England History

Effective family research requires understanding the historic events that affected your family and the records about them. Learning about wars, migrations, settlement patterns, and economic or religious trends may help you understand family movements. Your ancestors may be more interesting to you if you learn about the events that shaped their lives.

Some key dates and events in English history are:

1300 BC The genealogy of the Druid Kings of Britain begins with Aedd Mawr and his son Brydain in 1300 BC.Brydain named the Islands after himself-Britain. Britain means "Covenant Race". The complete genealogy is printed out on the chart "One Royal Line of Judah" by Albert F. Schmuhl.

1113 BC Brutus of Troy conquered King Pandrasus of Greece, married his daughter and took a group of Trojans and Greeks to Gaul. Brutus conquered the King of Gaul and founded Tours. Brutus then brought his group of Trojans, Greeks and Celts to Britain. He conquered the indigenous race of giants who lived on the Islands. In this record Brutus claims naming the Islands Britain. Ref. "Victoria County History of Lancanshire pp. 1-20"

In Camden's History of England, Britain was settled by the descendants of Japeth who went into Europe, Gaul and into Britain. Camden wrote his history 450 years after Jeffery of Monmouth, Archdeacon of Monmouth. By the time Camden wrote his history, the records from which Jeffery of Monmouth quoted were destroyed. but Jeffery's written history of England survived.

750 BC The tribe of Judah invaded Ireland and the British Isles. They established their Kings and people in in Ireland and Britain. The tribe of Judah is represented in the Royal Coat of Arms of England by the rampant lion.The Irish Kings decending from Judah through Ireland are printed out on the chart"One Royal Line of Judah" by Albert F. Schmuhl.

700-600 BC Celts from Gaul invade Britain and take control of the country. The Druid priests presided in their culture, but were not warriors. The Druid priests educated their people and officated in the religious practices. The Druid priests were the ruling community officals and religious leaders. The commanding warriors were a part of the community council. The Celts were of the tribe of Ephraim and are represented in the Royal Coat of Arms of England by the white unicorn.

37AD Joseph of Arimathea and his group of 11 other adults laneded at Glastonbury. They built the first Christain Church in the world named St. Mary. King Avairgas gave 12 hides of land to the Church of St. Mary at Glastonbury to be held tax free forever. These 12 hides and Church of Glastonbury were listed in the Doomesday Book of William the Conqueror. Joseph's daughter married Bran the Blessed and they became the progenators of the royal lienage of Wales. In 1954, the government authorized an archeological excavation of the site. The foundations of the orginal church were found to measure 37' X 50 ' long. A stone was found with the inscription of Jesus/Maria, the Challess Well, and six wattle homes all dating to the time period. The tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was also found with the body placed in a silver casket in the Church of St. John the Baptist. The tomb of King Arthur was previously found and his body enturned in London. Despite the archeological evidence, modern day historians call this story a myth. I have included this history because Lawrence Gardner, the Royal Genealogist of England includes the genealogy of Joseph of Arimathea as one of the Royal ancestors of England and Wales. These genealogies are printed out in his book, "Bloodline of the Holy Grail".

43 AD Rome invaded Britain and conquered the souther part of Britain before their army was recalled to Gaul.The Celts of Gaul were such fierce fighters that it took the who army of Rome to finally conqueror the blue painted warriors. After the war was ended in 44 AD, Mary Magdalene went to Gaul to live where her descendants became the Fisher Kings of Gaul.

65-68 AD Rome invaded Britain but were repulsed by the fighting Islanders.

100 AD Rome invaded and finally conquered Britain. Many Christains were fed to the lions and killed by the gladiators. 325 AD Council of Nicea. The British bishops attended the Council of Nicea and since Britain had built the first Christain church, the British bishops were given first priority to speak. They presented their concept of the Godhead, but the Greek concept was accepted by Constantine. As a result of the Niceen Creed and the Roman rule, Catholic Bishops replaced the British ones and taught the country Catholic doctrine. The country gradually converted to the Catholic religion. However many held on to their Celtic beliefs. 450 : Angles, Saxons, and Jutes arrived in England.

400 AD Abbott Bean of Glastonbury wrote five volumes of "Britain's History Prior to Christainity" He had a library of over 200 books. Glastonbury Church of St. Mary with its library was enlarged to become the largest churchin the British Isles. It trained priests like St. Patrick who took Christanity to Ireland. The church and its vast library was burned in 1184 to destroy the records of the inferior race which William the Conqueror subugated. William gave orders that once the Norman Churches were constructed the Saxon churches were to be burnt. Before it was burnt, William of Malmsbury read the records of the library and recorded the history from Joseph of Arimathea to the 1100's.

603 AD King Arthur, his knights, and army had successfullt defeated the invasions of the Saxons over the years.A family war between King Arthur and his son near Hadrians Wall took the British armies to the north. Both were killed in the battle. King Arthur's body was taken back to Glastonbury, Somersetshire to be buried. While their family was embattled in war, the Saxons conquered Britain.

603 AD Saxons conquered Britain. The Saxons set up their own Kings and rulers in Britain. The Saxons named their newly conquered land England. They moved all their people from Germany to England. The Saxons were from the tribe of Ephraim mixed with some of Judah.

1066 : Norman Conquest. William of Normandy (the Conqueror) invaded and was crowned King of England.

1215:  The Great Charter. Barons forced King John I to sign the Magna Carta.

1536 : England and Wales united politically.

1642–1660:  Civil War. Charles I was executed in 1649. Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England. Bishop’s courts were abolished. Many other changes affected record-keeping.

1660 : Charles II restored as monarch, ending civil strife. Bishop’s courts restored.

1688–1689:  William of Orange from Holland crowned King of England.

1707:  England and Wales united with Scotland to form the United Kingdom.

1733: English replaced Latin in official records.

1752:  England adopted the new Gregorian calendar. The first day of the year started on 1 January.

1756–1765 : The first English navigation canals appeared. The Industrial Revolution began and cities grew with the invention of the steam engine and the spinning jenny.

1800:  Ireland became part of the United Kingdom.

1830 : First railways appeared in England.

1834:  Poor law unions took poor relief responsibilities away from parishes. Workhouses established.

1837:  Civil registration began on 1 July. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901.

1841 : The first genealogically useful census taken.

1858:  Principal Probate Registry began handling all English probates.

1882:  Married women were given the right to use and dispose of their own property.

Websites

 * http://www.historyofengland.net/
 * http://www.britainexpress.com/History/index.htm
 * http://www.britannia.com/history/narintrohist.html
 * http://home.earthlink.net/~lfdean/austen/history/index.html