The New Murrey and Blue blog

The late actress and singer Jane Birkin, who would have been 77 today, had some interesting ancestors. As this first table shows, these were all through her father David, a naval Lieutenant Commander with a Russell mother, through whom Jane was descended from the Dukes of Bedford, along with several other peers: the van Keppels, Seymour-Conways and a Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh who was a grandson of George II.

The Russells themselves, including in particular the 4th Duke, can take us further back. His prominent ancestors include include the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (leading back to Edward I through the earlier Howards), although the 1st Earl of Bedford himself is disappointingly obscure. Lady Elizabeth Grey, as a daughter of the Marquess of Dorset, provides a link to Edward III via Joan Beaufort and Ralph Neville, as well as joining up with the Mowbrays and Lancastrians proper to Henry III. There are also illegitimate links to James IV (second part here) and Charles II.