McKay Distant Relatives

The following relatives are not direct ancestors but are more distant relatives (i.e., directly related to our direct ancestors but not directly related to us).

If you are in the McKay familiy tree you can find out how you are related to any of these people by:

  • typing their name in the Search to the left,
  • if you get more than one name click on the one you want,
  • click on the Relationship tab above their personal information, that will be Person 1
  • Next to the Calculate button is a link to "Search for other connections". Click on that link
  • A new search opens and you choose Person 2. If you are in the family tree, you can find yourself by clicking on the Find button and entering your name
  • If you are not in the family tree, find someone who is and is closely related to you. Click on the "Find" button and type in their name
  • click on "Calculate" button.

This will show all the ways that these two are related including through spouses (i.e., not blood relations)

Note: You can also find more direct connections to ancestors that you are directly related to by using the Relationship tab and following the same instructions as above

Distant Relatives

George Washington

Because so many McKay lines first immigrated in Colonial times, there is a rich and extensive relationship to many U.S. Presidents and First Ladies.

U.S. Presidents:


First Ladies:
Statesmen:
Infamous characters:
William Shakespeare
Literary figures:
Businessman:
Adventurers:
Military:
Others:
  • Stephen Austin, known as the "Father of Texas," through Agnes Herling
  • Captain William Bligh of mutiny on the Bounty fame through John Arscott.
  • Queen Elizabeth II is a very distant cousin through John de St John.
  • Elizabeth's great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria is an even more distant relation through King Edward Plantagenet of York and King James Stewart, V.
  • PrincessDiana Spencer is related through Richard Knightly
  • For an esoteric bit of historical connection, Edward Larkin [MD] is the great-great grandfather of the guy who provided Paul Revere a horse for his famous midnight ride.
  • John Chapman better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees throughout the Midwest and is buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana through Samuel Morse, Joseph Morse, Isaac Stearns, and John Dresser.
  • Jane (Wells) Baldwin sister of Thomas Welles, the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. Her son Sylvester died en route to America.
  • Elizabeth Fones was the subject of the book, The Winthrop Woman, Anya Seton's 1958 historical novel.
  • Oliver Cromwell
  • McKay ancestor Theophilus Whaley and Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, share the same grandfather, Henry Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell is the same guy that caused many of our ancestors to leave England.
  • Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), son of Thomas Cranmer, was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which was one of the causes of the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See. Along with Thomas Cromwell, he supported the principle of Royal Supremacy, in which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm. After the accession of the Roman Catholic Mary I, Cranmer was put on trial for treason and heresy. Imprisoned for over two years he died a heretic to Roman Catholics and a martyr for the principles of the English Reformation.
  • Joseph Smith the founder of the Mormon Church through Henry Howland.
  • Rowland Taylor was ordained by Thomas Cranmer and was charged with heresy under the reign of Queen Mary and burned at the stake. Rowland is also connected to another family martyr, William Tyndale. William’s niece was Rowland’s wife.
  • Stephen Bachiler's life in colonies was filled with controversy. He was 70 years old when he reached Boston in 1632, and gathered his followers to establish the First Church of Lynn (then Saugus). He incurred the hostility of the Puritan theocracy in Boston. After being removed from a number of church ministerships, he married in 1648 (as fourth wife) a young widow, Mary Beedle of Kittery, Maine. In 1651, she was indicted and sentenced for adultery with a neighbor. Some have suggested that Mary’s life story became the inspiration behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s best-selling novel of 1850, ‘The Scarlet Letter’. Bachiler finally returned to England about 1653.