Expert: Mark Smith - 12/24/2009

Question
Mayflower Pilgrims Francis Cook (b. 1858 England) & son John Cooke (b 1607 Leyden, Netherlands) were related to HRH Diana, Princess of Wales. Can you identify their the ancestor they had in common?

Mayflower Pilgrim Richard Warren had two British  kings in his ancestral line;  one of his Warren ancestors married Gungreda, daughter of  Wm VI of England. Can you provide any information about this king, and when he lived?

(I have submitted these questions to Malcom Speechley as well, because I do not know the dates encompassed by this question.)

And finally, one last question.  An ancestor. Sarah Virgo (1788-1878) was proud to proclaim that the Virgo family had "been landed gentry since 1190AD." That was the year King John ascended the throne. Are you familiar with the customs related to the giving of land grants?  Is there a source which may identify individuals who received land grants that far back? Thank you for any information you may be able to provide.

Answer
Hello Diane.
There has never been a King William VI of England. The only reference I can find to anyone with a name similar to Gungreda is Gundrada who is claimed by some to have been an illegitimate daughter of Henry I, King of England, she would have been born around 1095. Other authorites say she was not Henry's daughter. Nothing is known about her life or marriage.
It is quite possible the people you mention have links with Diana, Princess of Wales, but I've not been able to prove it on a family tree. Most people will have links to the Royal Family if they go back far enough.
Grants of land were made by the King or other major landowners to people as rewards for service etc. The King for instance would grant some of his own land to a person or he would give him land that formerly belonged to another landowner who had fallen out of favour or died.
On the whole I would say it is almost impossible to prove links going back nearly 1000 years unless you can link into a noble/titled family who's genealogy is well documented.
Mark