Ancestry of Wilford Edison Park
Prepared November 1971



Wilford E. Park's Place of Birth and Parents

Born at Fair Ground (a small community which no longer has a post office) in Houghton Township in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, March 27, 1901.

Father -- Watson Park -- farmer
Mother -- Lura Cutler


Ethnic Heritage and Known Genealogy

Mother's paternal ancestors -- Pennsylvania Dutch
Mother's maternal ancestors -- Scottish

Father's paternal ancestors -- English
Father's maternal ancestors -- Irish

Much of Wilford E. Park's ancestry through his father is known and documented. It extends through an unbroken line of Park male ancestors back 16 generations to Robert Parke of Gestingthorpe, Essex, England, who died in 1400 A.D.

A 7th generation descendent, also named Robert Parke (1580-1665), and his son Thomas Parke (1616-1709) came together with Governor John Winthrop's party to Boston, Massachusetts, on the sailing ship Arabella arriving at Boston on March 29, 1630, after a voyage of 76 days from Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, with 76 people on board.

In America, Thomas Parke, on October 28, 1644, married Dorothy Tompson (1624-1709), in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Wilford E. Park is of the 8th generation of the direct male descendants of Thomas Parke (1616-1709) and Dorothy Tompson (1624-1709) who was the daughter of Alice Freeman Tompson.

Dorothy Tompson's ancestry, through her mother, is documented through 21 generations (some male and some female) back to Aethelred II who was the 7th of the first kings of all of England. The direct line of ancestry (males only) of Aethelred II, 7th King of England, is documented through 17 generations back to Cedric, King of the West Saxons in England from 519 to 534 A.D.

Cedric's son, Cynric, succeeded him as King of the West Saxons from 534 to 560 A.D. Cynric's son, Ceawlin, likewise was King of the West Saxons from 560 to 591 A.D.

A tenth generation male descendent of Cedric, King of the West Saxons, in the line of descent to Aethelred II named Eahlmund was King of Kent in 784 A.D.

Egbert (775-838), a son of Eahlmund, was King of Wessex from 802 to 827 A.D. In 827 A.D. Egbert became King of all of England and thus became the founder of the first line of kings to rule all of England. Egbert reigned from 827 to 836 A.D.

The direct male descendants of King Egbert who succeeded him as King of all of England and forming the line of descent to Aethelred II were --

Aethelwulf who reigned from 839 to 858 A.D.

Alfred the Great, the most famous of the early English kings, reigned from 871 to 901 A.D.

Edward I, the Elder, reigned from 901 to 924 A.D.

Edmund I, the Magnificent, reigned from 940 to 946 A.D.

Edgar, the Peaceful, reigned from 959 to 975 A.D.

Aethelred II, the Redeless, reigned from 979 to 1016 A.D.

The reign of the original line of English kings was interrupted in 1016 A.D. when the Vikings under King Knut, the Mighty, of Denmark conquered England. Danish kings then ruled England until 1042 A.D. when Aethelred II's son Edward, the Confessor, was recalled from France to become King of England. Edward the Confessor had no children and his reign terminated when he died in January 1066 A.D.

Later in 1066 A.D. Edward's cousin William, Duke of Normandy, came over from France with an army and wrested the English throne from the interim Saxon King Harold, at the Battle of Hastings. Since that time William has been known as William the Conqueror. William the Conqueror was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066 A.D. The present ruling family of England can trace its ancestry, without a break, back to William the Conqueror and Alfred the Great.

Dorothy Tompson was a descendant of King Aethelred II through his daughter Alfgifu (Elgiva) who married Uchtred, Earl of Northumberland.

The line of descent of Dorothy Tompson was through Ealdgyth (Edith), daughter of Alfgifu and Uchtred. Ealdgyth married Maldred, Lord of Carlisle and Allerdale. Maldred was a brother of Duncan, King of Scots, and son of Crinan the Thane and Bethoc, daughter of Malcolm II, King of Scots.

The line of descent passes through Gospatric I, son of Maldred and Ealgyth. Gospatric I was Earl of Northumberland, 1067-1072 A.D., first Earl of Dunbar, 1072-1075 A.D., and Lord of Carlisle and Allerdale.

Of the 21 generations and descendants of Aethelred II, which form the line of descent to Dorothy Tompson, one of the males in the line was both an Earl and a Lord, one of the males was both an Earl and a Baron, two of the males were Knights, one of the females was married to an Earl, two of the females were married to Lords and one of the females was married to a Knight.

When blood lines of titled ancestry coming to Wilford E. Park through Dorothy Tompson, wife of Thomas Parke (1616-1709), are added together they add up to a sizable number of noblemen consisting of twelve Kings, three Earls, three Lords, one Baron and three Knights. The number represents 20 titled individual men instead of 22 because two of the Earls had combined titles.


Further Information on the Ancestry of Dorothy Tompson Parke (1624-1709)

William G. Cook, newly-elected President of the Park/e/s Society, at the annual meeting of the Society in Mystic, Connecticut on Aug. 11, 1973, gave the "address of the day" in which he reported that records compiled by various genealogists and historians show that the distinguished ancestors of Dorothy Tompson, through her mother Alice Freeman, include 69 Kings and Emperors. This is not surprising when you consider the custom of restricting royal marriages to the aristocracy and the intermingling of royal lines.

On Mr. Cook's nine-foot chart was shown the line of descent from Cedric, King of the West Saxons already mentioned on page 1 of this document. Additional lines of descent trace the forebears back through the English Kings Henry II (1132-89) and Henry I (1070-1135) to William the Conqueror (1027-87). Among William the Conqueror's ancestors was Charlemagne (742-814), sometimes rated as The Greatest King of The Middle Ages.

The Scottish Kings among Dorothy Tompson's forebears were Malcolm III (1031-93), Malcolm II and Duncan I who died in 1040. Another line of her ancestry runs through Llewellyn the Great of Wales (1173-1240) back to Brian Boru (941-1014) King of Ireland.

Prince William, who may one day become King of England, and his mother, Princess Diana, are also descended from Dorothy Tompson Parke. For a chart showing the relationship of the ancestors of Princess Diana to those of the Parke family, click here.

Ancestral Roots in America and Canada

Thomas Parke (1616-1709) and his father Robert Parke (1580-1665) were among the early settlers of Connecticut and among the founders of the settlement which later became known as New London.

The great, great grandfather of Wilford E. Park named Amos Park was a physician who practiced in Palmyra, New York. He was twice married and was the father of 17 children. Sometime, probably in 1780, he moved to the Niagara Peninsula area of Ontario, Canada.

Wilford E. Park's great grandfather Halsey Park was born in Ontario. He became a school teacher.

Wilford E. Park's grandfather, Phillip Bender Park, and father, Watson, both born in Ontario, were farmers in Ontario, Canada.

Wilford E. Park, M.D., emigrated to Minnesota, U.S.A., on December 30, 1949, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America on June 8, 1955.

Genealogical Sources

"Genealogy of the Parke Families of Connecticut" by Frank Sylvester Parks, 1906. Privately printed.

"The Parke Scrapbook, Number 1" by Ruby Parke Anderson, Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1965.

"The Parke Scrapbook, Number 2" by Ruby Parke Anderson, Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, 1966.

The ancestry of Dorothy Tompson and her mother, Alice, is documented on pages 104-106 of "The Parke Scrapbook, Number 2" but the information recorded there was copied from, "Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists" by Frederick Lewis Weiss, 1964 and "Magna Charta Sureties 1215" by Arthur Adams and Frederick Lewis Weiss, 1964.

"The Parke Scrapbook, Number 3" by Ruby Parke Anderson, Port City Press, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland.

The above was almost entirely taken, with some reorganization, from a Nov. 1971 document prepared by Wilford E. Park entitled Information About Wilford Edison Park. A chart of Known Park Family Ancestors of Wilford E. Park and a listing of birth, marriage and death dates from the bible of Wilford's grandfather, Phillip Bender Park, are also available.