Got You On My Tree, Neighbour

Who's that? Oh, just a cousin of mine.

Ok, not quite.

The story goes like this:

Eliza Clapton is my Great Great Grandmother. She married Nathaniel Higginbottom, their daughter Jessie Higginbottom married John Hanniver, and my grandmother Rose was a product of that marriage.

Whenever we spoke about the Clapton branch of the family, my cousin Don would ask "Are we related to Eric Clapton?". One day, with time on my hands, I set out to prove that we weren't. I failed.

Eric Clapton's Ancestry

Eric Clapton is not a stage name. He was born Eric Patrick Clapton, the son of Patricia Molly Clapton and a father who was absent from his life from the beginning. He was raised by his maternal grandmother, Rose nee Mitchell, and her second husband, Jack Clapp, in Surrey. Reginald Cecil Clapton was Rose's first husband, and was the father of Patricia (and grandfather of Eric).

Reginald Cecil Clapton was born in Madras, India, in 1900. He was the son of Augustus Oliver Clapton and Marie M. Haire. He died in 1933.

Augustus Oliver Clapton was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in 1867. He was the son of James Clapton and Melina Wilkins.

James Clapton was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in 1833. He was the son of John Clapton and Dinah Skinner.

John Clapton was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in 1802. I have not uncovered any information about his parents, so the line stops there. 

Eliza Clapton's Ancestry

Eliza Ann Clapton was born in Avoca, Victoria in 1856. Her parents were Charles Clapton and Sarah Barratt.

Charles Clapton was born in Oxfordshire, England in 1818, the son of Thomas Clapton and Mary Morris. He married his first wife, Sarah Painting, at Shipton-Under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, and his second wife Sarah Barratt at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

Thomas Clapton was born in Oxfordshire circa 1790. He married Mary Morris at Guiting Power, Gloucestershire, and resided at Lyneham, Oxford at the time of the 1841 and 1851 censuses.

So What's It All Mean?

It means that, around the beginning of the 19th century, Eric Clapton's ancestors lived in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, and my Clapton ancestors lived in the Guiting Power, Oxfordshire area. Distance: 5.7 miles.

I can't conclusively rule out (distant, very very distant) cousinship. At the very least, they were close enough to be called neighbours.