he founded, there is no evidence that Godiva was buried with him. Indeed Burbage interprets the chronicles of Evesham as showing that Godiva retired to live there after the death of her husband and was buried in the church of the Blessed Trinity (no longer standing). He quotes from the chronicle about Prior fic of Evesham. "Then your worthy Prior fic departed from this daylight …. and his grave worthily exists in the same church of the same pious Countess Godiva, and of whom, so long as he lived, he was a friend." Amongst other gifts to religious houses, Godiva left a necklace of precious gems to adorn the statue of the Virgin Mary in the abbey church in Coventry. It is recorded that in c1075 just before she died Godiva left by will to the statue of Our Lady in a certain monastery "the circlet of precious stones which she had threaded on a cord in order that by fingering them one after another she might count her prayers exactly." (Malmesbury, "Gesta Pont.", Rolls series 311). As it was not until mid twelfth century that the Ave Maria or Hail Mary came into general use this was probably to count Paternosters, repetitions of the Lord’s Prayer.

It should be noted that chroniclers of the 11th and 12th century write of Godiva with respect as a religious woman, some mention her beauty, but significantly there is no mention of the ride by those of her contemporaries who knew her well. The Evesham chronicler refers to gifts of Leofricus and Godiva and the creation of the church of Holy Trinity at Evesham and Godiva’s burial there but makes no mention of the ride. The fact that none of the contemporary chroniclers who wrote about Godiva mention anything about the ride is a substantial piece of evidence against the ride ever having taken place. Something so amazing, so shocking as the wife of one of the most powerful men in England riding naked or otherwise, through a small settlement would have required at least a mention. It has been suggested that Godiva may have been naked in the sense that she was unadorned by the jewels and the trappings of power, or that it may have been an unadorned pilgrimage as a display of piety. This would even so have been an event of note in the life of the famous lady and would have required some mention by her chroniclers, especially if as is claimed it resulted in taxation changes.

In fact the earliest written recording of the ride comes over a hundred years after Godiva’s death. It dates from c1188 – 1237 in ‘Flowers of History’ by Roger of Wendover (a history writer to the Abbey of St Albans). Roger of Wendover it must be noted does not have a reputation for accurate reporting of even contemporary events, being prone to exaggeration and embellishment for political bias. His stories are not accurate recordings of historical events but more the collection of stories and legends attached to a rough framework of historical facts. He records the death of Leofric Earl of Chester "a man of praise-worthy life: he was buried in the monastery which he has founded at Coventry." He adds that this foundation was by the advice of his wife Countess Godiva; and that they also endowed and enriched other churches Worcester, St. Mary of Stone and St. Wereburg, and the monasteries of Evesham, Wenloc and Lenton. Having praised the Earl and made his observation of how Godiva apparently had no difficulties persuading Leofric to part with money to endow these religious houses, he then goes on to record a story which shows them both in a contradictory light, the Earl mean and despotic and Godiva having to resort to desperate measures to extract money from her husband. His account tells that Godiva longing to free the town of Coventry from heavy tolls appealed to Leofric who rebuked her for advocating an action to his financial detriment. Godiva persevered and at last Leofric said that he would remove the tolls if she rode naked through the market. So Godiva loosed her hair so that it covered her body and then made the journey on horseback attended by two knights, her state of undress unseen except for her legs. Leofric then agreed to remove the tolls and confirmed this by a charter.

Matthew of Westminster writing in the 14th Century recorded a similar story and makes the inference that a miracle took place because the pious lady in her state of undress was not observed by anyone. Ranulphus Higden (d. 1364) monk of St. Werburga’s at Chester also recorded the story but with slight differences, he says Godiva rode at dawn and that Leofric freed Coventry of all tolls or taxes except for those on horses. Henry Knighton c1363 a canon of Saint Mary’s Abbey Leicester also recorded the story and based his version on Higden’s. John Brompton c1436 Abbot of Jorvaux based his version on those of Roger of Wendover and Matthew of Westminster. In addition he noted that Leofric was buried at Coventry in the monastery that he and his Godiva founded, adding "where there is also the shrine containing the arm of St Augustine". John of Tynemouth c1366 a monk of St. Albans who wrote about the lives of various saints recorded a similar version to the original. John Rous, possibly of Brinklow, educated at Oxford and priest of Guys Cliff, Warwick also recorded a similar version. Robert Fabian alderman of the City of London 1493 – 1511 also recorded a similar version of the story but this time in English. A later version was written by Richard Grafton MP for Coventry 1562 – 1563, he was also a printer and a Protestant; again he based his version on previous versions.

Peeping Tom is a much later embellishment of the story dating from the 17th century. Paul de Rapin first recorded Tom in a version of the Godiva story in his ‘History of England’. Burbidge suggests from his investigations that Peeping Tom was invented or introduced just prior to the Restoration, suggesting from evidence he discovered, that for many years after his introduction the character of Tom was dressed in the style of Charles II. This may have been intended originally as a political mockery, or it may have been intended as an insult to the monarchy as being lewd and disrespectful to pious women. By the beginning of the 18th century the character of peeping Tom was firmly established and referred to by several visitors to Coventry including Daniel Defoe. Many of these visitors included a mention of the carved figure of Peeping Tom. Interestingly the carved figure is very old, and predates the introduction of Tom, the carving may have come originally from one of the local religious houses, maybe as a casualty of the dissolution. The figure appears to have originally been the carving of a knight wearing armor and a close fitting helmet and possibly dates to the c14th century.

Burbage reports a tradition recorded by a churchwarden of St. Michael’s church and published in 1876 that the Coventry pageants had been altered when Catholicism was banned. Intended as a mockery a naked woman rode through the streets she was followed by a jester called a Merry Andrew in a house on a cart who was to look at her out of the window and to make rude jokes – another form of peeping Tom. However it seems that following the death from a fall of one jester during the procession no one would take the role and it ceased to be part of the procession. The Godiva pageant in one form or another continued on and off through the years, often with the marked disapproval of the local clergy.

Where history, myth and folklore meet there are often confusions and hybrids, again we have only to look at the many versions of the story of King Arthur. Folklore traditions from the Forest of Arden contain many references to women on horseback, this range from fertility rites to stories of fairy tale. There are ancient traditions of a cult of Godda a Goddess or in other versions a Fairy Queen said to ride about the countryside dressed in green and mounted on a white horse. Some versions of this tradition name her Godiva. So there is potentially a Godda or Godiva of story easily confused in an oral tradition with a Godiva of history. Other local traditions connected to this are to be found in rhyme, for example

‘Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross,

to see a fine lady upon a white horse,

rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

she shall have music wherever she goes’.

In another version the words Coventry Cross replace Banbury Cross. Southam also laid claim to the Godiva figure of history or legend having had in the past a pageant in which a white and a black Godiva figures rode together.

Joan C. Lancaster in ‘Godiva of Coventry’ has a chapter contributed by H. R. Ellis Davidson on local folklore, where a suggestion is made that Godiva was naked in the sense that she was stripped of her finery, her jewellery and adornments which were to be given to the church. Or alternatively that the horse she rode was stripped of finery, where the marks of rank were removed, again as an act of penance or humility. Here the suggestion made is that in the oral tradition of storytelling, this might then have become confused with stories of local pagan fertility rites. These stories or even practices may well have lingered in isolated rural areas in the forest of Arden long after the conversion to Christianity, where a virgin possibly riding on a donkey, was paraded naked around the village and fields in the spring to ensure fertility of the land. Many local traditions still in evidence now have their origins in pre Christian times and are associated with fertility rituals for example well dressing, bonfires and maypole dancing, these would have been held in spring or at midsummer and have their origins in ensuring the fertility of the land and the community.

With the Christian churches ability to adopt and religiously legitimise Pagan festivals by overlaying them with Christian ones it could be argued that the church aimed to disguise or adopt, as Christian, local pagan activities with the construct of the Godiva myth. Indeed by attaching to a fertility rite the name of a pious woman and local benefactor, the community could ensure that the local church could sanction a pagan fertility goddess procession.

An interesting point to note is that before the Norman conquest it is highly likely that Godiva would have been sanctified in some way possibly even sainted for her pious life by the Anglo Saxon church, the political changes and Norman clergy would have prevented this. This represented a financial loss to Coventry and St Mary’s Cathedral, deprived of a sainted attraction to pilgrims. This loss of revenue could in some way be made good by the creation of a legend of a pious lady and her noble ride a story that would draw in visitors to Coventry much as a saint’s shrine would have done. The ingredients were all present, the existence of a pious lady who benefited local religious houses, elements of local folklore about naked rides, plus the added attraction of a protest against unfair taxation. All that was required was a church historian with an active imagination to put the story together and something as lucrative as a local saint was created. Throughout history taxation has never been a popular method of authority raising money from the populace so it follows that protest against taxation is a powerful ingredient to have in a legend. After all without his protests against unfair taxation, and his robbing of the rich to give back to the poor, Robin Hood would have been merely the story of an outlaw criminal rather than an outlaw hero.

In conclusion it seems clear that the historical Godiva whilst pious and generous did not make any sort of tax protesting ride through the streets of Coventry; romantic and heroic though the story is. It was her name and reputation as a virtuous and pious woman that were appropriated to create an enduring myth of innocence and virtue triumphing over cruel tyranny. The myth as part of our cultural heritage is a colourful and interesting way of looking events from the past, there is a danger, however, if we confuse or mix up myth with reality that we fail to find out about and to acknowledge the truth about our historical past. John Tosh in the ‘The Pursuit of History’ 1991 goes further when he states "Myth making about the past, however desirable the end it may serve, is incompatible with learning from the past." A myth is an entertaining story; its purpose is not to record the true past but to weave together elements of romance, heroic deeds around a person or event to promote ideals of justice and freedom from perceived tyranny and to nurture hope in those most likely to feel powerless.

______________

Bibliography

Stenton, Sir Frank - Anglo Saxon England published by Oxford 1971.

Burbidge, F. Bliss - Old Coventry and Lady Godiva.

John Tosh – The Pursuit of History published by Longman 2nd Edition 1991

Lancaster, Joan C. - Godiva of Coventry with a chapter on the folk tradition of story by H. R. Ellis Davidson Coventry Corporation 1967 (Coventry City Council Coventry Papers Vol. 1).

Roger of Wendover - (Flores historarium – English) Vol 1, London: H. G. Bohn, 1894 (Bohn’s antiquarian library) (Translated from latin by G. A. Giles DCL and Henry G. Bohn York Street, Covent Garden M DCCC XLIX).

Whitelock, D. - The Beginnings of English Society; Penguin Books 1952.

William of Malmsbury, - Gesta Regum Anglorum The History of the English Kings Vol 11: Clarendon Press Oxford 1999; introduction and commentary R. N. Thompson and M. Winterbottom.

Anglo Saxon Chronicle; translated, edited and introduced by G. N. Garmonsway, J. M. Dent Ltd., London Everyman’s Library 1992.

English Historical Documents General c500 – 1042 Editor David C. Douglas, Edited by Dorothy Whitelock, Eyre and Spottiswode 1955.

England Before the Conquest, studies in primary sources presented to Dorothy Whitelock; Edited by Peter Clemoes and Kathleen Hughes, Cambridge at the University Press 1971.

The Anglo Saxon Chronicle revised translation; edited by Dorothy Whitelock, David C. Douglas and Susie I Tucker, Eyre and Spottiswode 1965.

How are you related to Lady "Godiva" GODGIFU
Terry Louis Linton © 2011
Linton Research Fund Inc., Publication © 2011
Produced by Legacy 7.5 Thursday, May 26, 2011
LINTON & BIRD Chronicles, Volume VI, Issue 1, Spring © 2011, ISSN 1941-3521

Name Relationship
Lady Radcliffe (Abt 1593-?) ) Wife of 20th Great-Grandson
Malet (Lady) (Abt 1060-?) ) Daughter-in-law
Radcliffe (Lady) (1189-?) Wife of 6th Great-Grandson
Radcliffe (Lady) (1215-?) Wife of 7th Great-Grandson
Tailbois (Lady) (Abt 1070-?) Wife of 2nd Great-Grandson
ADAMS, (Mr. ) (Abt 1930-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
ADAMS, Clark (1864-?) 29th Great-Grandson
ADAMS, John O. (Abt 1840-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
ADAMS, Thomas M. (Abt 1837-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
AGNUS, Madaline (1913-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
AGNUS, Peter Jr. (Abt 1891-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
ALLISON, George (Abt 1925-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
ANDERSON, Esther (Abt 1805-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
ARNOLD, Laura Virginia (1844-1909) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
ASHAWE, Anne (1547-?) Wife of 18th Great-Grandson
ATKINSON, John (Abt 1734-?) Husband of 25th Great-Granddaughter
BAKER, Matilda A. (1864-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
BAKER, Phebe (1678-?) Wife of 23rd Great-Grandson
BARCOLOW, Gertrude (Abt 1889-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
BASS, Benjamin Wade (1878-?) 29th Great-Grandson
BASS, Frank (1876-?) 29th Great-Grandson
BASS, Hiram H. (1840-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
BASS, Jennie (1874-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
BASS, Mary Emily (1872-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
BATTEN, Elizabeth (Abt 1828-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
BEANS, Christiania C. (Abt 1829-1927) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, Becky Elaine (1989-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
BEAVERS, Charles Richard (1929-2008) 31st Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, David Allen (1942-?) 31st Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, Deborah Ann (1954-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
BEAVERS, James Richard (1959-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, James S. (1908-1982) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BEAVERS, Jeffery James (1988-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, Jeffery Michael (1963-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
BEAVERS, Keyleigh Nicale (1986-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
BEAVERS, Pamela "Pam" Marie (1957-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
BEAVERS, Sally Anne (1944-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
BELLINGHAM, Katherine (1510-?) Wife of 17th Great-Grandson
BELT, John Peyton Jr. (Abt 1900-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BELT, L. Anna (1921-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
BELT, Mary Irene (1919-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
BENNETT, Elizabeth M. (Abt 1808-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
BETTS, Elizabeth (1824-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
BILLS, Deliverance (1703-1783) Wife of 24th Great-Grandson
BIRD, Evelyn Virginia "Polly" (1922-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
BLAINE, Sarah (Abt 1803-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
BLY, Anthony Clyde (1947-?) 31st Great-Grandson
BLY, Clyde Bronson (1921-1994) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BLY, Elizabeth Ann "Betty" (1954-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
BLY, Garry Wayne (1949-?) 31st Great-Grandson
BLY, Joseph Bronson (1977-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
BLY, Katherine Lea (1969-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
BOOTH, Alice (1477-?) Wife of 16th Great-Grandson
BOOTH, Anne (1479-1508) Wife of 16th Great-Grandson
BOOTH, Lady (1126-?) Wife of 4th Great-Grandson
BOTELER, Isabella Le (1243-?) Wife of 8th Great-Grandson
BOURLAND, Diane Marie (1958-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
BOWMAN, Paulette Michelle (1973-?) Wife of 32nd Great-Grandson
BRADDOCK, Harry Sr. (1882-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BRADDOCK, Harry Jr. (1910-?) 31st Great-Grandson
BRADDOCK, Mahlon (1908-?) 31st Great-Grandson
BRERETON, Elizabeth (1458-1497) Wife of 15th Great-Grandson
BRIGGS, Mary (1773-1836) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
BRODKIN, Helen (1922-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
BRODKIN, Joseph (Abt 1904-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Agnes (1796-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Elizabeth (1806-1880) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Ellen (Abt 1769-?) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, George (1808-1809) 27th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, Hannah (1794-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Hannah (1780-1849) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, Joseph (1752-1828) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Joseph (1799-1828) 27th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, Letitia (1804-1882) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Levi (1810-1893) 27th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, Linton (1801-1827) 27th Great-Grandson
BUCKMAN, Martha (1795-1870) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUCKMAN, Sarah (1793-1870) 27th Great-Granddaughter
BUFFINGTON, S. Anna (Abt 1836-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
BURK, Abigail (Abt 1816-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
BURSON, Sarah Twining (Abt 1805-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
BURT, Allen (1873-1873) 29th Great-Grandson
BURT, Edith (1870-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
BURT, Edwin Oscar (1841-1895) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
BURT, Lillian (1868-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
BUTLER, Randoulph Irvin Jr. (1946-1946) 31st Great-Grandson
BUTLER, Randoulph Irvin Sr. (1918-2007) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
BYNUM, Tracy Lynn (1967-?) Wife of 32nd Great-Grandson
CARVER, Louisa F. (Abt 1817-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
CARY, Mary (Abt 1776-1815) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
CARY, Mary Louise (1864-1963) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
CASTNER, Helen (Abt 1864-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
CATERALL, Ann (Abt 1502-1540) Wife of 17th Great-Grandson
CHAMBERS, James Monroe (1817-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Charles Jr. (1788-?) 26th Great-Grandson
CHAPMAN, Charles Sr. (1754-1838) Husband of 25th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Elizabeth (1783-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Isaiah (1778-?) 26th Great-Grandson
CHAPMAN, Joseph A. (1791-?) 26th Great-Grandson
CHAPMAN, Letitia (1790-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Mary (1786-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Mercy (1784-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Rebecca (1780-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CHAPMAN, Stephen (1781-?) 26th Great-Grandson
CHAPMAN, Susanna (1777-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
COMLY, Joseph R. (Abt 1852-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
CONJA, Martha (Abt 1864-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
CONOVER, Ellen C. (1888-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
COOK, Charity (Abt 1827-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
COOKSEY, Ralph (1891-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
COOPER, Frederick Edmund IV (1956-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
COOPER, Frederick Edmund V (1988-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
COOPER, Holly Marie (1993-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Aaron Linton (1864-?) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, Elizabeth Caroline (1851-1937) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Isaac A. (1824-1904) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Isaac Newton (1853-1933) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, Job Anderson (1860-1942) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, Martha Lodemia (1862-1940) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Mary Almeda (1858-1859) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Nora (1867-1868) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Rhoda Anderson (1856-1874) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Silas Harvey (1849-1889) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, Son (1869-?) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, Stella (1870-1954) 29th Great-Granddaughter
COVAULT, Wilbur Ray (1881-1895) 29th Great-Grandson
COVAULT, William Hamilton (1847-1926) 29th Great-Grandson
COWGILL, Diane Elizabeth (Abt 1963-?) Wife of 32nd Great-Grandson
COX, Augustus (Doctor ) (Abt 1829-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Aaron (1791-1869) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Abi (1753-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Ann (1776-1852) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Deborah (1788-1861) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Hannah (1831-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Infant (Abt 1789-Abt 1789) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Infant (Abt 1790-Abt 1790) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Infant (Abt 1791-Abt 1791) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Jeremiah (1751-1829) 26th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Jeremiah Woolston (1793-1873) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, John Wilson (1829-1894) 28th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Joseph H. (1806-?) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Macre (1760-1782) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Macre (1783-1862) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Margery (1758-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Margery (1779-1861) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Martha (1796-1881) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Mary (1803-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Mary E. (Abt 1869-1905) 29th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Mary Woolston (1826-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Rachel (1773-1834) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Rachel (1807-1815) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Rachel (1756-?) 26th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Robert Jr. (1763-1821) 26th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Robert (1781-1847) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Robert Sr. (1728-1780) Husband of 25th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Robert M. (1864-?) 29th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Robert Morris (1812-?) 27th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Robert Morris (1834-?) 28th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Sarah (1774-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Tabitha (1786-1860) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CROASDALE, Thomas Parry (Abt 1866-?) 29th Great-Grandson
CROASDALE, Tracy (1819-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
CRONK, Annie Lucretia (1888-1956) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
DALE, Elizabeth (Abt 1803-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
DAVIS, George E. Sr. (1861-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
DAVIS, George E. Jr. (1887-1887) 30th Great-Grandson
DAVIS, Grace May (1879-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
DAVIS, Ralph (1888-1902) 30th Great-Grandson
DAVIS, William (1890-?) 30th Great-Grandson
DEPEW, Isaac (Abt 1827-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
DESHONG, Amanda (1996-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
DESHONG, Kimberly Ann (1968-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
DESHONG, Nickols Lee (1998-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
DESHONG, Richard Lee Sr. (1943-?) Husband of 31st Great-Granddaughter
DESHONG, Richard Lee Jr. (1967-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
DEXTER, Charles Amory (1887-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
DEXTER, Edith S. (1906-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DEXTER, Jane Mcdougald (1914-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DEXTER, Lydia Helen (1910-1910) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DEXTER, Mary F. (1913-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DOVERSPIKE, Brayden Ryan (2011-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
DOVERSPIKE, Ryan Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Caroline Steward (1889-1890) 30th Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Ella Steward (1887-1920) 30th Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Evelyn (1917-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Franklin II (1863-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Franklin III (1888-?) 30th Great-Grandson
DRIVER, George Willard (1894-?) 30th Great-Grandson
DRIVER, Lauretta (1898-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Linton Mary (1891-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Pearl (1913-1914) 31st Great-Granddaughter
DRIVER, Sarah Linton (1896-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
DUNGAN, Clara (Abt 1821-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
DUNGAN, Mary S. (1828-1874) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
EARLY, Mr. (Abt 1926-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
EASTBURN, Samuel (1759-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
EVANS, Sarah M. (1851-1881) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
FLING, Charles (Abt 1900-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
FLING, James (1919-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, Charles Edmund (1879-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, Charles Edmund Jr. (1909-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, John Davis (1910-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, Lydia C. (1882-1926) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOLWELL, Nathan T. (1919-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, Robert Cook Jr. (1884-1928) 30th Great-Grandson
FOLWELL, Robert Cook Sr. (1842-1911) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
FOLWELL, Thomas Howard (1880-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOULKE, Susan (Abt 1805-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Ada (1890-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Brenda Lyman (1884-1963) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Charles H. Sr. (1833-1872) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Charles Henry Jr. (1857-?) 29th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Charles Thomas (1885-1982) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Clara Deborah (1883-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Elizabeth Linton (1887-1973) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Ella Linton (1893-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Emma Bowers (1891-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Frank Linton Jr. (1904-1904) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Frank Linton Sr. (1865-?) 29th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Hazel Kirk (1894-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Infant (Abt 1890-Abt 1890) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Iona Rettew (1898-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, James Hazlet (1896-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, John C. (1921-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Laura (1886-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Laura J. (1883-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Lewis C. (1890-1891) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Lewis Linton (1859-1914) 29th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Lewis M. (1891-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Mahlon F. (1861-?) 29th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Mahlon Funk (1886-1929) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Mary Devinney (1826-1895) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Matilda M. (1888-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
FOWLER, Milton Schefield (1906-1906) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Oscar (1892-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Oscar Linton (1889-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Robert Bushiner Jr. (1923-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Robert Bushiner Sr. (1896-1933) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Thomas (Abt 1893-?) 30th Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Thomas (1895-?) 31st Great-Grandson
FOWLER, Walter (1867-1867) 29th Great-Grandson
FRENCH, Ellis (1836-1897) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
FULLER, Eugene (Abt 1866-?) 29th Great-Grandson
FULLER, Harry (Abt 1831-1872) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
FULLER, Sarah Caroline (Abt 1871-Abt 1891) 29th Great-Granddaughter
GABRIEL, J. Edward (1923-?) 31st Great-Grandson
GABRIEL, William Otto Jr (1913-?) 31st Great-Grandson
GABRIEL, William Otto Sr. (1888-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
GANN, Alice (1887-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
GILLINGHAM, Mary Elizabeth (1857-1918) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
GODGIFU, "Godiva" (Lady) (Abt 1004-1080) Self
GOODWIN, Nicodemus (Abt 1810-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
GRAFF, Sarah Jane (1843-1908) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
HADLEY, Ann H. (Abt 1832-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
HALL, John (Abt 1684-1768) Husband of 23rd Great-Granddaughter
HALL, Priscilla (1709-1710) 24th Great-Granddaughter
HALL, Rebecca (1714-?) 24th Great-Granddaughter
HALL, Robert (1711-1716) 24th Great-Grandson
HALLOWELL, Edwin Joseph (1900-?) 30th Great-Grandson
HALLOWELL, Edwin S. (1852-1921) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Emma Lloyd (1890-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Florence (1882-1894) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Frances S. (1891-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Hannah Lloyd (1886-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Joesphine (1894-1895) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Lydia (1884-1891) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Mary Lloyd (1888-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HALLOWELL, Rebecca (1893-1901) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HAMM, Joy Carlene (1975-?) Wife of 32nd Great-Grandson
HANNES, Samuel (Abt 1751-?) Husband of 25th Great-Granddaughter
HARGRAVES, Jeneta (Abt 1572-?) Wife of 19th Great-Grandson
HARGREAVES, Alice (Abt 1623-?) Wife of 21st Great-Grandson
HARRINGTON, Agnes (1420-1490) Wife of 13th Great-Grandson
HARRINGTON, Isabella (1418-1440) Wife of 13th Great-Grandson
HARVEY, Letitia (1748-1817) Wife of 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Benjamin (1773-1849) 26th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Bezaleel (1766-1841) 26th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Cuthbert (1706-1763) 24th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Cuthbert (1731-1795) 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Deliverance (1729-1754) 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Elizabeth (1709-1795) 24th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Elizabeth (1771-1846) 26th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Elizabeth (1741-1753) 25th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, John (1729-1811) 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, John (1776-1777) 26th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Joseph (1744-1818) 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, Margery (1768-1858) 26th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Margery (1729-1783) 25th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Mary (1703-1729) 24th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Rachel (1738-1754) 25th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Rachel (1765-1836) 26th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Rachel (1711-?) 24th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Ruth (1777-1861) 26th Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, Thomas (1736-?) 25th Great-Grandson
HAYHURST, William (1670-1713) Husband of 23rd Great-Granddaughter
HAYHURST, William (1733-Bef 1798) 25th Great-Grandson
HENSLEY, Elizabeth (Abt 1812-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
HERITAGE, William (Abt 1830-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
HINDS, William (Abt 1830-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
HINKSON, Blake Alexander Linton (1998-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
HINKSON, Marco Trenton (1972-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
HINKSON, Trent Anthony Linton (2001-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
HIRST, Sarah (1742-1823) Wife of 25th Great-Grandson
HOHLFIELD, Adelin (Abt 1893-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
HOLAND, Joane de (1273-1326) Wife of 9th Great-Grandson
HOLLIS, Alaina Lucille (1982-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
HOLLIS, Allison Marie (1978-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
HOLLIS, Harris Whitton II (Doctor ) (1950-?) Husband of 31st Great-Granddaughter
HOLLIS, Harris Whitton III (1987-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
HOLLIS, Jeffrey Theodore (1989-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
HOLSENBACK, Drew (Abt 1986-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
HOUGE, (Mr. ) (Abt 1905-?) Husband of 31st Great-Granddaughter
HOUGH, Joseph Jr. (1758-?) Husband of 25th Great-Granddaughter
HOUGH, Sarah (1726-?) Wife of 24th Great-Grandson
HOWES, Horace B. Jr. (1861-1936) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
HOWES, May Nellie Lee (1885-1941) 30th Great-Granddaughter
HUGHES, Amos (Abt 1780-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
HUSSEY, Audrey Marie (1928-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
IVINS, William H. (1840-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
JANNEY, Mary (1825-1851) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
JANNEY, Mary (Abt 1741-1795) Wife of 25th Great-Grandson
JENKINS, John (Abt 1828-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
JESPERSEN, Bjorn (Abt 1982-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
JESPERSEN, Dexter (2011-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
JONES, Cecilia (1832-1834) 28th Great-Granddaughter
JONES, Emily (1822-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
JONES, Joseph L. Jr. (1836-1836) 28th Great-Grandson
JONES, Joseph L. Sr. (1796-1852) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
JONES, Louisa (1821-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
JONES, Rachel (1818-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
JONES, William (Abt 1786-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
JOYCE, (Mr. ) (Abt 1893-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
JOYCE, Clara (Abt 1923-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
JOYCE, Frances (Abt 1925-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
KELLAMS, Linda (Abt 1947-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
KESTER, Benjamin (Abt 1780-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
KING, John (Abt 1830-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
KIRBY, Amos (1889-?) 30th Great-Grandson
KIRBY, Clayton G. (Abt 1857-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
KIRKBRIDE, Charles W. (Abt 1830-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
KNIGHT, Barcley (Abt 1816-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
KNIGHT, Tacy (Abt 1763-1791) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
KOCHER, Sarah (1810-1870) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
LANCASTER, Ann Stokes (1810-1842) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
LANCASTER, Lydia (1820-1899) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
LEE, Clara Mariah Independence (1863-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
LEE, Laura C. (1867-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
LEE, Mary (1864-1926) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
LEIGH, Matilda de (1305-1380) Wife of 10th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Albert James (1806-1875) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Alexandra Louise (2007-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Amanda Marie (1978-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Andrea Ann (1951-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ann (1830-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ann Croasdale (1815-1895) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Anna M. R. (1824-1895) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Asa Cary (1797-1865) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Asenath (1831-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Bernadette "Bernie" Thelma (1921-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Caroline (1835-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Caroline "Carrie" E. (1868-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Catherine Arnold (1873-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Charles (1828-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Charles (1886-1893) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Charles "Charlie" Edward (1890-1958) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Charles Foulke (1825-1905) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Clark (1839-1865) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Cyrus B. (1826-1891) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Cyrus Waterman (1858-1910) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, David (1804-1828) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, David (1736-1739) 25th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Deborah Caroline (1834-1916) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Deborah Caroline (1819-1894) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Edith (1895-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Edmund Graff (1879-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Edward R. (1822-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Elizabeth (1751-1795) 25th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Elizabeth (1768-1832) 26th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Elizabeth (1793-1844) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Elizabeth (1797-1876) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Elizabeth Anderson (1830-1910) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Elizabeth Gillingham (1891-1892) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ella Grant (1863-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ellen (1831-1912) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ellen (1843-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Emily (1841-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Emma (1845-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Emma Caroline (1829-1909) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Esther (1847-1929) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Esther (1800-1862) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Evans (1828-1907) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Florence Avis (1912-1990) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Frances (1803-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Frances (1855-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Francis "Frank" Charles (1844-1911) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Franklin Janney (1846-1919) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Frederic (1824-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Georganna (1916-1916) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, George Croasdale (1802-1863) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Hannah (1818-1835) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Harriet (1810-1846) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Harriet (1831-1916) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Harrison (1845-1929) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Harry (Abt 1882-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Harry R. (1897-1925) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Harvey (Abt 1852-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Henry (1847-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Henry R. (1866-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Ida (Abt 1854-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Infant (1799-1799) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Infant (1822-1822) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Isaiah (Master millwright ) (1739-1775) 25th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Isaiah (1798-1868) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Isaiah (1816-1877) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Isaiah Alexander (2002-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
LINTON, Isaiah Waterman (1860-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jacob (1732-1775) 25th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jacqueline Zoe (2010-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, James Sr. (Abt 1828-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, James (1769-1854) 26th Great-Grandson
LINTON, James Jr. (Abt 1850-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, James Jr. (1812-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, James Hollinshead (Abt 1834-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jeremiah Croasdale (1821-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jerome D. (1839-1910) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jesse (1888-?) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John (1706-1761) Husband of 24th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, John (1812-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Sr. (1767-1836) 26th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Jr. (1795-1871) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Edward Jr. (1889-1889) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Edward (1952-?) 31st Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Edward (1838-1901) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Edward Charles (1910-1911) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, John Penquite (1835-1915) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Jonathan (Abt 1826-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Joseph (1878-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Joseph (Abt 1794-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Joseph Burson (1828-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Joseph Wildman (1819-1890) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Josephine Gilbert (1850-1872) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Karen Ann (1971-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Katherine "Kate" Ann (1977-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Kenneth Edward (1945-?) 31st Great-Grandson
LINTON, Kirk Louis (1914-1987) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Laura Alberta (1853-1915) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Laura Ellicott (1766-1825) 26th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Letitia (Abt 1809-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Lewis (1865-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Lewis Colbert (Doctor ) (1803-1876) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Lizzie (Abt 1852-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Louise Levis (1858-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Madeline "Madge" Elizabeth (1922-1991) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mahlon (1806-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Marietta (1835-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Martha (1744-1744) 25th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Martha Twining (1830-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary (Abt 1881-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary (1801-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary Ann (1828-Bef 1876) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary M. (Abt 1833-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary Virginia (1872-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Mary Waterman (1853-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Maurice Peter (Doctor ) (1807-1872) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Michael Devon (1976-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
LINTON, Morris (1848-Bef 1860) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Nancy Suzanne (1968-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Penquite (Abt 1769-?) 26th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Penquite (1808-1850) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Rachel (1820-1888) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Ralph (1893-1953) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Rebecca (1852-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Rebekah (1734-1810) 25th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Richard Janney (1849-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Robert Henry (1809-1884) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Ruth B. (1899-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Samuel Buckman (1803-1860) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Sarah (Abt 1810-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah (1827-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah (1774-1817) 26th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah Ann (1822-1901) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah Burson (Abt 1850-After 1922) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah Carlton (1814-1888) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah E. (1871-1950) 29th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah V. (1859-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Sarah W. (1834-1850) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Silas Carey (1805-1834) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Susan Twining (1835-1903) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Tacie (1837-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, Terry Louis (1949-?) 31st Great-Grandson
LINTON, Theodore "Ted" Francis (1917-1970) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Thomas Sr. (1768-1829) 26th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Thomas (1808-1833) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Thomas Jr. (1807-1824) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Thomas Beans (1864-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, Travis Louis (1971-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
LINTON, Wade Farris (1974-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
LINTON, Wilhelmina (Abt 1790-?) 27th Great-Granddaughter
LINTON, William (Abt 1824-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William (Esquire ) (1742-1802) 25th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William (1772-1848) 26th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William (Abt 1811-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William (1883-?) 30th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William Anderson (Abt 1832-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William Beans (1855-?) 28th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William Hirst (1817-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William Hirst (1801-?) 27th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William L. (1876-?) 29th Great-Grandson
LINTON, William Smith (1820-1895) 28th Great-Grandson
LIPPINCOTT, Anna Holmes (1857-1919) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
LIVEZEY, Daniel (Abt 1758-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
LOVETT, Mary E. (1856-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
MALET, Aelfger (1060-?) Son
MALET, Leofric The Great (Lord ) (1003-1057) Husband
MALET, Lucia (1032-1066) Granddaughter
MANYETTE, Bernard (Abt 1909-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
MARTIN, Frances (1911-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
MARTIN, Gertrude (1905-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
MARTIN, May (Abt 1903-?) 31st Great-Grandson
MARTIN, Patrick Henry Jr. (Abt 1879-1935) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
MATHER, Elizabeth (Abt 1860-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
McCANDLESS, Julia (Abt 1880-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
McCURRY, Doretha Loretta (1950-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
McKINNEY, R. B. (Abt 1869-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
McLAUGHLIN, James (Abt 1863-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
McLEOD, Grace (Abt 1781-?) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
McMILLAN, Sylvia B. (Abt 1832-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
McPHELPS, Robert (Abt 1859-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
MENDLER, Adolphus (1823-1863) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
MENDLER, Emma Caroline "Carrie" (1855-1944) 29th Great-Granddaughter
MENDLER, John (1860-?) 29th Great-Grandson
MENDLER, Rosealia Linton (1857-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
MENDLER, Sarah Linton (1858-1939) 29th Great-Granddaughter
MILLER, Elsie R. (Abt 1885-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
MITCHELL, Cynthia A. (Abt 1806-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
MONTBEGON, Cecilia de (1165-1225) Wife of 5th Great-Grandson
MOORE, Earl A. P. (Abt 1888-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
MOSSBRUCHER, John (1888-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
MOSSBRUCHER, Mary Elizabeth (1918-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
MULLOY, Mr. (Abt 1870-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
MUNGER, James (Abt 1824-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
NATH, Caroline (1913-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
NATH, Ruth Augusta (1916-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
NATH, Walter D. (1890-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
PALCH, Ralph (Abt 1888-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
PARRY, Elizabeth B. (1832-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
PATTERSON, Thomas M. (Abt 1814-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
PATTON, Peggy Elaine (Abt 1959-?) Wife of 32nd Great-Grandson
PAXSON, Moses (Abt 1826-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
PENNINGTON, Leah Louise (Abt 1845-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
PENNOCK, Elizabeth (Abt 1884-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
PENQUITE, Jane Smith (1798-1875) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
PENQUITE, Sarah (1732-1786) Wife of 25th Great-Grandson
PERCIVAL, Franklin G. (1855-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
PERRY, Alice (1879-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
PETTY, Christine "Chris" Betty (1950-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
PHILLIPS, Aaron (Abt 1774-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
PHILLIPS, Anna (1814-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
PHILLIPS, Charles (1820-?) 28th Great-Grandson
PHILLIPS, Martha (1823-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
PHILLIPS, Mary (Abt 1816-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
PIDGEON, Achsah (Abt 1832-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
PULLEY, Broc Adam (1990-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
PULLEY, Mr. Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
QUINBY, Anne (1749-1831) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Adam de (1241-?) 8th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Agnes (1341-?) 11th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Agnes (1641-1700) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Alexander (1534-1568) 18th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Alexander II (1442-1478) 14th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Alexander (1416-1476) 13th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Alexander (1473-1549) 16th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Alice (1538-?) 18th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Alice (1648-?) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Alice (1649-1692) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Alured (1388-1462) 12th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Anne (1464-1536) 15th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Anne (1510-?) 17th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Anne (1479-?) 16th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Anne (1438-1497) 14th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Christiana (1480-?) 16th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Edmund (1384-1446) 12th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Edmund (1508-?) 17th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Edward (1678-1714) 23rd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Eleanor (1460-1532) 15th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Eleanore (1512-1612) 17th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Eleanore (1488-?) 15th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Elizabeth (Abt 1595-?) 20th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Elizabeth (1659-1721) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Elizabeth (1387-1438) 12th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Elizabeth (1512-?) 17th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Ellen (1540-?) 18th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Henry de (1185-1211) 6th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Henry de (Lord ) (1122-1190) 4th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Isabel (1647-1687) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Isabella (1441-1497) 14th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, James (1704-?) 24th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, James (Abt 1620-?) 21st Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, James (Minster ) (1645-1690) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Joan (1425-?) 13th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Joan (1380-1399) 12th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, John (1333-1422) 11th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1705-?) 24th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1365-1442) 12th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1657-1735) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1657-?) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1480-1527) 16th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1536-?) 18th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1414-1444) 13th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John (1454-1497) 15th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John de (1269-1357) 9th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, John de (1211-?) 7th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Katherine (1486-1496) 16th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Margery (1281-1335) 9th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Margery (1482-?) 16th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Mary Jane (1642-?) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Nicholas Fitz-Gilbert de Tailbois de (1097-?) 3rd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Peter (1386-1468) 12th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Rachel (1682-1715) 23rd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Rebecca (Abt 1726-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Rebecca (1684-1714) 23rd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1614-1675) 21st Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1661-1721) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1301-1380) 10th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1675-?) 23rd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1593-?) 20th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (Abt 1572-?) 19th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1280-?) 9th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1474-?) 16th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1360-?) 12th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1542-1601) 18th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard (1645-1718) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Richard de (1239-1303) 8th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Robert (1416-?) 13th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Robert (1440-?) 14th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Robert de (1237-?) 8th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Samuel (1642-?) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, Susan (1663-1664) 22nd Great-Granddaughter
RADCLIFFE, William (1265-?) 9th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William Master Forester (1502-1568) 17th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William (1436-1498) 14th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William (1270-1333) 9th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William (1643-1645) 22nd Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William de (1325-?) 11th Great-Grandson
RADCLIFFE, William de (Lord ) (1160-1211) 5th Great-Grandson
RADCLYFFE, Amabil (1309-?) 10th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLYFFE, Ellen (1304-?) 10th Great-Granddaughter
RADCLYFFE, Hugh de (1400-1444) 13th Great-Grandson
RADCLYFFE, John (1303-?) 10th Great-Grandson
RADCLYFFE, Julia (1307-?) 10th Great-Granddaughter
RAGSDALE, Bobbie Lougenia "Ginny" (1951-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
RAWSTHORNE, Alice (1618-1670) Wife of 21st Great-Grandson
RAWSTHORNE, Mary (1640-1715) Wife of 22nd Great-Grandson
REEDER, Childion G. (Abt 1854-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
REEDER, Laura Ella (1882-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
REREJUSTE, Gee (Abt 1977-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
RICHARDSON, Ruth (1773-1854) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Albert (1856-1857) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Ann (1846-1846) 28th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Ann Linton (1854-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Ann Shoemaker (1931-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Benjamin Franklin (1849-?) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Charlotte Taylor (1926-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Deborah (Abt 1932-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Ella Croasdale (1859-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Elmer Ellsworth (1860-1864) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Henry Lovett (1888-1959) 29th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Kinsey E. (1851-?) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Lily Hill (1883-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Mahlon (1815-1903) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Mary Elizabeth (1925-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
RIDGE, Mauhice Linton (1847-?) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Morris (1847-?) 28th Great-Grandson
RIDGE, Samuel Leroy (1885-?) 29th Great-Grandson
RITCHIE, Branson (Abt 1981-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
RITCHIE, Branson M. (1999-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
RITCHIE, Brayden S. (2002-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
ROBERTS, Charles (Abt 1800-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
ROSS, Joseph W. (Abt 1863-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
RUSSELL, Martha Marie (1931-2007) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
SAURMAN, Ada May (1864-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Annie (1863-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Carrie (1852-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, George Washington (1821-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Harry (1878-?) 29th Great-Grandson
SAURMAN, Johamal (1870-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Joseph F. (1860-?) 29th Great-Grandson
SAURMAN, Linton (1862-?) 29th Great-Grandson
SAURMAN, Marian (1873-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Sallie (1856-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAURMAN, Virginia (1869-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
SAUTER, Katherine Wilhelmina (1888-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
SAXON, Eleanor Moffat (Abt 1806-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
SCOTT, Malinda (Abt 1830-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
SEYFARTH, George Jr. (Abt 1893-1920) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
SEYFARTH, Harry Emmon (1918-?) 31st Great-Grandson
SHAUBELLE, Anna (Abt 1851-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
SHEPPARD, Edith (Abt 1828-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
SHOEMAKER, Elizabeth Logan Fretz (1899-1977) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
SIDDONS, Anna Maria (Abt 1788-?) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
SIDDONS, Sarah (Abt 1791-?) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
SINER, David Lybrand (Abt 1913-?) 31st Great-Grandson
SINER, Edwin Gann (Abt 1912-?) 31st Great-Grandson
SINER, Joseph Linton (1885-?) 30th Great-Grandson
SINER, Joseph Lybrand (1837-1905) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
SINER, Nancy (Abt 1910-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
SINER, Raymond K. (1891-?) 30th Great-Grandson
SINER, Robert Kinsley (1911-?) 31st Great-Grandson
SINER, Thomas England (1896-?) 30th Great-Grandson
SMILEY, Mary Ann (1832-1876) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
SMITH, Anna Linton (1852-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, Emma Linton (1855-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, Jean Linton (1866-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, John W. (Abt 1841-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, Joseph Linton (1853-?) 28th Great-Grandson
SMITH, Kay (1930-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
SMITH, Sarah B. (Abt 1827-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
SMITH, Sarah Linton (1863-?) 28th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, William (Abt 1822-1904) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
SMITH, William Linton (1856-?) 28th Great-Grandson
SPENCER, Martha (Abt 1853-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
STANDISH, Clemence (1377-?) Wife of 12th Great-Grandson
STAPLER, Martha (Abt 1675-?) Wife of 23rd Great-Grandson
STEWARD, Caroline Kocher (1853-1938) 29th Great-Granddaughter
STEWARD, Charles (1829-1883) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
STEWARD, Deborah F. (1857-1941) 29th Great-Granddaughter
STEWARD, Ella (1860-Abt 1899) 29th Great-Granddaughter
STEWARD, Mary Kocher (1854-1884) 29th Great-Granddaughter
STEWARD, Sarah Linton (1862-1939) 29th Great-Granddaughter
STEWART, Sarah (Abt 1806-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
STONE, Melvin (Abt 1843-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
STONESTREET, Sallie Fenmor (1861-1926) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
STRATTON, Joseph P. (Abt 1860-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
SUMMERS, Martha R. (1877-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
TAILBOIS, Aelftred de (1045-?) Great-Grandson
TAILBOIS, Gilbert de Frunesco (1070-1138) 2nd Great-Grandson
TAILBOIS, Ivo de (1020-1094) Husband of Granddaughter
TAILBOIS, Lady de (Abt 1097-?) Wife of 3rd Great-Grandson
TAYLOR, Charlotte (Abt 1885-?) Wife of 29th Great-Grandson
TAYLOR, Christina "Tina" Louise (1983-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
TAYLOR, Crystal Lynn (1980-?) 33rd Great-Granddaughter
TAYLOR, Herbert Roger Jr. (1954-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
TAYLOR, Michael Douglas (1977-?) 33rd Great-Grandson
TAYLOR, Mildred (1898-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Albert (1855-?) 29th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Annie (1839-1859) 28th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Charles (1865-?) 29th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, David (1827-?) 28th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Ella (1876-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Hannah (1829-1896) 28th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Jennie (1848-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Jessie (1821-1843) 28th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, John Linton (1836-?) 28th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Joseph (1796-1887) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Joseph (1849-?) 29th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Nella (1883-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Ruth (1823-1842) 28th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, Stephen (1832-?) 28th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Thomas (1830-?) 28th Great-Grandson
THATCHER, Vimoronie (1868-?) 29th Great-Granddaughter
THATCHER, William (1825-1893) 28th Great-Grandson
THOMAN, Clarence Willard (1916-?) 30th Great-Grandson
THOMAN, William Watson (Abt 1882-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
THOMPSON, Sidney Ann (Abt 1825-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
TOMLINSON, C. Ernest (Abt 1891-?) Husband of 30th Great-Granddaughter
TOMLINSON, Samuel D. (Abt 1855-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
TOOMBS, William Michael (Abt 1966-?) Husband of 32nd Great-Granddaughter
TRAFFORD, Jane de (1423-1490) Wife of 14th Great-Grandson
TRAFFORD, Margaret (Abt 1502-?) Wife of 17th Great-Grandson
TRAFFORD, Margaret de (1338-1434) Wife of 11th Great-Grandson
TREGE, Albert (Abt 1835-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
TREGO, Smith (Abt 1814-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
UNCLES, Anna (1888-?) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
VIAR, Candice Elizabeth (1981-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
VIAR, Dennis Franklin Jr. (1983-?) 32nd Great-Grandson
VIAR, Dennis Franklin Sr. (Abt 1954-?) Husband of 31st Great-Granddaughter
VIAR, Shlease Marie (1986-?) 32nd Great-Granddaughter
VOLONINO, Lucy Ann (1913-2001) Wife of 30th Great-Grandson
WALL, Andrew J. (1908-1917) 30th Great-Grandson
WALL, Helen (1909-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WALL, Janice Marlene (1944-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
WALL, Joseph (1913-?) 30th Great-Grandson
WALL, Laura (1904-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WALL, Mary (1902-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WALL, William T. (1876-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
WALTER, Wilmer A. (1853-1883) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
WALTER, Wilmer Leslie (1881-?) 30th Great-Grandson
WATERMAN, Hannah (1830-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
WATSON, Joseph (Abt 1756-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
WEBSTER, Ruthanna (Abt 1778-?) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
WEEKS, Stephen (Abt 1820-?) Husband of 27th Great-Granddaughter
WEST, Rebecca (Abt 1705-?) Wife of 24th Great-Grandson
WHETHELL, Ann (1458-1534) Wife of 15th Great-Grandson
WHITE, Elizabeth (Abt 1801-?) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
WHITNEY, Florence (Abt 1855-?) Wife of 28th Great-Grandson
WIDDECKE, Patricia Ann (1945-?) Wife of 31st Great-Grandson
WIGGINS, Bezaleel (Abt 1711-?) Husband of 24th Great-Granddaughter
WIGGINS, Mary (1742-1818) Wife of 25th Great-Grandson
WILDMAN, Ann (Abt 1723-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
WILDMAN, Elizabeth (Abt 1724-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
WILDMAN, Hannah (1792-1872) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
WILDMAN, James (Abt 1723-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
WILDMAN, Martin (Abt 1722-?) 25th Great-Grandson
WILDMAN, Mary (1728-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
WILDMAN, Matthew (1678-1741) Husband of 24th Great-Granddaughter
WILDMAN, Rachel (Abt 1725-?) 25th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Bertha (1907-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Caroline Olive (1895-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Emory D. (1868-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Genevieve (1905-1916) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Harold (1918-?) 31st Great-Grandson
WILSON, Irene J. (1900-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Jacob Jr. (1919-?) 31st Great-Grandson
WILSON, Jacob Sr. (1895-?) 30th Great-Grandson
WILSON, Marma (1928-?) 31st Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Mary E. (1893-?) 30th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Robert (Abt 1784-?) Husband of 26th Great-Granddaughter
WILSON, Sarah (1799-1866) Wife of 27th Great-Grandson
WILSON, Theodore F. Jr. (1898-?) 30th Great-Grandson
WILSON, Theodore F. Sr. (1869-?) Husband of 29th Great-Granddaughter
WOOLSTON, Hannah (Abt 1763-1793) Wife of 26th Great-Grandson
YOUNG, John S. (Abt 1823-?) Husband of 28th Great-Granddaughter
How are you related to Lady "Godiva" GODGIFU
Terry Louis Linton © 2011
Linton Research Fund Inc., Publication © 2011
Produced by Legacy 7.5 Thursday, May 26, 2011
LINTON & BIRD Chronicles, Volume VI, Issue 1, Spring © 2011, ISSN 1941-3521

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