Daniel Weston

“	As a matter of fact, among my, uh, mother's side in the uh, ancestral traits *sighs* we have uh, we have been traced down to Daniel Weston, who was on the main--Mayflower voyage.	”
Captain's Log, Stardate November 7th, 2007

Portrait of Daniel Weston, c. 1623. Note the blank stare... Doesn't it remind you of a certain someone?

Daniel Weston is one of the people who Chris claims to be one of his illustrious ancestors, through whom he is descended from Anne Boleyn, whose only daughter died childless. According to Chris, Daniel Weston's ancestor was Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, who was in turn related to Anne Boleyn.

Judging by Barb's comments in the Rental House Tour, she seems to believe that the English nobility and English royalty are identical. She also seems to believe that whenever a title is created in the English nobility, everybody who bears that surname becomes a noble (or "royal").

In 2007, Chris claimed that Daniel Weston was aboard the Mayflower, the ship that carried the Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620; however, according to all known passenger lists of the Mayflower, there was never a man named Weston aboard.

Chris later revised his theory, saying that Daniel Weston was actually not on the Mayflower, although "he made his voyage later on". This was essentially the story he related to Catherine in 2014, although he could provide no clear details. This highly nebulous revision is no more persuasive than the original version, and neither version of the story accounts for Chris being descended from Anne Boleyn, who had no descendants whatsoever.

These flatly impossible notions were probably spoonfed to Chris by his mother to make him feel special. Indeed, he credits her with doing the historical research. In reality, Chris's earliest known maternal ancestor was a hick named William Wynn, who had a grandson named Robert (Barb's grandfather) claimed to be a lecherous alcoholic.

According to the comprehensive family tree, Chris does indeed have some connection to royals and early settlers, albeit on his father's side - his ancestor John Chandler, a pre-Mayflower settler of Virginia whose descendents later ended up in Alabama, was married to Elizabeth Bassano, a relative of the court musicians of King Henry III.

Candidates for the historical Daniel Weston

Thomas Weston

One theory holds that Chris actually meant to say Thomas Weston (1584-c.1647), an English merchant who funded the Mayflower. This is dubious, as Thomas's only child, Elizabeth, married Roger Conant and adopted his surname. Her children, Samuel and John, bore the "Conant" surname. Although either Samuel or John could be an ancestor of Barbara, they would not be the origin of the "Weston" surname.

Richard Weston

This theory identifies Daniel Weston with Richard Weston (1591–1652), an English canal builder and agricultural improver, or one of his hypothetical descendants. Richard broadly lived around the time of the Mayflower, and he was a descendant of Sir Francis Weston, who was (dubiously) accused of adultery with Anne Boleyn.

Francis Weston

Another theory identifies Daniel Weston with Francis Weston (Feb 1793 - 19 March 1836), who has been documented to be an actual maternal ancestor of Chris (and has no Wikipedia page). Like our elusive Daniel, he immigrated from England to North America, and bore the "Weston" surname, which he would pass on to Barbara, and, by extension, give our hero his middle name. However, he arrived in the United States 2 centuries after the Mayflower, and there's nothing to suggest he was descended from Anne Boleyn.

See also

• Anne Boleyn
• Ancient leader of the Cherokee Clan
• Barbara Chandler

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