Both myself and Danny Dyer are distant cousins, we both have a long and complicated ancestry full of weird and wonderful characters and we both share descent from King Edward III, King of England. He is descended from his son Lionel 1st Duke of Clarence and I am descended from his son Prince John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster.
Danny’s ancestors made their way through history from Royal stock, through the landed gentry, right the way down to the back streets of East London. His ancestor Lionel Plantagenet, son of King Edward III married Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of an Irish peer. The family were very prosperous and were heavily involved with the Tudor Royal court, he is in fact a direct descendent of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister via his son Gregory Cromwell. Ann Tollemache, daughter of Lord Lionel Tollemache was married to Katherine Cromwell, great granddaughter of Thomas Cromwell. Lord Tollemache lived at Helmingham Hall in Suffolk.
Ann married Robert Gosnold (1587-1633) a member of the Landed Gentry, Gosnold fought in the English Civil War and was a fervent supporter of the Royalist cause. He fought a losing battle for King Charles I all the way up to the siege of Oxford. Robert Gosnold’s descendant Charles Gosnold (1727-1788) married Sarah French and their daughter Ann married James Buttivant a successful manufacturer in Norwhich who fell into difficult times and was declared bankrupt in 1799. It was this moment that his ancestors fell into poverty. There son Charles worked as a Cargo Clerk, he was employed in the Victualling Office that provided food to keep the Royal Navy fed.
Charles married Hannah Wing and their son Albert worked as a Cigar Maker in Mile End, he fell in hard times and at age 31 he was forced to go into the Old Town Workhouse in Bancroft Road. He and his wife Ann Howcutt had a daughter called Mary Ann Buttivant and she was Danny Dyer’s ancestor, she married John Wallace and their granddaughter Joyce M L Rudd born 1931 in Poplar, East London married Danny’s grandfather John Dyer, youngest son of dock worker George Dyer and his wife Ethel neé Aldridge.
My ancestors were the product of John of Gaunt and his Jewish mistress Beatriz Enriquez, she was the granddaughter of King Alfonso XI. Her parents were Alonso Fradrique of Castille and his Jewish mistress Palomi. His illegitimate daughter travelled to England with her father and eventually married Thomas Sybil, their daughter Rose Sybil moved to France and married Eleizer Lifshitz and was known as Dreizel Zeibel. Their daughter Mala Lifshitz married Yechiel II Luria the Chief Rabbi of Brest. The family remained on the continent and were very prominent in the Jewish community, until eventually they found themselves back in England where they continued to be very prominent in the Jewish community. Samuel Simon Lazarus was the first to land on English soil, he married Margoles Hart, sister of Moses Hart a wealthy Jewish business man and Aaron Hart, Chief Rabbi of England. His granddaughter Frances Lazarus married Alexander Alexander, a London fruiterer and descendent of King Alexander III of Scotland. Lazarus Alexander son of Alexander and Frances continued his father’s business and married Dinah Martin, daughter of Benjamin Martin a London shopkeeper, their daughter Sarah married Jacob Simons, a wealthy Jewish businessman descendant of the 17th Century medalist Abraham Shimoni. Jacob’s son David Simons was the ancestor of Ann Simons who married Baron Sugar of Clapton (Alan Sugar of Apprentice fame), his other son Hyman Simons continued the family’s butcher business and married Rachael Shuter, daughter of Henry Elkin Shuter a London Jewel merchant. Their daughter Sylvia Simons married my grandfather, Francis J. Corbyn.
Both mine and Danny’s ancestors ended up living in East London, probably crossed paths at some point in their lives, however one is a story of tragedy and poverty while the other is a tale of success.
Danny Dyer’s Descent
- King Edward III married Philippa of Hainault
- Lionel Plantagenet married Elizabeth de Burgh
- Phillippa Plantagenet married Edmund Mortimer
- Elizabeth Mortimer married Sir Henry (Hotspur) Percy
- Elizabeth Percy married Lord John Clifford
- Mary Clifford married Sir Philip Wentworth
- Sir Henry Wentworth married Anne Say
- Margery Wentworth married Sir John Seymour (Father of Jane Seymour, 3rd wife of Henry VIII)
- Elizabeth Seymour married Gregory Cromwell (Son of Thomas Cromwell Chief Minister of Henry VIII)
- Lord Henry Cromwell married Mary Paulet
- Catherine Cromwell married Lionel Tollemache
- Anne Tollemache married Robert Gosnold V
- Robert Gosnold IV married Dorothy Jegon
- Lionel Gosnold married Rebecca Hardy
- Walter Gosnold married Elizabeth
- Tendering Gosnold married Ann Reynolds
- Charles Gosnold married Sarah French
- Ann Gosnold married James Buttivant
- Charles Buttivant married Hannah Wing
- Albert Buttivant married Ann Howcutt
- Mary Ann Buttivant married John Wallace
- Mary Ann Wallace married Arthur Rudd
- Joyce Rudd married John Dyer
- Antony Dyer married Christine Meakin
- Danny Dyer born 1977
My Direct Descent
- King Edward III married Phillipa of Hainault
- Prince John of Gaunt had many mistresses including Beatriz Enriquez (Granddaughter of King Alfonso XI of Castille, daughter of Alonso Fadrique of Castile by his Jewish mistress Palomi.)
- Maria Gaunt moved to England and married Thomas Sybill
- Rose Sybill (Dreizel Zeibel) moved to France and married Eleizer Lifshitz
- Malka Lifshitz married married Yechiel II Luria the Chief Rabbi of Brest
- Dreizel Miriam Ziebel Luria married Rabbi Eliezer Yehiel Lipman Schrentzel
- Beila (Bilhah) Lipman Schrentzel married Rabbi Isaac Klauber of Poznan
- Eshet Klauber married Rabbi Yoel Singer of Krákow
- Falka Chana Singer married Avraham Fum Hertzkes
- Bhilla Hertzkes married Yoel ben Schmuel Yaffe-Sirkes haBach
- Rivkah Yaffe-Sirkes married Rabbi David HaLevi Segal Cheif Rabbi of Potelych
- Shmuel HaLevi married the daughter of Rabbi Samson ben Pesah Ostropoli
- Margoles HaLevi married Simon Lazarus in Goslar, Germany
- Eleazer Lazarus married Gitla Moses
- Samuel Lazarus married Margoles Hart (Sister of Aaron and Moses Hart who founded the Great Synagogue of London)
- Joseph HaLevi Lazarus married the widower Simha Frances Franks, daughter of Moses Hart.
- Frances (Fegela) Lazarus married Alexander Alexander, a fruiterer buying imported fruit and selling it to traders.
- Lazarus (Eliezer) Alexander married Dinah Martin, daughter of Benjamin Martin, a London shopkeeper.
- Sarah Alexander married Jacob Simons, a London butcher and business owner.
- Hyman Stanley Simons married Rachael Shuter, daughter of Henry Elkin Shuter a London Jewel merchant.
- Sylvia Irene Simons married my grandfather Francis J. Corbyn born in 1911.