I have Irish, Scottish and English ancestry. Although I identify most strongly with my Irish forebears, the furthest back I've traced my documented genealogy is the English line. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents were Thomas Sheather (1635-?) and Jane Allowe (1636-?) [1] (that's 12 generations).
I am directly or indirectly related by blood or marriage to:
| Name | Dates | Notability | Relationship to me |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Boru | 941-1014 | High King of Ireland 1002-1014 | We're related according to family legend, but which true son of Ireland isn't related to him! |
| Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton KG | 1735-1811 | Prime Minister of the UK 1768-70 | Second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle's relative's father-in-law's grandfather |
| William Chalker (aka Charker) | 1775-1823 | Pioneer of the Mittagong district (NSW) | Great-great-great grandfather [2] [3] |
| Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov | 1777-1861 | Russian General; military commander during the Napoleonic Wars; hero of the Battle of Borodino; Governor of the Caucasus 1816-27. He was a character in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, and in Sergei Prokofiev's opera based on the novel. Prokofiev's War and Peace was the first opera to be performed at the Sydney Opera House, a building that was the brain-child of Sir Eugene Goossens - see Nat Craig below | A reputed ancestor of my ex-wife and of my children |
| Sir Luke Leake | 1828-1886 | Speaker of the WA Legislative Assembly | Second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle's brother-in-law |
| Sir James George Lee Steere KCMG | 1830-1903 | WA politician; Speaker of the WA Legislative Assembly; brother-in-law of Sir Luke Leake and uncle of George Leake [4] | Second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle |
| Charles Yelverton O'Connor CMG | 1843-1902 | Irish-Australian engineer; best-known for his work on the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme; eponym of the WA Federal electorate of O'Connor; suicided | Second cousin's great-grandfather |
| Churchill Julius | 1847-1938 | Archbishop and Anglican Primate of New Zealand | Second cousin's great-grandfather |
| George Leake CMG QC | 1856-1902 | Premier of Western Australia 1901-02 | Second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle's brother-in-law's nephew |
| Sir Ernest Augustus Lee-Steere | 1866-1957 | Pastoralist and businessman [5] | Second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law, or second cousin's grandfather's brother-in-law |
| Sir George Julius | 1873-1947 | Inventor of the totalisator | Second cousin's grandfather |
| John "Jack" McGrath | 1890-1949 | President of the North Sydney Rugby League Club and official of the New South Wales Rugby League | Grandfather [6] The McGrath clan |
| Tom Hogan | - | "Father of Waverley Council". Mayor of Waverley 1940, 1943, 1949, and an alderman for 22 consecutive years (1933-55). [7]. Eponym of "Thomas Hogan Reserve and Bird Sanctuary" [8] [9] [10]. He is buried in Waverley Cemetery (A later Mayor of Waverley was Johnny O'Keefe's father Ray O'Keefe.) [11] | Great-uncle |
| Nat Craig ISM | 1905/6-1972 | Sydney Head of the Australian Customs Service who in March 1956 was involved in the arrest of the composer and conductor Sir Eugene Goossens at Sydney Airport, for importing pornography, thus ending his (Goossens') brilliant career. [12] p. 54. Fortunately, Goossens' brain-child the Sydney Opera House was built - see General Yermolov above for an interesting cross-connection | Uncle - married my mother's sister |
| Sir Allen Fairhall KBE | 1909-2006 | Federal politician 1949-69; Minister for Defence, Works, Interior and Supply; missed his chance to become Prime Minister of Australia after the 1967 drowning of Harold Holt [13] [14] | 4th cousin twice removed |
| Sir Ernest Henry Lee-Steere KBE | 1912-2011 | Lord Mayor of Perth 1972-78 | Second cousin's great-grandfather's grandson, or second cousin's grandfather's brother-in-law's son |
| Sir John Kerr AK GCMG GCVO QC | 1914-91 | Governor-General of Australia 1974-77 | His second wife's first husband was related to my grandmother's brother-in-law Jack Robson |
| Tamara Jermolajew | 1920-2010 | Yugoslav-born Australian autobiographer ("It Can't Be Forever", Ginninderra Press, 2005; ISBN 1740272951) [15] [16] | Sometime mother-in-law |
| Queen Elizabeth II | 1926-2022 | Queen of Australia | She's 1st cousin 9 times removed of King Charles II, who, through his mistress Barbara Villiers, was the father of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton. The granddaughter of the 4th Duke was Elizabeth Fitzroy (1826-1906), who married Henry Lee-Steere (d. 17 June 1899) [17], a close relative of the Lee-Steeres mentioned above. I guess this makes the Queen my second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle's relative's father-in-law's great-great-great-great-grandfather's 1st cousin 9 times removed. And her successor, King Charles III would be my second cousin's great-grandfather's son-in-law's uncle's relative's father-in-law's great-great-great-great-grandfather's 1st cousin 10 times removed. |
| Brett Whiteley AO | 1939-92 | Australian painter, who twice won the Archibald Prize, named after J. F. Archibald, who is buried at Waverley Cemetery, not far from great-uncle Tom Hogan. Whiteley died of a drug overdose, in a seedy motel, alone. | Second cousin's husband 1962-89; they divorced |
| Wendy Whiteley OAM | b. 1941 | Australian arts celebrity; muse, former wife and curator of the works of Brett Whiteley | Second cousin; nee Julius; her mother Daphne nee McKenzie was the daughter of my grandmother's brother Stan McKenzie) [18]. |
| Arkie Whiteley | 1964-2001 | Australian actress; daughter of Brett and Wendy Whitelely | Second cousin once removed |