Arnold McNaughton wrote a sort of preface for his 1977 version of our family genealogy book in which he speaks about his interest in royal genealogy and how he came to write his opus. It is really a fascinating article. I want to share it with all of you. Here it is:
****************************************************
GENEALOGY AND ME! by Arnold McNaughton.
“"What a perfectly insane hobby!" wrote a family tree relative on November 15, 1957. I have kept her letter ever since. She went on, "every man to his poison".” She went on then about her husband's and her hobby of collecting rocks, which to me probably sounded just as insane for one must remember that what one takes on as a hobby is not necessarily sensible to another person. However the main thing is to have a hobby of some sort, to fill in those moments away from the hussle and bussle of the day-in-day-out routine which each of us must follow.
I have always been Interested in where we (man) has come from. No amount of genealogical research is going to give me the name of that very first ancestor of man - it is just not possible. However my personal view on this is that I do not believe we devolved from monkeys in trees and other related subjects. I firmly believe that we ore the product of another civilization that visited this earth from a distant planet and that they discovered this planet habitable and settled on it.
Our beginnings are probably more ancient than any of us may realize. Why did we get to be living where we are? Ever think of it? Perhaps not. Just as well, some may say. But, it is interesting that the actions of our ancestors has everything to do regarding our present whereabouts. If great great grandfather Finlay had had his way he would have taken his family to India - of all places. Why, you may ask, India? Well, for one thing the man had been educated for the Indian Civil Service in Scotland. It was therefore his intention of going to that country one day. When he did decide to go his sister Catherine, Mrs. John McPhee, stepped in and told him that she intended to go wherever her brother went and India was not going to be one of those places. She said that for their children to be educated they would have to send them all the way back to Scotland and Edinburgh. India was out so far as she was concerned. She reminded her brother that if he wanted to go to the new world - America - she would agree; certainly not India. Thanks to Catherine we are in the new world or we might have ended up in the Orient 150 years ago. To America they came but one thing has puzzled me and yet in a way it doesn't I suppose. If Finlay was such an educated man why did he neglect the education of his children after arriving in America. I say this for very good reason. The marriage register of his eldest daughter Margaret, Mrs. William Dundass, at Hemmlngford bears two X”marks under both bride and groom's signatures. The signatures were written in by a witness, in this case William's brother John. Under each is the X with a further Inscription his mark” - “her mark. Education of girls was unimportant in those early days and even in the old world. The male got the education. The female was to provide comfort for a future home and husband and to bear him children. It was unimportant whether she could read or write. But it seems strange that William Dundass also could not write. And as for Finlay's sons their education was of the miner quality although they entered the army in Canada for various terms of service. Apart from military service the tilling of the land was the only other thing open to settlers. Later came the business world and people tended to favour joining that. Once the ancestors settled in Canada they remained for some years but again came the wanderlust and many moved out of the Hemmingford area and headed for the American and Canadian west, then opening up for settlers. Why, for instance, did one couple and their infant family, head out from Hemmingford around 1878 in a covered wagon and stop in what is now the State of Nebraska and found a community that they also gave the name of Hemmingford to? Why did they not continue on into California as many of their McFee and McNaughton relatives had already done? Well, that is precisely why, today, you and I happen to be living where we are. Those before us moved to new locales and we were born there and grew up there and called it home.
My own interest in genealogy in our own family resulted from an earlier Interest in the genealogy of the royal families of Europe. It amazed me to know that whether the crowned heads were from Russia, Britain, Germany, Spain or Greece, all were related to the others. Why? What strange twist of fate made them one common family? True, Victoria of England lived to see a grandson become Emperor of Germany and a granddaughter the last Empress of Russia with other grandchildren heirs to crowns in Greece and Romania. But how did they get there? Simply this - they intermarried with foreign royal houses with the result that by the time of the outbreak of World War I In 1914 the crowned heads of Europe were all first cousins to one another. The tragedy was that these same cousins managed to get themselves and their countries involved in a world war with themselves ending up on different sides of the firing line.
I had to find out answers and a who's who to this fascinating subject and so began what has become a 26 year research work into the royal families of Europe which ended in the publication of a book on the subject, called “The Book of Kings” in November 1973 in London, England by the publisher. The Garnstone Press. Timed to coincide with the wedding of Princess Anne to Captain Mark Phillips on November 14th, 1973 I was taken to London by my publisher for the launching of the book two days before the wedding. Now, over the years I have known, and met various times, a very remarkable man - a great grandson of Queen Victoria and a nephew of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia - the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. He wrote the Foreword to my Book of Kings as well as having lent encouragement to my continuation of the work that took great scads of hours to complete and prepare for the publisher over the last 10 years. He was present at the launching of my book and brought several of his relatives to attend it and to meet me. Among them, his niece Princess Sophia, sister of Prince Philip, her husband. Prince George William of Hanover, grandson of the last German Kaiser, the brother-in-law of the King of Sweden, the nephew of Prince Philip, a Russian Prince and a Russian Countess, the latter having turned 80 a few days prior to this rare meeting. On the day of Princess Anne's wedding I had the rare experience of having an Invitation from Her Majesty the Queen to come to Buckingham Palace to see them all leave for the Abbey and to return afterwards. What I did not realize was the length of time I would remain in the place (7 hours - from a quarter to ten a.m. until 5 p.m.) or that before the day would end that I would meet none other than Her Majesty personally. Prince Philip, Prince Charles (the second time I had met him in a week), the Queen Mother Elizabeth, Prince Rainier of Monaco and Princess Grace; King Constantine II of Greece and his tall (5' 10") wife. Queen Anne Marie (sister of the 6' 1" Queen Margrethe II of Denmark) or that I would be given a personal tour of the royal palace itself right into the throne room the Grand Ball Room, corridors of immaculate cleanliness and colour, even a peak over the edge of the royal balcony itself when the sun went down and it was dark (so that I could see many of the people standing outside the palace gates. I had arrived on this rather unusual day of my life, at the palace and directed to the royal suites occupied by the two surviving sisters of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They are the Princess Margarito of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and the Princess Sophia of Hanover both of whom I have been in correspondence with for over 20 years. I had met both ladies before but they had wanted to meet me this time knowing that I was to be in London. So between Mountbatten and these ladies the invitation was arranged without my knowing of it until I landed In London. I had met Princess Margarita 20 years earlier at the time of the Queen's coronation when I met she, her husband (since deceased) and eldest son (who was at the launching of my book in 1973) for one hour - also in the palace and in the suite overlooking the front of the palace. This time it was again the front of the palace and from the suite of rooms they occupied one could see the gathering crowds below congregating for the royal wedding procession that morning. Had anyone told me that I would be meeting Grace Kelly before the day was over, that I would actually be shaking her hand and that the two of us, and her husband, would actually be talking for over 10 minutes I wouldn't have believed it. However, after the wedding, Princess Margarita, who is a friend of the Monacon couple brought them into her suite especially to meet me and as Princess Grace said, "we have heard much about you from Princess Margarita on our drive back from Westminster Abbey." I did not realize who she had brought into the room until I turned around (having been standing looking out of the windows) and recognized Grace Kelly and her husband. You may imagine the start that gave me but managed to hide that surprise for I was immediately introduced and it was important not to be stage struck at this moment. She is certainly a very easy person to meet and visit with . What a day that was!
It seems amazing, now that I look back over the years and how my interest first became evident that this would one day lead me to meet the very people I was studying all about. For me it was more than just the vital statistics of birth, death and marriage (and one must also include divorce today) but one of learning the individual histories of all these people as well. Our libraries contained various references to the lives of royalty but all the same I wanted to learn what made them tick, some of their thoughts and so my questions took on details of how they lived and where they traveled. I got many replies and some invitations to visit. The first royal I ever met in my life was the last surviving sister of the Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (who had perished at the hands of the Bolsheviks with his wife and 5 children in 1918). Grand Duchess Olga of Russia came to live in Canada in 1948, to a farm at Campbellville, Ontario some 45 miles west of Toronto. I had written her for answers to many questions I would plague her with during the II years I knew her here. I met she, and her husband in 1951 at their farm home and on 4 other occasions after they retired to Cooksville, Ontario to their little bungalow. She died in 1960 at the age of 78. Perhaps one of the things I treasure most from our association is a water colour she did for me of pansies and lilacs, so vivid that you can feel that should you reach into the picture you might be able to pick the flowers, so real do they appear. This hangs in an antique, gilt frame in my room. Also there are her numerous letters she sent me over those years and the album I made up on her life and her family both in Russia and after the exile of the first World War years. Our many conversations around topics such as the women who claimed to be her niece the Grand Duchess Anastasia (no, all the Tsar's children are dead, none survived) and Anastasia is pronounced as Anna - tas yia not the murderous way the English language has lipped it - do not say Asia as you would the continent of Asia but emphasize the E in y-ia; to that of the man, Rasputin (whom she did not like whatsoever but he gave peace of mind to the Empress whose only son suffered the freakish blood defect called hemophilia and it appeared as though Rasputin was the only being alive who could release the boy from the great pain he often found himself to be in during his bleeding attacks. Or how the Grand Duchess had met Queen Victoria in France. She (Olga) was only 13 years of age at the time and she had gone with her mother to Victoria’s villa at Cimiez, France on the French Riviera, for tea one afternoon. Her reply to what she could remember best about the little old lady was the rings, they literally covered her hands, was what she told me and to a 13 year old this would be a typical thing to stand out in any child's eye undoubtedly whether royal or otherwise. Olga survived for 42 years a life of exile and saw the passing of 18 relatives (2 brothers, 4 nieces, a nephew, a sister-in-law, uncle and aunt and several close cousins) who were murdered by the Bolsheviks as well as many of the family servants who could not escape in time. The old man who accompanied her mother, the Dowager Empress Marie, into exile, Timophey Yashtek, a faithful servant for many years and a Cossack soldier decided that he would leave Russia with his Empress and that in time conditions in Russia would settle down and he could return as he felt the whole Imperial Family would too. He never did. He died years later in Denmark, the homeland of the Dowager Empress (she and Queen Alexandra of England, Edward VII's wife, were sisters, the Princesses of Denmark) but the Bolsheviks remembered him only too well. When they discovered that he had left Russia with the Imperial Family in 1919 the Bolsheviks hunted out his own family in the Caucausus mountains and shot not only his wife but his children and grandchildren. Like elephants Lenin and his Bolsheviks never forget. Yes, we had many Interesting visits and conversations to be sure.
My method of obtaining information, since I had no money for traveling great distances around Europe to get it all by word of mouth, was to write direct to these people. It mattered little whether they knew me or I them. If they thought my letters sounded genuine I would receive replies - if not I wouldn't - it was as simple as that. Queen Mary, the late grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II answered through her private secretary and we exchanged an interesting correspondence this way for the last two years that she lived. I never met her but in 1952 shortly after her granddaughter came to the throne as Elizabeth II and the 1953 coronation was coming up I wrote and asked her if she had any seats along the coronation route at her disposal. It was a bold question perhaps but I had to ask. I was planning to go to London for the event and I did want to get a good place to view it all from. She wrote back to say she had none and was very sorry not to be able to provide me with one. The old Queen died in March 1953 but it was not too many weeks later that I was informed that I had received an invitation to attend the coronation Garden Party at Buckingham Palace on May 25th. To acquire the Invitation I would have to go to Canada House in London as these are never sent through the mails. How else had I gotten the invitation if not through Queen Mary? In any case when I got to London, sure enough the invitation was waiting for me and come the 25th day of May I went to the Palace and to the Garden Party. There were 8000 people there that day - a very warm and sunny one (in contrast to coronation day which was cold and rainy). I saw so many people familiar to me through the eyes of history. No I did not meet any of them personally that day - I just looked! One of the people I shall surely never forget was the towering figure of that south sea island Queen Salote of Tonga. Immense! You said it. She stood 6' 2" and that day wore high heels, was dressed in a caramel-coloured long dress with picture hat and carried a parasol. Now if a woman that tall, dressed that way doesn't stand out in a crowd no one will. Furthermore she weighed 250 pounds! She passed right by me with her entourage with her great big wonderful smile that she became so famous for in the London of coronation year. But I was to return to the palace 2 weeks later. Here I was not 21 and never away from home and the farmyard practically and I was driving down The Mall, that mile long avenue leading to the palace, in an ancient cab to meet the eldest sister of the Queen's husband inside the palace at her invitation. Oh yes, I had been writing to the Princess Margarita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg for about a year and a half and at Xmas 1952 she wrote to inquire if I would be going to London. They live in Germany and would be going from there and as she was so interested in my choice of a hobby she wanted to meet me. She told me to write to the palace where they would be staying and she would arrange a meeting. I wrote. Her reply came back that could I come to Buckingham Palace of Friday, June 5 around 4 p.m. and to phone her (and she gave the palace number) so that she would know if the time suited me. As if it wouldn't ! So I phoned. Now to phone the palace where the Queen lives you must remember one thing very clearly. The person who picks up that phone in the palace is no relative. It would be a member of the staff if not security itself. I was asked "Are you a reporter?" when I said that I wished to speak with the Princess Hohenlohe. I replied, No, and then went so far as to say "I am a personal friend". I was asked no more. The next voice I heard was the Princess Margarita and she said that she did want to know so that she could let the policeman at the gate know when I would be arriving so that I would have no red tape to go through once I arrived - and to be sure to bring along her letter as I would have to show it. No one takes your word that you are you when you drive up to the palace. I could bring my camera, the Princess said, so long as I did not publish the results. Cameras are not allowed inside the place. Somehow my request to take their pictures worked for she allowed me to bring It and security waved me through with it after I got inside. We had an hour visit, she and her husband and son. Her husband. Prince Gottfried of Hohenlohe, was a great grandson of Queen Victoria, she was a great great granddaughter. His aunt had been the famous Queen Marie of Romania and her aunt was Queen Louise of Sweden. They speak a legion of languages so conversation was no problem. I can still hear her say the moment we met and had shaken hands, "Would you like a cigarette?"”and I said "No, I don't smoke."” To which she replied, "Good, never start, I wish I could stop." and then wanted to know what I had seen in London since my arrival and what I must see before I leave. Above all get inside Westminster Abbey. You will never see it again in the setting it presently is in for the day of the coronation and so I took it in. We spoke of many things, her husband and she and I and then before I left her husband asked if I would like to come over to the windows. He said that this was a sight very few have a chance to see London from and he pulled aside one of the curtains. As I peered through one could see thousands of people below outside the gates and the great expanse of London's Green and Hyde Parks in front of you with Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square and the towers of the Abbey above the maze of green trees. I took a family photo of the 3 of them . We shook hands and said goodbye and they said that I must come to Germany to see them all. It has now been almost 23 years since the coronation and I have never gotten to Germany yet. The Prince has died of cancer since then too. 20 years after this visit I would meet Princess Margarita once again - this time again inside the palace which has already been described to you earlier in this story.
Napoleon's great grandniece, the Princess Marie Bonaparte, by marriage Princess George of Greece and aunt of Prince Philip, was visiting Montreal on a June day in 1957 and I wrote to the Windsor Hotel where she and her daughter were staying and asked if I could meet them. No doubt a rather bold thing to do. They didn't know me from a hole in the ground. However I told them about my research and how I knew the Grand Duchess Olga and had met Prince Philip's sister Margarita (who was her own niece) and mailed it. Within days the reply came back that I would be welcome to meet them and so I did. She was known for her comic antics in history and when I met the Princess Marie, then nearly 80 she said, "My God, it's hot in this city, how on earth do you stand it?" It was one of our famous hot, humid summer days and it was a most uncomfortable one to say the least. She was interested in knowing where Grand Duchess Olga was actually living for as she said, I used to know her and we often exchanged letters. Her life has been so unfortunate, hasn't it?”I had about an hour visit with them and also was able to take pictures. I was getting to know all the family”as Princess Margarita wrote one Xmas and indeed I seemed to be.
I met King Simeon II of Bulgaria, even though an exile at the time, at the home of his sister. Princess Marie Louise in Toronto in 1965. Simeon was then 28 years old. He was accompanied by his Spanish born Queen Margarita. Both speak 8 languages as does the Princess Marie Louise. Simeon became King at the age of 6 and by the age of 9 was an exile. His father. King Boris III had a mysterious end that even the family cannot decipher. He had gone to Berlin in August 1943 trying to get Hitler to agree to Bulgaria pulling out of the war. The Russian troops were not too far away from Bulgaria's borders and he hoped to end Bulgaria's part in it before the Russians broke through. He failed. Hitler was in a rage over his boldness and sent the king packing. Now the King was known for very good physical health and he had seldom been ill. He had hardly arrived back home than he was ill and had to take to his bed. He died three days later. Presumably poisoned on the orders of Hitler, (after all in October 1943 he did the same thing to Prince Phillip’s brother-in-law, Prince Christopher of Hesse, who had for some years been a great supporter of the German leader and then became skeptical and turned against him verbally. He simply had a bomb placed aboard the Prince's aircraft (he was a German pilot during the war) and the thing went off while he was flying over the Italian Alps. End of Prince Christopher. End of King Boris III. The war did not end. The Russian came. They arrested the entire government and then shot the whole lot of them - there were 100 and plowed their corpses into a bomb crater with a bulldozer without any grave markings whatsoever - no trial. Princess Marie Louise, whom I have visited several times in Toronto told me that her father's brother, her uncle, the Prince Regent for her brother during the junior years of his life, had also been arrested and that he was shot along with everyone else. Then, she told me, "The communist government leaders had the audacity to come to the palace to see my mother to express to her their sincere condolences in the passing of my uncle. My mother simply said to them, 'I don't think I want to live here anymore!' to which they replied, '“Madam, I wouldn't say that if I were you for we can do to you what we have done to him!'"” For 2 years the family were under virtual house arrest and taken to a castle in the mountains away from the capital and the people in general. Princess Marie Louise said that for a long time they wondered whether they might end as the Romanovs of Russia had in 1918! An election was rigged and the monarchy supposedly voted out of existence. The family were given 24 hours notice to get out of the country. The King was 9, his sister 13, his mother a widow. A train was hastily made ready and in the middle of the night they boarded it. Strange as it seems the communists lined the entire rail line to the Turkish border with troops on both sides of the tracks. The engineer, when he arrived at the border, refused to drive the train any further and said he would not be responsible for taking his King out of his country. The communists simply shot him dead where he stood and took the train across. The family went to Egypt where they lived in Alexandria and where the King and his sister went to school. In 1951, after an attempt had been made on Simeon's life by Bulgarian spies who took the trouble to fly to Cairo only they were found out by King Farouk's government and sent home, the family went to Spain. Today Simeon, his wife and five children reside in Madrid. We keep in touch by letter every once in awhile. His mother lives at Estoril, Portugal. She was Italian Princess Giovanna of Savoy, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of ltaly (whose reign covered the years Mussolini was in power) and her brother, Urnberto II, was the last King of Italy in 1946. Princess Marie Louise has married twice since coming to Canada. Her first marriage to a great great grandson of Queen Victoria ended in divorce and she married a Polish commoner, Bronislaw Chrobok, whose father, an officer in the Polish army had been shot by the Russians in the early days of World War II. He speaks 5 languages and was educated in four countries.