Genealogy:
A Personal History
Towneley Hall (Lancashire, England) - photo © T. Martínez
My interest in history extends to a lifelong fascination with my own genealogy. I’ve been fortunate that big chunks of my family history have been preserved to guide my own research and travels.
My explorations have led me to interesting theories –King Louis XI of France was possibly my ancestor – and unforgettable journeys around England and the Netherlands. One of these visits, to Towneley Hall in Lancashire, England (pictured here), even added a new branch to my family tree by leading me to my husband.
My parents have always been an unending source of information about our family genealogy and have encouraged me to build on our existing data. Starting with some substantial leads, I have conducted further research and, aside from being a greatly diluted (I said diluted, not deluded) descendant of a bastard son of an ancient French king, I am able to claim some very interesting ancestors. This part of my site features some of them.
The Townley's
The earliest ancestor I've definitively identified is Spartlingus, 1st Dean of Whalley (England), who lived sometime around the 10th or 11th century. This is the very beginning of the Townley (also spelled Towneley) branch of my genealogy. The family seat of the Townley family, Towneley Hall, still stands in Burnley, Lancashire, England, now a park and museum.
Several hundred years later, in the 17th century, Colonel Richard Townley, descendant of Spartlingus, emigrated from his home of Towneley in England to Elizabethtown, in the Colony of New Jersey.
His son, Charles Townley, born in 1686, had a son with the unfortunate name of Effingham, who was the ancestor of Helen Parrot, the mother of Charles Van Orden, my paternal grandfather; and a daughter, Mary Townley, who was the ancestor of Helen Aller, the mother of Catherine Hill, my paternal grandmother, who's maiden name I carry as my middle name. Therefore, both my paternal grandparents were descendants of the Townley family.
The Van Orden's
Our family history tells that my paternal grandfather, Charles Van Orden, was also the descendant of the French king, Louis XI, and his mistress, Catherine d'Mailly. This illegitimate child of the king was made Baron d'Conty, and his descendants maintained the d'Mailly name until Seigneur Pierre d'Mailly, a French Huguenot, was driven out of France due to his unpopular religious beliefs, escaping to Naarden, Holland, where he changed his name to Mabille.
Two generations later, in the early 1600s, Pieter Casparzen Mabille, sailed from Amsterdam, Holland, to New Amsterdam in the Colony of New York, where he also changed his name, this time to Van Naarden - meaning, "from Naarden" (his hometown in Holland).
Within another two generations, the name further evolved - first with his son, who changed it to Van Norden, then with his grandson, who became William Van Orden, my first ancestor to go by my maiden surname.
I am a writer, public relations professional, history-lover and traveler. As my personal web site, VictoriaHill.com is devoted to my various interests and pursuits. It's also home to the other URLs that I use to express my different personae, such as GlobetrottingBroad.com, TheRoyalScribe.com and ArbitraryHistory.com. And, of course, there's my professional side, including my business,