Family History ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT- “How the Other Half Lived” - Part 2

With the objective of connecting my Jesson ancestry to the ‘famous’ Jessons contained within the extensive hand drawn family tree I received, I studied this tree in line with Ancestry.com and was able to trace the Jesson line back to the 1500’s (not too hard to do when distinguished people are well documented).

To help me follow the line more simply, I created a document showing me how each generation connects. Here is a summary of the line I am following along with the few interesting facts I have learnt.

With the line going back this far (and further), I realistically can’t research everything in a year. So, I have chosen to focus on those people who interest me and perhaps will help me achieve my goal of finding the connection to the Jessons that I know.

THOMAS HENRY PERCY TOUCHET-JESSON

The first person I have researched is Thomas Henry Percy Touchet-Jesson (the one on the bottom of the list). Often it is easier to start researching a closer ancestors first. This Thomas, I learnt was known as ‘Henry’, so it is important to look for documents for ‘Henry Jesson’ too. I learnt that Henry was an actor (details of his works remain obscure), he had a business manufacturing crystal tableware and served in World War 2, attaining the rank of Major. His claim to fame however was becoming the 28th Baron of Audley in 1942. Henry married twice. His second wife was the daughter of Sir Winston Churchill. This all sounds quite glamorous, but it seems she was a ‘free spirit’ and the marriage only lasted a year when Henry tragically died of a heart attack at the age of 49. His sister became a 29th Baroness of Audley.

Intrigued by the Baron title, my next plan is to follow this Baron line and find out why the title was bestowed upon a Jesson?