If you have a few ancestors from Great Britain, you may want to note that there is a book due out before long, the 106th edition of Burke's Peerage & Baronetage . It has been 29 years since the previous edition appeared. The original book first appeared in 1828. The newest edition is the result of fifteen editors who have spent 1.2 million dollars in bringing the book forth. The two volume set weighs 26 pounds and will cost $395. The expected press run is 4,000 copies. Oscar Wilde called it, ". . .the best thing in fiction that the English have ever done."
What are the chances that you descend from royalty? Actually quite good, as Edward III, of the 14th century, had 13 legitimate and 4 illegitimate children. Descent from Henry I is even more likely, as he was earlier, in the 12th century, and he fathered 25 illegitimate children. This latest edition of Burke's attempts to list all of the children, both legitimate and natural. It will be impossible though to carry these down to the present.
Some of the illegitimate children achieved fame and standing by their own efforts. William the Conqueror was known first, for good reason, as William the Bastard, who was the result, according to Burke's, of a dalliance, unsolemnized by the Church, between a tanner's daughter and a reigning Duke.
The first edition of Burke's was published by John Burke. It was his son, Bernard, who created the position for Burke's that it has today. Bernard had a total indifference to truth. He was happy to publish any wild tale that was submitted to him. On the theory that the oldest lineage was the best, some families "borrowed" names and history from other families. To fill in some of the blanks, stained glass windows with the appropriate dedication were made by one family. Burke's became, one man said, "Impossible men with impossible names . . . doing impossible acts in impossible places at impossible times." Of course, we wouldn't do anything like that, would we? No, we are enlightened people now, dedicated to the truth.
A modern version of Burke's is the data base in a computer. Whole histories of families are maintained there. What is the criterion for entry of information? Only that you are capable of transferring a set of magnetic impressions from one hard drive to another hard drive. Though we laugh at what has been done in Burke's , we are even more guilty of spreading impossible "truths".
A little truth in advertising compels me to say that this note is based on a story in the last issue of the Smithsonian magazine (December 1999), by Richard Conniff. It might be noted that the Smithsonian Institution is the result of the efforts of James Smithson, the illegitimate son of a Duke of Northumberland.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.