Seriously, You Want Proof?
My earliest ancestor is the Welsh god, Afallach. Okay, that’s not likely, but the King of Gwynedd (Wales), Cunedda Wledig, proclaimed that his ancestor was the son of the god Afallach. Yeah, he had a bit of an ego problem so we sure can’t depend on his account of his ancestry. So, was Cunedda Wledig (born abt 370 and died abt 460) really one of my ancestors? Well, maybe. On Geni.com, I was able to trace my family’s lineage back to Cunedda Wledig; however, absolute documentation does not exist. It seems like a lot of people descended from the early Welsh people were descended from him. Some reports say that he had a minimum of nine sons and two daughters, so if each of the children had multiple children, over the years it is very possible, but certainly not a definitive conclusion. Obviously, there were no birth certificates or census reports that far back.
I have suggestions of ancestors per the Pedigree of the Family of Watkins of Court-Robert that traces the Watkins family to the 1400s. I wrote about Watkin Vaughn who was shot through the heart by an arrow on Easter Day, 1456 (Coble). Other than the Pedigree, I have limited resources to support my connections to these probable ancestors. I am confident though that I can trace my Watkins line to John Watkins who was born on December 23, 1611 in Monmouthshire, Wales and was the first in this line to immigrate to the New World.
Now if you really want proof of the earliest ancestor, I suggest you find a relative who has been documented in a group like The Daughters of the American Revolution or The Mayflower Society which demand extensive and exhaustive research and documentation to prove your lineage.
For this post, I will use information from The Mayflower Society. At this point in time, it is estimated that there are approximately 35 million living descendants of the Mayflower passengers. Now I am not a direct descendant of anyone who sailed on the Mayflower. However, John Howland (yes, the one who fell off the Mayflower and survived) is my 9th great grand-uncle. His brother, Henry, is my 9th great grandfather. Through Henry and John, I can positively conclude that my earliest ancestor that I can prove is their father, Henry Howland. In addition to whatever records can be found, recent advances in DNA can add reliable assurances. In the case of my 10th great grandfather, Henry, Big Y-700 DNA analysis shows that Henry’s ancestry is strongly linked to Kent, England.
Henry Howland was born in 1564 in Fenstanton, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeton, England. While there is speculation, we do not know for sure who his parents were (the parish registers for Fenstanton do not begin until 1612.). He and his wife Margaret had seven children (including their sons who were part of the Great Migration to the New World – John, Henry, and Arthur). He died in Fenstanton on May 17, 1635.
Now, we actually have more documentation of Henry Howland from records that were kept for Fenstanton. Back in the 1600s, Fenstanton followed frankpledge which was a system where the people practiced a system of collective responsibility. Henry Howland and John Ashwood were called before the court on May 7, 1614 and fined five shillings for taking a ‘scabious horse’ (probably a horse with mange caused by mites) to the common field. This was unacceptable because the horse could have spread the disease to other horses. The second time Henry was mentioned in the surviving records, he was “asked to scour his streams (overflowing) leading from the street to the Greene sometime before the feast of St. Martin (Henry Howland).”
Henry and Margaret Howland left a lasting legacy. Their children had strong convictions and made sacrifices to achieve their dreams and have a better life. It’s interesting to know that it began in 1564 with the birth of Henry Howland.
Sources
Brief Life History of Cunedda Wledig. FamilySearch, Cunedda Wledig ab Edern of Gwynedd (0386–0460).
Coble, Jacquelyn. “Family Justice, 1456.” Journeyingwithjacque, 5 May 2021, Crime and Punishment – Week 18 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Journeying with Jacque.
“Cunedda Wledig Ap Edern (Abt. 370 – 460).” WikiTree, 8 Apr. 2025, www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ap_Edern-3.
“Henry Howland (1564 – 1635).” WikiTree, 2025, Henry Howland (1564-1635).
The General Society of Mayflower Descendents. The Mayflower Society, 2025.