For All Seasons

Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540)

I was watching "A Man for All Seasons", in which Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540), Chief Minister to Henry VIII,  attempts in a heavy manner to persuade a very principled Thomas More to support Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne Boleyn.  I felt a little uncomfortable, Thomas Cromwell being my 14th Great Granduncle.

I am descended from Thomas' sister Katherine Cromwell.  Although Katherine's husband was Morgan ap Williams, her son Richard preferred the Cromwell association so much that he adopted his Mother's name (and his descendants kept it).

Katherine's grandson Henry Cromwell was grandfather (through his son Robert) of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Lord Protector of England.  Henry's great granddaughter Edith Cromwell (through his son John and grandson Richard) joined her brothers in Maryland and married Christopher Gist, my 9X great grandfather.

Christopher Gist, George Washington

Christopher and Edith (Cromwell) Gist's grandson, also Christopher Gist, was a scout for George Washington; and in turn grandfather of George Gist (Cherokee Native name Sequoyah), who developed a syllabary of the Native language.

My 5X great grandmother Mary Gist, also descended from Christopher and Edith (and second cousin to Sequoyah)  married James Stevenson (1754-1845), who served in the Revolutionary War at the Battle of King's Mountain.  Mary's granddaughter Mary Stinson (shortened from Stevenson) married John White  (1807-1857), had eleven children, including my gg grandfather Robert White (1844-1938).

James Stevenson

As well as Thomas Cromwell,  "A Man for All Seasons" also includes Anne Boleyn, my 1st cousin 14X removed.  We are both descended from Thomas Howard (1443-1524), 2nd Duke of Norfolk, his daughter and my 13th great grandmother Katherine Howard being sister to Anne Boleyn's mother Elizabeth.  I have the same relationship to Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard's son Edmund.
Unfortunately for Anne, Catherine, and Thomas Cromwell, they all lost their heads at the Tower of London; Anne and Catherine for adultery (treason) and  Thomas for mismanaging Henry's fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves.  My own ancestor, Katherine, was widowed in 1531 by the execution of her husband Rhys ap Griffith Fitzuryan, also at the Tower for conspiring against the King.