Link from Edwards II/III of England to Gov. Thomas Welles?

Question

On 10 Jan 2024 Rick Smith wrote on Welles-29:

The last time I checked - a couple of years ago perhaps - no one had proven Gov. Welles to be descended from English royalty. Now I find he is descended from [[Plantagenet-378 | Edward II]] and [[Plantagenet-70 | Edward III]]. I am not sufficiently expert to assess the documentation of this lineage. Do others have an opinion on its verisimilitude? 

The last time I looked, there was still a bogus link to Gov. Welles from Cicely of York’s FindaGrave page via an undocumented son of hers. Her brother, Edward V, was one of the Princes of the Tower held by Richard III.

Answer 1

There seem to be a couple of issues with the ancestry of Thomas Welles, but the main link back to Edward III is through his grandmother Elizabeth (Bryan) Welles who was added as a daughter of Sir Francis Bryan in late 2023.  This may be based on an older article in NEGHS, but I think that article has been discredited and there is no evidence that Sir Francis Bryan had a daughter Elizabeth.

I would disconnect them, but it might be worth a project (England or PGM?) project protecting Sir Francis Bryan to stop such a connection happening again.

Comments

Thanks John, the sourcing on Elizabeth's profile does seem rather thin. The England Project Managed Profiles Team will take a look and arrange for relevant profiles to be project-managed and protected as need be.

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Yes, thank you for tracking this down!

Answer 2

Hi, I checked Richardson's Royal Ancestry and Plantagenet Ancestry but do not see Thomas Welles. I also checked Weiss' Ancestral Roots. There is a Welles line in these ancestry. But this is not the same Welles as Thomas. I know Joseph Bolles of Maine is one descendant from that line.

Answer 3

I will be fixing the English ancestry of Gov. Thomas Welles based on the most recent research. There are many errors currently on the WikiTree profiles.

Mathews, Barbara Jean. ''The Descendants of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut and his Wife Alice Tomes'', volume 1, 3rd edition (Connecticut: Welles Family Association, 2015).