The Ancestry of Sir Guy Francis Laking (1875-1919)



by William Addams Reitwiesner



Prince Carl of Denmark (born Charlottenlund 3 Aug. 1872) married Princess Maud of the United Kingdom (born Marlborough House 26 Nov. 1869) at Buckingham Palace on 22 July 1896. They remained childless for almost seven years, until Princess Maud gave birth, at Sandringham in county Norfolk on 2 July 1903, to a son who was given the names Alexander Edward Christian Fredrik, Prince of Denmark. Two years later, on 18 Nov. 1905, Prince Carl was elected King of Norway. Prince Carl took the name of Håkon, and was installed as King Håkon VII of Norway, and reigned until his death at Oslo on 29 Sept. 1957. He was succeeded on the Norwegian Throne by Alexander, whose name had also been changed in 1905 to Olav. Olav reigned as King Olav V until his death at Kongséeteren on 17 January 1991, and he is the ancestor of all succeeding Kings of Norway. His mother, Queen Maud of Norway from 1905, died at London on 20 Nov. 1938. See L'Allemagne Dynastique, Oldenbourg XXVI 11, for further details.

In October 2004, in the second volume of Folket, his history of King Håkon and Queen Maud, the author Tor Bomann-Larsen presents evidence that in October 1902 then-Princess Maud stayed (secretly) in a London hospital under the care of Sir Francis Laking, Bart., physician-in-ordinary and surgeon-apothecary to King Edward VII (Princess Maud's father), and that during this secret hospital stay, Sir Francis artificially inseminated Princess Maud, who gave birth to Prince Alexander (the future King Olav) some nine months later. Mr. Bomann-Larsen further implies, but does not directly state, that the sperm donor was Sir Francis's son, Guy Francis Laking, later Sir Guy Francis Laking, Bart. See http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article890633.ece for further details.

In March 2005, Odd Arvid Storsveen, a historian at the University of Oslo, published a review of Mr. Bomann-Larsen's book in Historisk tidsskrift. In this review, Mr. Storsveen claims he can't find adequate sourcing for Mr. Bomann-Larsen's "hypothesis" about King Olav's paternity. See http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1001331.ece for further details.

From a legal perspective, the paternity of Prince Alexander / King Olav was settled when Prince Carl / King Håkon publicly acknowledged the child as his. From a genetic/biological perspective, the question of the paternity of King Olav has never been settled. For the purposes of this webpage, the question is irrelevant (and will not be discussed further below). The rest of this webpage is an exploration of the ancestry of Sir Guy Francis Laking, 2nd Bart.


William Addams Reitwiesner
wargs@wargs.com



Ancestry of Sir Guy Francis Laking, Bart.
1 Guy Francis Laking
* Westminster 21 X 1875
21 V 1914 succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet
+ Meyrick Lodge, Avenue Road, London, 22 XI 1919 [The Times Nov 24, 1919, 17F]
PARENTS
2 Francis Henry Laking
* Kensington 9 I 1847
created a Baronet on 28 VII 1902
+ London 21 V 1914 [The Times May 22, 1914, 10B]
m. ... 26 I 1873
3 Emma Ann Mansell
* St Pancras, co. Midx., ... [ca. 1843]
+ Pall Mall, Westminster, 1 III 1905 [The Times March 2, 1905, 10E]
GRANDPARENTS
4 Francis William Laking, of Addison Road, Kensington, co. Middlesex
* ... , co. Midx, ... [ca. 1797]
+ ... 25 XI 1874
m. ... 12 X 1844
5 Louisa Jane Wilkinson
* ... , co. Devon, ... [ca. 1818]
+ ... 17 III 1894
6 Joseph Mansell, stationer
* Clerkenwell, co. Midx, ... [ca. 1803]
+ ... [living 1871]
m.
7 Elizabeth ...
* Poplar, co. Midx., ... [ca. 1821]
+ ... [living 1871]
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
10 Thomas Wilkinson, of Plymouth, co. Devon
*
+
m.
11 ...
*
+
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS
GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS






EXTRACTS from the U.K. DECENNIAL CENSUS



1901 London, Paddington, 7 Norfolk Square

Guy Francis Laking   Head  M  25        Art Expert    Worker    London Westminster
Beatrice J    do     Wife  M     27                             Kent 
Joan F        do     Dau   S      5 mo                          London Paddington
   (four servants)

------

1891 London, St. James Westminster, 62 Pall Mall

Francis Laking   Head   M   44       Medical General Practitioner    London Kensington
Emma Laking      Wife   M      45                                    London Bloomsbury
Guy Laking       Son    S   14       Scholar                         London Westminster
    (five servants)

------

1871 London, Kensington, 13 Addison Road

Francis W Laking    Head   Mar   74      Funds Houses          Middlesex
Louisa J    do      Wife   Mar      53                         Devonshire
Mary A      do      Daur   Unm      37                         Middlesex
Louisa M    do      Daur   Unm      25                             do     Kensington
Francis H   do      Son    Unm   24      L.R.C.P.  L.S.A.  MD      do          do
    (two servants)

------

1871 London, Kensington, 71 Addison Road

Joseph Mansell   Head  Mar   68      Wholesale Stationer    Middlesex Clerkenwell
Elizabeth  do    Wife   do      50                              do    Poplar
Emma A     do    Daur  Unm      22                              do    St Pancras
Ada J Mansell     do            16   Scholar                    do    St George the Martyr
   (three servants)

------

1861 Middlesex, Holborn, St George the Martyr, 35 Red Lion Square

Joseph Mansell   Head   Mar  56      Stationer   Middlesex Clerkenwell
Elizabeth  do    Wife   Mar     37                   do    Poplar
Ada J      do    Daur            6                   do    Red Lion Square
    (three servants)

------

1851 Middlesex, St George the Martyr, 35 Red Lion Square

Joseph Mansell   Head   Mar  47      Manufacturing Stationer   Clerkenwell            Midx
Elizabeth   do   Wife   Mar     30                             Poplar                  do
   do     M do   Daur    U       8                             St Pancras              do
Emma A      do   Daur            6                                 do                  do
Fanny L     do   Daur            2                             St George the Martyr    do

------






NOTES






7 -- A Joseph Mansell married an Elizabeth Porterhouse at Clerkenwell in 1841.















SOURCES CONSULTED AND CITED




A biographical essay on Guy Francis Laking can be found at http://www.vikingsword.com/lacy/lakinga.html.









William Addams Reitwiesner


wargs@wargs.com