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Family Legend – Week 2 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Legend has it that the Watkins family is descended from Welsh royalty, Cunedda Wledig, King of Gwynedd (North Wales). He was also known as the Imperator (Commander) or the Warrior. Cunedda Wledig was born around 385 most likely in Cardigan, Wales and died around 460 in Gwynedd, Wales. His ancestry was probably Roman. According to history, “Cunedda was the first ruler of the Welsh people of whom there is any authentic record.” He was renowned for his strength and courage, as well as his military skills which he demonstrated when leading many raiding parties when fighting against Irish occupation.
It was important for Cunedda Wledig to claim a powerful lineage in order to impress the masses so he proclaimed that he was descended from the son of the god Afallach. (This type of boast was actually common among his contemporaries. Alas, fake news is not a modern phenomenon.)
Afallach was the Celtic god of the underworld. He ruled Avalon which was “a peaceful island far away where apples grew.” Avalon, also known as Afallon, was the Celtic paradise.
(While there is no definitive proof that this King of North Wales was one of our ancestors, it is feasible that many Welsh people are descended from Cunedda Wledig and his nine sons. Our line can be traced in the Pedigree of the family of Watkins of Court-Robert to Sir Roger Vaughn who died in 1416. According to Wikipedia “in England and Wales pedigrees are officially recorded in the College of Arms, which has records going back to the Middle Ages, including pedigrees collected during roving inquiries by its heralds during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The purpose of these heraldic visitations was to register and regulate the use of coats of arms. Those who claimed the right to bear arms had to provide proof either of a grant of arms to them by the College, or of descent from an ancestor entitled to arms.”)
Beginnings – Week 1 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Several years ago, I was on the Snapfish website on the day when they offered $10 photo books for life (okay, Gary won margaritas for life at Hussongs but $10 books for life is still pretty good). I quickly took advantage of this offer and thus began my preoccupation with creating memory books for special occasions. A few years later, my mom asked me to create a book about her family history with family photos. She and her cousin tried to identify as many people in old photos as they could. I took it one step further and started my genealogy journey to identify ancestors.
At that time, I joined Family Search and the free version of Ancestry.com. My very first “real” discovery was finding finding my great grandparents on her father’s side. My mother had no real information about them other her grandfather’s name, John McLeod, and her grandmother’s first name Sarah. I soon determined that there are lots of John McLeod’s in the world and found the elusive search to figure out which one was connected to us a bit perplexing. Then I discovered my first primary source, the record of marriage of my great grandparents which also included the names of his parents, Malcolm and Mary McLeod and Sarah’s parents, Oliver and Catherine Liggett.
I have since expanded my ability to conduct genealogy research by subscribing to the full version of Ancestry.com and MyHeritage.com. I also joined the Genealogy Club in our community. I received some great tips and suggestions on getting started with my research. (Unfortunately, with Covid we have not been able to meet but I am hopeful that this will change in the near future.)
