Gateway Royal Ancestors

In my discussion of John Drake being termed goodman in New England thereby discounting him being of a gentry family, I spoke of my other ancestors who are of provable royal descent.  They are:

1. Elizabeth (Mansfield) Wilson 1592-1660, daughter of John Mansfield, Esq. and wife of the Rev. John Wilson.  Women tend to take on the honorifics of either their father or husband during their lifetime.  Because of her husband being the minister in Boston, she is always called Mrs. or Madam Wilson.  
2. Mary (Lawrence) Burnham, 1625-1715, daughter of Thomas Lawrence and Joan Antrobus and wife of Thomas Burnham of Ipswich, Mass.
3. Peter Worden 1576-1639 who arrived with his son of the same name.  His will names him as Peter Worden the elder and his early death means not many records survive for him.  He clearly gives land in England to his son however.  Peter Worden the son is termed Mr.
4. Rose (Stoughton) Otis 1629- bef. 1677, daughter of Sir Anthony Stoughton and wife of Richard Otis, a blacksmith.  However, unlikely that sounds, we have Rose's brother's testimony for it.  Her brother Sir Nicholas Stoughton, baronet, wrote that his father sent Rose to New England to escape the Civil War.  She ended up marrying and staying.  I descend from her twice.
5. Thomas Bradbury 1610/11-1694/5.  Always termed Gentleman starting in 1636.  
6. Alice (Freeman) (Thompson) Parke ca. 1595-1664/65.  Her first husband, John Thompson was termed a gentleman as was her father Henry Freeman.

In almost all cases the person in question is seen with a social status higher than the average farmer/yeoman.  None of these people were ever called Goodman.

Comments

[Dave Morehouse]

An impressive list indeed! My children also descend from Thomas Bradbury. Personally, my only known such gateway (so far!) is a 19th-century Dutch immigrant to Holland, Michigan, who descends from 15th-century minor nobles who in turn descend from Charlemagne.

That got me thinking about "non-standard" gateway ancestors--that is, those who don't fit into the "colonial America to Britain" category. It would be interesting to know whether any of your Slovac ancestors might also be "gateways" to ancient ancestry. Certainly these lines would be more difficult to trace, if only because of language differences.

[T. Miscia]

First time commenter, so I feel I should first thank you for your site. Frequently updated and trustworthy are not terms that I can apply to many genealogical blogs.

I was under the impression that John Whitney's royal ancestry was in limbo. Could you direct me to the research which finally nailed down his English ancestry? It would be very much appreciated. I checked the Whitney family wiki, but the article on John's origins still states that Thomas Whitney's parentage is unknown.