Our Kinship With Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer (<em>alias</em> Diana, Princess of Wales)

Our Kinship With Sir Winston Spencer-Churchill and Lady Diana Spencer (alias Diana, Princess of Wales)

In the recent history of England, the ancient noble family of Spencer of Althorp has risen to renewed prominence on account two notable bearers of the Spencer name. First, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965), usually remembered merely as "Winston Churchill," served as prime minister for George VI, de facto King of Great Britain during the horrors of World War II, and through his heroism and fortitude saved his countrymen and Europe. Secondly, Winston Churchill's distant cousin Diana Spencer (1961-1997), daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer, became the object of a extreme cult of international celebrity through her marriage to the Greek prince Karolos (Charles, de facto Prince of Wales). My wife belongs to an American Spencer family that is believed to be a Bedfordshire branch of the same Spencers from whom the Spencers of Althorp descended -- though my wife's Spencers' hypothetical connection to the ancestors of the Althorp Spencers is far back in the 1300s, and the exact lineage is (as indicated on the chart below) uncertain and unproven. Nevertheless, the first chart below (based chiefly on Holding and Round) illustrates what the family tree is likely to have looked like, which would make my wife 18th cousins with Winston Churchill and 18th cousins once remove Diana, erstwhile Princess of Wales. Furthermore, my own mother's genealogy includes a royal descent that would make me a distant cousin of the Althorp Spencer family at approximately the same degree of kinship as my wife's -- only hers is through the direct male line, whereas mine goes through the female line several times. The second chart below (derived from Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk's Royal Highness) illustrates my kinship with the Spencers of Althorp.

Spencer of Badby, 18th cousins with Sir Winston Churchill and 18th cousins once removed with Diana Spencer.

                                           Henry Spencer=Isabel Lincoln
                                             of Badby   |
                       _________________________________|_______________________________________________________________________________
                      |                                                                                                                 |
                 John Spencer                                                                                                       Thomas Spencer
                  of Hodnell                                                                                                        of Eaton Socon
            __________|______________                                                                                                   |
           |                         |                                                                                                  |
        John Spencer           (NN) Spencer                                                                                         John Spencer
  of Wormleighton and Althorp        |                                                                                              of Eaton Socon
       Enfeoffed 1486                |                                                                                                  |
                               William Spencer of Rodburne (1430-1485)                                                              John Spencer of South Mylls
                               Sir John Spencer of Hodnell, Wormleighton, and Althorp                                               John Spencer of Kempston (c.1485-1534)
                               Sir William Spencer of Althorp and Wormleighton                                                          | ??
                               Sir John Spencer of Althorp and Wormleighton                                                         John Spencer (c.1505-1558)
                               Sir John Spencer of Althorp and Wormleighton                                                         Michael Spencer (c.1533-c.1600)
       John Churchill          Robert Spencer, 1st Baron Spencer of Wormleighton                                                    Gerard Spencer (1576-bef. 1625)
  1st Duke of Marlborough      William Spencer, 2nd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton                                                   Ensign Gerard Spencer (1614-1685)
           |_________          Henry Spencer the Faithful, 3rd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton, 1st Earl of Sunderland                William Spencer (c.1656-1730)
                     |         Robert Spencer the Traitor, 2nd Earl of Sunderland (1640-1702)                                       Joseph Spencer (1680/1-1714)
                Anne Churchill=Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (1674-1722)                                                  Joseph Spencer (1712/13-1747)
        ______________________|________________________________________                                                                 |
       |                                                               |                                                                |
  Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough                       John Spencer of Althorp (1708-1746)                                Joseph Spencer (1739-c.1825)
  George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough                        John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer                                     Daniel Spencer (1761-c.1855)
  George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough (1766-1840)  George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer                              Orin Spencer (1801-1872)
  George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough              Frederick Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer                                John Washington Spencer (1832-1909)
  John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough        Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer                           William Penn Spencer (1861-1934)
  Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (1849-1895)                   Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer                       John Howard Spencer (1904-1948)
  SIR WINSTON LEONARD SPENCER-CHURCHILL (1874-1965)              Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer                              Roy Eldon Spencer (1940- )
                                                                 DIANA SPENCER (1961-1997), erstwhile de facto Princess of Wales    Christina Carlene Spencer (1972- )=Jared Linn Olar (1968- )

Plantagenet of England, 18th cousins three times removed of Sir Winston Churchill, 19th cousins twice removed of Diana Spencer.

                                                 Edward III
                                              King of England
                                                  d. 1377
                                                     |
                                             John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
           __________________________________________|__________________________________________________________
          |                                                                                                     |
  Joan Beaufort=Ralph Nevill, Earl of Westmoreland                                                         John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset
  George Nevill, 1st Lord Latimer                                                                          Joan Beaufort=James I, King of Scots
  Sir Henry Nevill, d. 1469                                                                                James II, King of Scots
  Richard Nevill, 2nd Lord Latimer                                                                         Alexander Stewart, 3rd Duke of Albany
  John Nevill, 3rd Lord Latimer, Pilgrim of Grace                                                          Alexander Stewart, Bishop of Moray
  John Nevill, 4th Lord Latimer                                                                            Margaret Stewart=Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie
  Catherine Nevill=Henry Percy the Wizard Earl, 8th Earl of Northumberland                                 Janet Graham=Dougal Campbell
  Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland                                                                  Sir James Campbell of Ardkinglass
  Dorothy Percy=/=Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester                                                     (NN) Campbell=Duncan Stewart of Glenbuckie
  Dorothy Sidney=Henry Spencer the Faithful, 1st Earl of Sunderland                                        John Stewart of Glenbuckie
  Robert Spencer the Traitor, 2nd Earl of Sunderland                                                       Isobel Stewart=Walter Stewart of Gartnafuaran
  Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (1674-1722)                                                      Robert Stewart (1655-1714)
      _____|______________________________________________________                                              |
     |                                                            |                                             |
  Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough                  John Spencer of Althorp                        John Stewart
  George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough                   John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer                 Charles Stewart
  George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough         George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer          Margaret Stewart=John Anderson
  George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough         Frederick Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer            Rebecca Anderson=John Linn
  John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough   Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer       George Russell Linn
  Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill                          Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer   Mary Rebecca Linn=James Monroe Shaw
  SIR WINSTON LEONARD SPENCER-CHURCHILL (1874-1965)         Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer          Sherman Linn Shaw
                                                            DIANA SPENCER (1961-1997)                      Sherman Linn Shaw II
                                                                                                           Dolores Frances Shaw=Joseph Olar
                                                                                                           Jared Linn Olar=Christina Carlene Spencer

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