Veszprem/Borzavar
I'm not British.
I don't claim to be an expert on the subject of royalty.
But I'm keenly aware of the fact that many members of the royal family are marrying commoners.
My Question:
Is this a purposeful ploy to dilute the long-inbred royal bloodline.....or do royals simply find some unnatural fascination with low-life commoners?
The trend might have begun with King Edward VIII who abdicated in order to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.
I always held the theory that he was never really passionately in love with Simpson, but rather used her as a plausible excuse to escape from the burden of kingship.
What other British royals married commoners?
Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Princess Eugenie, Prince William.....and more recently Prince Harry.
Methinks Harry might (secretly) be having buyer's remorse. It seems that annoyingly aggressive Megan Markle is having a potent and potentially lethal influence on the former independent bad-boy.
At any rate, commoners are drastically diluting the royal blood....and soon the royals will no longer be royal.
So, what is the purpose of all this royal/commoner stuff?
I'm suddenly thinking of my maternal great-grandfather John Gordon (Hungarian name Janos Gurdon) who married a commoner.
Janos Gurdon (John Gordon)
my great-grandfather
I've written about this before, but have an urge to rehash it. Here's a very brief version:
My great-grandfather was of royal blood but he was disinherited and stripped of his title when he married a peasant girl.
Janos Gurdon was from Borzavar, a small Hungarian village in the Bakony Mountains. There were many (very many) Gurdons who inhabited the village, and I traced the surname back to Baron Daniel Esterhazy - who founded Borzavar in 1761 and built a castle near there.
The Borzavar Esterhazy estate
After years of unsuccessfully attempting to trace my great-grandfather's lineage, I finally found documents that list him as being a count - - and also as being a baron.
The peasant girl that he married (my great-grandmother) was always known by our family as Justinia Schmidt - but I recently discovered that her real name was Julina Schmied.
Foreign names always had a way of drastically changing during the process of becoming an American.
The Borzavar church where my great-grandparents were married
Was this royal/commoner marriage a successful one? I suppose so.
They came to America in the 1890's, lived in Pennsylvania, settled in New Jersey. Had a farm. They also had twelve children (including my grandmother Anna Gordon Knoll). All of their dozen offspring were known for being remarkably good-looking with unconventionally quirky personalities ( I inherited the quirky part).
Interesting side note:
In 1906 their eldest daughter Katalin was murdered at the age of eighteen. Ironically, my great-mother's brother Frederick was the murderer.
I published an article about the murder in the New Jersey Monthly (long ago). I'm considering writing a book, since I've compiled a lot of information. Laziness is the only thing that keeps getting in my way....
I never knew my great-grandparents, since they both died before I was born. They were reportedly quiet and reserved, and led a sparse and simple country life.
John Gordon was an enthusiastic drinker. In 1936 - after indulging in too many whiskeys - he was hit by a car while crossing the street and died instantly. He was 73.
My family history is admittedly colorful and intriguing. I'm related to royalty.....and to a murderer.
Heck, what more could I ask for?
Borzavar winter
I find genealogy to be fascinating!!! Family Search (the Mormon site) has many lines of my family traced back to the 1100's. Those Germans and Swiss were anal record keepers! I have a Count somewhere in there, but a lot of the records don't seem to be authenticated, so who knows.
ReplyDeleteThere is something about your GGF picture that resembles the photos of yourself that you've posted. Not surprised about the good looking gene!
I've heard about the Mormon family search site, which is very popular. I've found numerous ship passenger records of my relatives on the Ellis Island site.
DeleteThe biggest problem I've had doing research is dealing with the spelling of the foreign names. All of my relatives names were changed when they came to America and it can be very confusing. For instance, I always thought my paternal grandmother's name was Sophie Santos - but in fact it was Zophia Czantos.
I have been told that I resemble my GGF.
I love these old family stories! I wish I'd listened better or written down what my grandparents shared about their families and the times they lived in. I do quite a bit with genealogy, thus I know the names--but sadly, the stories are missing.
ReplyDeleteI also wish that I had been able to talk to my older relatives about our family history. We lived in Calif. and most of them were in New Jersey. My maternal grandmother would have known a lot, but she died when I was 16.
Deletelove your family history. all that mystery and intrigue. imagine that you're a royal. you really should write a book. so fascinating. it is said that back in the day, the members of my family were court jesters on my dads side. no royal blood. but on a side note, my dad was a distant cousin of Wallis Simpson. she let him and a friend drive her car when she came back home before edward abdicated the throne.
ReplyDeleteWow - it's fascinating that your father was related to Wallis Simpson...and she actually let him drive her car!! That is truly a treasured family memory!
Deleteinteresting, Jon. Not sure if you can see me bowing. Seriously, I hope you are proud of your family history. I would be, no matter how each member turned out.
ReplyDeleteNo need to bow, Valerie - - I'm sure my royal blood is very diluted by now (*smile*). I'm fascinated with my family history, which contained a lot of interesting characters.
DeleteI remember you mentioning the family murder before, but I don't recall the details or if you ever gave them to us. Senior moment--or just the fibro fog--LOL! Not many people can say they are descended from royalty. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing--ROFL! ;)
ReplyDeleteI did write a few blog posts about the family murder, but it was difficult to tell a long story in a short post. Perhaps I'll do another one some day.
DeleteMy article in the New Jersey Monthly was published in 1997 - - I can't believe it was that long ago!
Like Terre, I love reading your family's history … warts and all. (*smile*)
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I'm no fan of the Duchess formerly known as Markle. Pretty, but she can't hold a candle to Catherine's class. (I'm sure they're not loosing sleep over it. LOL.)
I think the warts in family histories are always the best parts... and there are plenty of them in my family.
DeleteI never liked Megan Markle and I think Harry made a huge mistake marrying her.
I've been thinking of you and Tom and hope everything is going well. Take care.
That's a fine batch of history - my family is mostly poor so not very documented. The press over here (UK) have been so horrid to Megan that I like her in defiance, but it's difficult to know the real stories. I pity all of them the facade of office, and am happy to be lowborn :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm certain that being a royal - always in the public eye - is often frustrating. I was initially against Megan's decision to leave, but perhaps she has a point. Royal life is so restrictive...
DeleteNot that I'm surprised, but you sure have a colorful family history. Then again, even if your ancestors were as bland as mayo on white bread, your life certainly would've added splashes of color to the ol' family tree.
ReplyDeleteIt's uncanny how much you look like your great grandfather Janos. There's no denying the familial connection, your highness. :)
I live a dull and very bland life now - but my extremely colorful past would make most of my relatives pale in comparison.
DeleteMany people have said that I resemble my great grandfather. From what I've heard, he was a lot more feisty than me.....(!!).