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| This shows the first four generations from the time of the Norman Conquest, indicating that the family is firmly grounding its origins among the Norman aristocracy. Note that there are no precise dates given for births, deaths and marriages. There even seems to be some doubt as to the first name of the first entry at the top. The early entries are characterised by such comments as "lived 1 King John", as at the bottom of this section. I presume that this indicates that the actual existence of these people is attested by dated documents such as charters which were in the family possession. Such luxuries for the genealogist as parish registers were not yet in existence. The word "married" and the abbreviated form "marr." are part of the later annotations to the document. |
| Genealogy of the Beauchamp Family, late 15th/early 16th century. From a private collection. Photographs © Dianne Tillotson. |
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