Notable Cousin · via the maternal line

King Henry VIII

1491–1547 · King of England (1509–1547). Broke with Rome to found the Church of England; his six marriages and the Tudor succession reshaped English history.

Tudor royal arms, as borne by Henry VIII
Arms of Henry VIII, our 1st cousin, 16× removed, via Edward IV. Sodacan, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Credits

Relationship

King Henry VIII is the 1st cousin, 16 times removed of John, Perry, and Patrick Long.

Through King Edward IV (1442–1483), the shared Yorkist ancestor. Henry VIII descends from Edward IV’s daughter Elizabeth of York; the family descends from Edward IV’s acknowledged son, Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle.

SIDE: MATERNAL · Westcott / Plantagenet / York

Most Recent Common Ancestor

King Edward IV (1442–1483) — first Yorkist king of England; the single shared ancestor connecting Henry VIII to the family. This is the single shared ancestor that connects King Henry VIII to John, Perry, and Patrick. FamilySearch PID: GHFH-FRN.

Descent Tree

Both lines descending from the most recent common ancestor, King Edward IV. The family’s line is the maternal Plantagenet descent documented in full on the Plantagenet Descent page; Research-in-Progress markers flag the two Devon generations not yet enumerated. Click any PID to open the FamilySearch record.

Via the maternal line — Westcott / Plantagenet / York
MRCA
King Edward IV
1442–1483
first Yorkist king of England; the single shared ancestor connecting Henry VIII to the family
GHFH-FRN
The family’s line
Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle
~1480–1542
Edward IV’s acknowledged son; the royal line leaves the throne here
LCRV-19T
Lady Frances Plantagenet
1519–1568
daughter of Arthur Plantagenet
9JQ7-D1D
Mary Anne Monck
~1530–1603
of Dunsland, Devon — PID pending; documented in the FamilySearch walk but not yet enumerated
RESEARCH
Margaret Arscote
~1548
married Rev. Lewis Stukely — PID pending
RESEARCH
Mary Stukley
1563
of Marwood, Devon; Stukely Westcott’s mother
L2XY-B7H
Stukely Westcott
1592–1677
carries the royal descent to America; founder of Providence and Warwick
9HZW-SXJ
Jeremiah Westcott
1633–1685
LZNS-Q16
Capt. Josiah Westcott
~1675–1721
LZKZ-R2T
Caleb Westcott
1716–1800
LCTK-QTJ
Elizabeth Westcott
~1760
KNWZ-LNK
Mary Peckham
1792
LR79-JWN
Fanny P. Harrison
1813–1892
9F78-WDW
Richmond C. Winter
1839–1912
L4ZL-SXH
Fanny Harrison Winter
1869–1914
9VNZ-J6H
Rachael Winter Swift
1896
9JGN-43B
Francis Swift Perry
1923–2011
maternal grandfather; Cape Cod
L1V1-8D2
Carol A. Perry
1952
maternal bridge
GB2W-HXSLIVING
John, Perry & Patrick Long
living
the three brothers
LIVING
Henry VIII’s line
Elizabeth of York
1466–1503
daughter of Edward IV; queen consort of Henry VII (PID pending — not invented)
RESEARCH
King Henry VIII
1491–1547
her son; King of England 1509–1547

On the Relationship

The royal cousinhood rests on the shared descent from Edward IV: Henry VIII through Elizabeth of York, the family through Arthur Plantagenet. The “1st cousin, 16 times removed” figure is the FamilySearch relationship-walk label and is carried verbatim (Rule #87). Blood descent is unaffected by inheritance legitimacy — Arthur Plantagenet’s acknowledged-but-illegitimate status does not break the line.

Sourcing confirmed

VERIFIED on the documented anchors: King Edward IV (GHFH-FRN, 18 FamilySearch sources), Arthur Plantagenet (LCRV-19T, 14 sources), and the Westcott → Perry line that follows, all FamilySearch-canonical and enumerated on the Plantagenet Descent page. Two Devon intermediate generations — Mary Anne Monck and Margaret Arscote — are marked Research-in-Progress, with no PIDs invented to fill them. Elizabeth of York → Henry VIII is standard Tudor history. The “1st cousin, 16 times removed” label follows the FamilySearch relationship walk; see the Plantagenet Descent acknowledgments for the chain’s honest caveats.

Sources

  1. Henry VIII — Wikipedia
  2. FamilySearch: King Edward IV (GHFH-FRN, 18 sources)
  3. FamilySearch: Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle (LCRV-19T, 14 sources)
  4. Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families (2nd ed., 2011)
  5. Dictionary of National Biography — Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle
  6. Alison Weir, Elizabeth of York: A Tudor Queen and Her World (Ballantine, 2013)
  7. Internal: the full chain on the Plantagenet Descent page
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