Illustrious Ancestors

Even though I am sure that many people can eventually trace one of their family lines back to royalty it certainly gives you a kick when you do actually discover a link.
My 3rd great grandfather married Grace Morsehead in Phillack, Cornwall on the 21st November 1825, Grace's maternal grandfather was Arundel Pryor, his mother was Margaret Arundel daughter of John Arundel of Truthall, which is situated close by the little village of Sithney, Cornwall.
The Arundel family were a prominent well loved Cornish gentry family and several of John Arundel's forebears had important functions in Cornwall such as Governor of Pendennis Castle and Sheriff of Cornwall.

Arundell coat of arms

The nice thing about connecting to the Landed- Gentry is that the genealogy is recorded back for several hundred years, and the Arundell family of Cornwall are amongst the few Cornish families of Norman origin, the Arundell's possibly came over from Normandy with William the Conquerer.
Several years ago a fellow genealogist gave me the tip and sent me the information that through marriage the Arundell family also linked up with Royalty, via Elizabeth Plantagenet the daughter of Edward I of England. Through this Royal line I am also descended from William the Conquerer of Normandy, hence this story, as the last few days we have been on holiday in Normandy  and I have been reading a lot about this illustrious forebear. Last Friday we visited the beautiful city of Bayeaux  and were able to view the amazing Bayeaux Tapestry, which is in fact an embroidered record of the famous Battle of Hastings of 1066 and is almost 1000 years old. It is about 70 meters long, amazing that such a delicate object has survived through the centuries, and how wonderful to have an ancient 'comic strip' story of one's ancestors.