The following note from one of our English cousins describes her own family descent and the Conyers connection of Her Royal Highness, Princess Diana, Princess of Wales, the former wife of Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.
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I am so pleased to see that the USA has an Association and Website dedicated to the surname Conyers. This is one of my mother's favourite surnames and one of my ancestral surnames.
My name is Gaynor Johnson and I've been researching my maternal grandmother's ancestry since 1984. Her maiden name was Phoebe Conyers (1905-1953) and she was born in the City of Kingston-upon-Hull (Hull) in East Yorkshire, England. In 1929; she married my grandfather, William Leadley (1906-1967) who was a member of the Royal Household Cavalry. He was also an extra in the Hollywood movie "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.
My great grandfather's name was Samuel Conyers (1863-1928) and, according to his now late daughter-in-law, Millie, he knew his ancestry off by heart. Unfortunately, he never thought to put it all down on paper but he also said that there was always either a Samuel, Leonard or a Percy in his ancestry and so far, this has been proven to be true. There has been at least one Leonard Conyers in every generation since 1788.
My great grandfather also said that he was a relation of the Countess of Yarborough whose title pre-marriage (to the 4th Earl of Yarborough) was Baroness Conyers. According to my late great-aunt Millie, the two families were in constant contact with each other and when the Countess died in 1926, the 4th Earl of Yarborough apparently invited my great grandparents to the funeral held at the Yarborough's estate in the county of Lincolnshire and he sent his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce to take them to and from the funeral. My great grandparents attended the "wake" at the estate after the interment where they had "a nice ham tea, prunes and custard".
Unfortunately, my research into my Conyers ancestry became somewhat stuck in 1989 as I have been unable to locate the birthplace of my 4 x great grandfather, Francis Conyers (1764-1842). He was a gunsmith living in Kingston-upon-Hull in East Yorkshire, England by the age of 18 years when he married Elizabeth Hunter in her parish of Broughton-by-Brigg, Lincolnshire in 1782. All the parish registers of Hull and the surrounding area have been searched for his baptism without success. Neither his baptism nor his marriage appear on the I.G.I. I cannot find his apprenticeship indenture and he died in Hull in 1842 but doesn't appear on the city's Census Returns (1841). He didn't leave a will.
But I am pretty certain that there may be a genealogical link with my ancestors and the Conyers families of either Bagby, Whitby or York as there have been clusters of Conyers named Leonard in these families. There was a family of Conyers in York with a son named Leonard in the 1720s but it appears that they disappeared from this City shortly afterwards and this gap meets with my ancestors.
The only Leonard Conyers I've found on the Baron Conyers's family tree was the youngest son of Christopher Conyers, the 2nd Baron Conyers of Hornby, North Yorkshire. According to the Internet version of the I.G.I., he married someone named Miss Layton but "DeBrett Ancestry Research Ltd." told me that it was unlikely that he survived beyond childhood or he would have inherited the title which fell into abeyance in 1557 after the death of his elder brother, John Conyers, the 3rd Baron Conyers. Incidentally, I've noticed the "Pedigree" chart on the Internet I.G.I. for this branch of the Barons's family tree does not correspond with information from "Burke's Peerage".
I thought you may be interested to know that the former Lady Diana Spencer, the Princess of Wales was a descendant of Robert, the 7th Baron Conyers who, in turn, was descended from John Conyers, the 3rd Baron Conyers. So the Princess was, herself, a relation of the Countess of Yarborough. Although I cannot confirm my relationship to Princess Diana, my family have no doubt about it. I have a picture of the late Princess's paternal grandmother, Lady Cynthia, the Countess Spencer by whom the Princess derives her descent from the Conyers of Hornby, North Yorkshire and she was the double of my maternal grandmother, formerly Phoebe Conyers !!! We don't think it is a co-incidence.
Yours Faithfully,
Gaynor T. Johnson (Miss)
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