Grace Chetwood Bulkeley

Grace Chetwood (various spellings) is an ancestor of mine through my Dykeman family lines; two maternal, one paternal.  One of eleven children, Grace was the daughter of Sir Richard Chetwode of Markworth, England and his second wife, Dorothy Needham. Grace was born about 1602 as she was about 33 in 1635 when she and her husband Reverend Peter Bulkeley traveled to the new world. Peter was 20 years her senior and had been married once before. He was outspoken and was wanted for arrest for his views. He managed to elude the authorities and sailed from England  with Grace and children from his first marriage. 

There is a story concerning their travel to America about Grace but it is difficult to figure out how accurate it is. Apparently as they neared the end of their journey, Grace fell ill. She became so ill that she appeared dead. Because her husband was well known and she was a Lady* her body was not buried at sea. Although there were few signs of life, the body did not decay. After three days or so she seemed to rally back to life. When they disembarked, she was taken off the boat as an invalid but she was alive.  Shortly after they arrived, Grace had a baby  boy who they named Gershom, which means 'an exile'.  Her health returned, and the family expanded from 1635 to 1643 to include Eliezer, Peter, and Dorothy.

When I call Grace a Lady I mean she descends from royalty. Her parents descend from Barons, Viscounts, Knights, Sheriffs as well as actual Kings. This one ancestor connects to William the Conqueror and have seen some pedigree charts that take this line all the way back to Charlemagne who was born in 742. Following her family tree seems to lead to a lot of history that I don't recall from school.  I have included below some of the more notable ancestors of Grace. I can share more if there is any interest in seeing more of  it, just leave a comment below.
  
Robert Needham, born Bet. 1533 - 1535; died 18 Dec 1603. He was the son of  Thomas Needham and  Anne Talbot. He married  Frances Aston. born 1533. She was the daughter of  Sir Edward Aston and  Joan Bowles.

Sir John Talbot born Abt. 1485; died 10 Sep 1549. He was the son of Gilbert Talbot, Sir and  Audrey Cotton. He married  Margaret Troutbeck born Abt. 1492. She was the daughter of  Adam Troutbeck and  Margaret Boteler

Humphrey De Bohun He married  Elizabeth Plantagenet the daughter of  Edward The First and  Eleanor Of Castille.
 
Edward The First, born 17 Jun 1239; died 1307. He was the son of  Henry The Third and Eleanor of Provence. He married Eleanor Of Castille 01 Nov 1254 in Castille, Spain. She was born 1242 in Castille, Spain; died 1290. She was the daughter of Fernando The Third and  Jeanne De Dammartin. 

Henry The Third, born 01 Oct 1207; died 16 Nov 1272. He was the son of  John The First and Isabella Of Angouleme. He married  Eleanor of Provence 14 Jan 1237. She was Eleanor of Provence, born 1217; died 24 Jan 1291.  

John The First, born 24 Dec 1161; died 19 Oct 1216. He was the son of  Henry The Second and Eleanor Of Aquitaine. He married Isabella Of Angouleme who died abt 1246.

Henry The Second, born 05 Mar 1133; died 06 Jul 1189 in Tours, France. He was the son of Geoffrey V Count of Anjou and  Matilda. He married  Eleanor Of Aquitaine who was born 1123.

Henry The First, born Bet. 1068 - 1069 in Selby, Yorkshire, England; died 01 Dec 1135 in Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy. He was the son of William The Conqueror and Matilda Of Flanders.

William The Conqueror*, born Abt. 1028 in Falaise, Normandy; died 09 Sep 1087 in Rouen, France. He was the son of  Robert The First. He married  Matilda Of Flanders who died 03 Nov 1083. She was the daughter of  Baldwin The Fifth .
 
Richard the First, born 933 in Fecamp, France; died 20 Nov 996 in Fecamp, France. He was the son of William the First and Sprota. He married  Gunnora of Crêpon who died 1031.

Baldwin the First He married  Judith Of France in 858. She was born Abt. 843. She was the daughter of  Charles The Second and  Ermentrude.

Alfred The Great, born 871; died Abt. 899

Louis I, born Aug 778; died 20 Jun 840. He was the son of Charlemagne and Hildegarde. He married Judith. 

Charlemagne, born 02 Apr 742; died 28 Jan 814.

William the Conqueror

Been researching the family tree again. Its a process I enjoy and sometimes I find things, sometimes I don't. Found someone I wasn't expecting... William The Conqueror.


He's an ancestor down through the Dykeman Lines, so this is an ancestor on my mothers side (twice!) and my father's side as well. William would be my 29th great-grandfather. His line I have continued back to Rollo of Normandy who was born about 912, which currently is one of my earliest ancestors.


I don't recall learning much about William the Conqueror, so I did a little surfing and have included below some information I have found about him.After all If you're going to tell folks you're descended from William the Conqueror, you should know at least a little about him. Our family comes from his last son, Henry the first of England. The immigrant couple in this line are Grace Chetwood and her husband Peter Bulkeley, who traveled in the 1630s to the colonies. Yes, the family has been in America for a while now.

"William was born at Falaise, the bastard son of Robert, duke of Normandy, by Arlette, a tanner's daughter. On his father's death in 1035, the nobles accepted him as duke, but his youth was passed in difficulty and danger. When in 1047 the lords of the western part of the duchy rebelled, Henri I of France came to his help and the rebels were defeated at Val-des-Dunes. In 1051 he visited his cousin, the English king Edward 'the Confessor', and received the promise of the English succession.

 He married Matilda, daughter of Baudouin V, Count of Flanders, in 1053. In the next ten years William repulsed two French invasions, and in 1063 he conquered Maine. Although he was never keen on capital punishment, William 'the Bastard' could get touchy about jokes too near the bone; when he captured the town of Alençon that had displayed flayed skins on its walls in allusion to the tanner's trade (his maternal grandfather Fulbert had been a tanner), he chopped the right hand and left foot off each citizen to teach them a lesson about laughing last. It is likely that in 1064 Harold was at his court and swore to help him gain the English crown on Edward's death. However when Edward died in 1066, Harold became king. William laid his claim, and on 14 October he defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings (fought at Senlac near Hastings). Harold was slain and William was crowned on 25 December.

The west and north of England were subdued in 1068; but next year the north revolted, and William devastated the country between York and Durham. The constitution under William assumed a feudal aspect, the old national assembly becoming a council of the king's tenants-in-chief, and all title to land was derived from his grant. The Domesday Book of 1086 contains the land settlement. He also brought the English Church into closer relations with Rome. William's rule was stern and orderly. In 1070 there was a rebellion in the Fen Country and, under the leadership of Hereward the Wake, the rebels held out for some time on the Isle of Ely.

 The Scottish king Malcolm, who plundered the northern shires, sheltered English exiles. However in 1072 William compelled Malcolm to do him homage at Abernethy. In 1073 he reconquered Maine. He also made a successful expedition into South Wales. His eldest son Robert rebelled against him in Normandy in 1079. Having entered on a war with Philippe I of France in 1087, William burned Mantes. As he rode through the burning town, his horse stumbled and William was injured when thrown against the iron pommel of his saddle. He was carried to the priory of St. Gervase near Rouen where he confessed his sins.

 On 9 September 1087 he died there, commending his soul to the Virgin Mary, 'that by her holy prayers she may reconcile me to her Son, my Lord Jesus Christ'. The Saxon chronicler summed up William's character well when he wrote: 'He was mild to good men who loved God, and stark beyond all bounds to those who withsaid his will'. All his sons except Henry deserted his deathbed to fight for the succession; his officers and servants fled with what spoils they could take. A vassal bore his remains to the Abbaye aux Hommes at Caen."
- http://genealogics.org gives us this condensed history of William.