WATKINS of Bristol & Berkley

BRISTOL, ENGLAND *** BERKLEY, MICHIGAN

Anatolians – Etruscans – Romans – Belgians – Britons – British Americans

  WATKINS FAMILY HISTORY

Our particular group of Watkins men comes from master mariners of Bristol, England. The paternity line of our men is defined and traced by the Haplogroup G-L497 and further defined by subgroups G-FGC477/ FGC 72440/ FT 303494 / FTH28417 on the Big Y Block Tree.

The Anatolian-Etruscan-Tyrrhenian Theory in the Bronze Age

Currently, there is a theory about how some of our G-men got to Europe. The Tyrrhenian Theory (sons of Tiras or Tubal) says that during the Bronze Age of man (3000-1000 BCE), and the Fall of Troy (Wilusa, West Anatolia), that some of the “Sons of Troy” and Lemnos had sailed from Anatolia, through the Adriatic Sea, entered through Venice and Trieste, northern Italy. Other models say they walked. Some DNA evidence suggests an Euganei –Etruscan origin at Volterra, Tarquinia, Verona, Nogara, and Trent, Italy. They lived in the Po Valley of Northern Italy.

The Rhaetian Romans & The Roman Invasion of Britain

Roman historians such as Pliny and Elder, Cato, and Livy documented these men in the Po Valley, Northern Italy. The Celtic Gauls invaded the Po Valley, Italy, driving the Etruscan-Euganei men into the Swiss Alps. These men crossed the Alps into Tyrol, Austria, where they became Roman-Rhaetian. This is also where the Otzi man was found. Then, as the Roman Republic and later Empire formed and grew northward, one of the first peoples included in the Roman Army was the Rhaetian men. As Julius Caesar, Augustus, and the following Roman Emperors continued to expand and invade into the North and Western Europe, they began to erect border walls along the Rhine River. these border forts were called the Limes, which were often guarded by Roman Legion soldiers, and these were often manned by many Rhaetian men.

At this point, it is too difficult to determine which of the Roman Army Legions these men were in, but likely those stationed in the Rhineland area, around Trier, the Roman capital of Gaul. There were four Roman known Legions that went with Emperor Claudius into Britain in about 43 AD/ CE. These men may likely have belonged to either Legion XX Valeria Victrix or Legion II Augusta. Tracking this Legion’s pathway, it’s likely that these men were in wars in many places before Cologne, Germany, and Neuss in the Rhineland. After Neuss, they would have went to Belgium and then to Britain. These legions were stationed at Deva and Isca, which today would be around Manchester and Newport, UK. These legions participated in the Invasion of Wales. One of the noted military leaders of the Roman Legion was Julius Agricola.

Post-Roman Britain

It is likely that this group of men either were in Belgium or Britain with the fall of Western Roman Empire. They would stay in Britain post-Roman era. This would give them some more freedom, but also the dangers of barbarian invasions. Consequently, as the Germanic and Nordic Vikings invaded Britain, the native Roman Britain, both Etruscan and Celtic, stood to defend their land. Thus, the Celtic Welsh story of King Arthur. However, as the Anglo-Saxon-Jute invaders conquered much of the land, they pushed the Romans and Celts back into Wales and Scotland. Their relief would not come for centuries later with the French Normans who reconquered Britain. The DNA testing done shows the last known paternal variant from about 650 AD/CE, even though, private variants do also exist from that period.

Master Mariners of the Middle Ages

The Cambrian Normans and Marcher Lords in Wales were keen to build and live near the sea or waterways, which is also why, as early as the 1500s, the Bristol Channel became known for merchant trade shipping, which later became centered at Bristol. This refers to the voyage of John Cabot (Giovanni Cabot of Venice, Italy), who sailed from Bristol to the New World in 1497. He was aided by master James Ray of Pill and established the Pill town as a launching point for Bristol Sea Pilots and Merchant Mariners. Thus, it is likely that our forefathers became involved with the maritime and seafaring business out of Bristol by the 1500s. We know they were in Bristol or the Pill area since the 1660s. https://bristolpilots.co.uk/river-avon/ https://matthew.co.uk/

Likewise, during the 1500’s there was an English merchant sailor named John Rolfe, who was the first to settle in Jamestown, Virigina. He later married Pocohontas. Based on DNA tests and charts show that he may well be a paternal related person to the Watkins men. In additional, the DNA testing chart also shows there could also be a paternity relationship with Spanish merchant sailor or explorer named Juan Ponce DeLeon, the founder of Puerto Rico and Florida. Of course, these relationships likely go back hundreds, if not thousands of years. It is of some note that King Richard III (Plantagenet) was found to be a G-man in 2014, although it remains to be determined as to the relationship.

Captains of the Carribean

Our Watkins forefathers became Bristol Sea pilots and master mariners out of the Bristol Channel, England. They were mariners during peacetime and would be attached to the British Navy during wartime. They would fight on the British side against both Napoleon at Trafalgar and later Hitler at Normandy.

Cpt. John Watkins of Bristol, with wife Ann Davis, had at least two sons, both became master captains from Bristol: Cpt. Thomas Davis (TD) Watkins Sr. (born 1806) and Cpt. George Thomas (GT) Watkins Sr. (born 1810). George died at sea in 1839, but he was married in 1830 to Jane Morrison (from Dundee, Scotland).

Master CPT GEORGE T. WATKINS JR. (1839-1909)

Born in April of 1839, at Newport, Wales, son of Capt. George T. Watkins Sr. and Jane Morrison. Because his father, George Sr., died young, he was raised by his uncle, Capt. Thomas Davis (TD) Watkins. He married and had many children before he died in 1909. He and his wife and family are all buried at St. George’s Anglican Parish Church in Easton-in-Gordano near Pill and Bristol. His wife, Eleanor Humphreys, died and was buried there in 1917. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_George,_Easton_in_Gordano

Master CPT GEORGE T. WATKINS III, CWO (1860- 1942)

Born at Pill, Bristol, England, on August 30, 1860, GT Watkins III was the firstborn child and son of his parents. Thanks to his patroness benefactor, Ms. Emily Fazakerley of Denbigh Castle* and the Mersey Yacht Club, George attended Denbigh Grammar School for Boys. Then he became a Cadet at HMS Worcester Naval Academy (British Merchant Marine Academy). George then passed his license/ warrant exams as First Mate and later Master Mariner. While at the academy, he was a fellow student with a Japanese sailor named Tōgō Heihachirō, who would later become the greatest Naval Admiral of Japanese history by defeating the Russian Navy in WW1.

George sailed the seven seas for 40 years. In 1902, he gave a ride to an Arab prince, who gave him a Vase Trophy, which is still in the family. He also captained the “Countess of Derby” ship, which was named after the socialite Lady Mary Sackville-West, the 15th Countess of Derby, related to the Stanley family, which gave the name Stanley Cup to Hockey. Lady Alice Montagu Stanley, the 17th Countess of Derby, was also involved in the naming of merchant ships.

He would later serve as CWO (first mate) in the Royal Merchant/ Royal Navy during WWI. George, like his brothers Sidney and Enoch, was a Veteran of WWI and received medals from King George V of Britain, the Maritime and War Medals in 1920. He retired and then followed his sons Allan G.F. Watkins and Donald G. H. Watkins to Canada and later to Detroit, MI, USA, where he died in December 1942. He was buried at Roseland Park Cemetery in MI, USA, with Full Honors by the British Canadian Legion.

* Ms. Emily Fazakerley was a wealthy heiress and relative of Nicholas Fazakerley, MP, Merseyside, British Parliament. She likely met the Watkins men in Bristol on her travels and took a keen interest in them for their maritime profession and adventures. She became a benefactor to them but died prematurely in 1888 at age 48. Emily was related to her cousin/aunt Elizabeth, who married Granville Leveson-Gower, Marquis of Safford, and father to the future Duke of Sutherland. Elizabeth also died young after childbirth.

“On February 6th, 1914, the company decided to sell a ship called Cariad for £225. The ship was bought by a seafarer from Bristol named Enoch Watkins from Pendarvis, Pill. On June 16th, 1915, the Bristol coastguard allowed Cariad to sail up to three miles from Pill during daylight hours. After Enoch Watkins passed away in 1916, his wife continued to own Cariad. Other Bristol pilots, such as George Thomas, Christopher Case, and Leonard Vowles, also used the ship.” Source: http://www.cariad.org/history1.html. See also https://borthmaritimehistory.com/master-mariner-lewis-brothers.html

Cpt. GT Watkins’ brothers and family members were buried at Shirehampton Cemetery in Shirehampton, Bristol, England. This includes his brother, Cpt. Sidney Watkins, whose paternal line has continued until recently. Others could be buried at Avonview Cemetery and St Mary’s, which are in North Somerset or Bristol unitary authority districts.

“Far from the seas he loved that followed through life but bore proudly on the shoulders of his stalwart grandsons, when death came on Wednesday, 30 Dec 1942, in his home, the grandsons were at his side: Army Lt Ross Watkins, Army Air Force Lt. George T. Watkins (namesake), and Navy Sailor E. Roy Watkins. The old captain said that he was proud, and the boys, remembering the ritual beneath the folds of Old Glory and the Union Jack, learned they were the ones who were proud too.” Detroit Free Press, 1942

The doughty old master captain was always proud of the tradition of his forefathers at sea and of his grandsons. At the gravesite assembled, an honor guard of the British Canadian Legion Post 128, to pay the last honors for the British Empire he served so well.

ALLAN G.F. WATKINS (1891-1938)

British Merchant Navy Midshipman, Purser/Steward, & Motorman Inspector

Allan was born on 26 February 1891 in Bristol, England. He is the firstborn child and son of his parents. He was named in honor of his father’s Patroness Godmother, Ms. Emily Fazakerley, who died in 1888. He started off as a merchant midshipman and pursuer. But due to poor eyesight, AMD, he was forced to take a different career on land. Thus, he moved to Hamilton, Canada in 1911 (one year after the death of King Edward VIII, and one year before the Titanic in 1912), where he met and married Grace Peterson, having issue. His plans were to be in real estate, but the roaring 1920s brought him to Detroit, MI, USA, for the new car makers. He worked with Chrysler. He gained his US Citizenship by 1930 (only a few months before the Stock Market Crash and the Great Depression). Unfortunately, the Great Depression took its toll on him, and he died a young man of pneumonia in 1938. He was buried at Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkeley, MI.

Allan’s younger brother, Donald, joined the British Canadian Legion during WWI. He later also moved over to Detroit, USA, and worked for Chrysler alongside his brother. Donald and his wife, Lilly Wallis, are also buried in the family plots at Roseland Park Cemetery. Donald’s son, Lt. Ross Watkins, also born in Canada, was a US Army officer during WWII. Ross Watkins worked as a civil engineer and died in Arizona in 1995. Ross’s son is Scott D. Watkins, and he has two sons living today. * Recently, the family has requested that a Canadian veterans organization lay down gravesite markers for Donald and his wife. *

Grace Peterson of Hamilton, Canada, came from a long line of British Empire Loyalists and old colonial families who were originally in New York but moved to Canada. The Petersons became more prominent in Canada. Grace also descends from the Wiltse family, a Dutch settler clan who were neighbors of another Dutch family, the Roosevelts. Grace Peterson Watkins is buried in the same mausoleum building as Aretha Franklin at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.

 E. Roy Watkins, Petty Officer (USN), EM, Electrician (1918-2013)

US Navy Veteran of WWII

Firstborn child and son of Allan GF Watkins of England, and Grace Peterson of Canada, E. Roy was born in 1918 in British Canada, a British National by Birth, he was named Enoch after his cousin back in Bristol had died in 1916. The war had killed off most of the known male relatives. Enoch preferred his middle name, Roy, and he followed his forefathers at sea, becoming a US Navy sailor during WWII. He was at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. He later worked as an Electrician with Chrysler Corp for many years until retirement. He had 3 sons and 6 daughters. He died at age 95 in 2013. His sons are William, Paul Allen, and Dwaine Sr. He later became a US Citizen and is buried with family at Cadillac Memorial Gardens East in Clinton, MI.

LTC. GEORGE T. WATKINS (IV), USAF (1920-1996)

Veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Wars, Flight Aviation Pilot Officer, 306-H BG

George was the second son of British-born Allan G.F. Watkins and Canadian-born Grace Peterson; he was the firstborn in the USA. He was a British National and a US Citizen by birth. Like his brother Roy, George graduated from Cass Tech High in Detroit in 1938, when his father suddenly died. As a young boy, he had personally met Walter Chrysler in New York.

Following the events of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the same year he married Shirley Anderson, he started out as an Air Corps Aviation Flight Officer for the US Army, and during WWII, he piloted several missions with the B-17 bombers out of Thurleigh, England, and the Rock of Gibraltar. It was at Gibraltar that he and his group had been temporarily detained by the Spanish Army and General Franco but were released.

George is also participated in the Casey Jones Project. He flew “Elizabeth’s Own”, which was akin to “Rose of York” (see picture with Princess/Queen). He was a part of the 306-H bomb group, famous for the movie “12 O’clock High.” Later, this group would fly the B-29 and B-52s. The 306 Group is now the training group for the US Air Force Academy. George served as an Army Air Corps LT officer and later retired as LT COL in the USAF. His sons are Naval Lt. Allen, Ken, and Don Watkins. http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/78982

Naval LT The Rev. Prof. ALLEN G. WATKINS, USNR, RN, STM, MDIV (1942-2018)

Veteran of the Vietnam War, US Naval Medical Officer, Corpsman, and Chaplain

Allen G. Watkins born 5 Sept 1942 in Detroit, Michigan area, was the firstborn child and son of his parents, LTC George T Watkins (IV) and Shirley Anderson (who is related to Ezra Cornell*). Highlights of his life and career included graduating from NYU-Bellevue with his AS/RN in 1965. Then he graduated from UPENN (class of 1967-68) with his BSN.

Allen immediately joined and served as a US Naval Medical officer and corpsman during the US-Vietnam War, starting in 1968 and stationed in Japan. He was stationed at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo and at Okinawa. While in Japan, he attended some courses at Sophia Jesuit University, where he met a teacher/mentor, a young Spanish Jesuit priest named Fr. Adolf Nicholas. Fr. Nicholas later became the Superior General for the Jesuit Order in Rome (2008-2016), and when Cardinal Bergoglio (a Jesuit) became Pope Francis, 2013-2025. While Allen was not a catholic, he was inspired by his Jesuit teaching and, like Ignatius of Loyola, for his later spiritual formation and focus on discipline and education. Allen served in the US Navy from 1968 through 1973. He returned to the States and was honorably discharged as a Naval LT officer in Philadelphia.

In 1975, with the end of the Vietnam War, Allen returned to the United States and took up the role of clergyman and chaplain. He was ordained by the ABC churches (he would later join with the SBC). While at the same time, he also married Barbara Traxler and had a son, Matthew.

He then obtained both MDIV and STM degrees and briefly pastored at some small churches in Pennsylvania. However, by 1980, he left the ministry and PA for Texas, where he continued working in the medical field, and later he would become a college teacher at STC from 1997-2007. He had a stroke in 2012 and died in 2018. He is buried in the family plots at Roseland Park Cemetery, Berkeley, MI, USA.

Allen is also related cousin of the NY State Senator Ezra Cornell, who was the founder of both Cornell University and Western Union. This is through his mother, Shirley Anderson. Also, through his mother, Allen is a quarter Finnish, and his maternal great-grandmother was born at Hailuoto, Finland. Allen’s Finnish relatives are from Houghton County, Michigan. One Finnish relative of note, Sgt. John Hanson was a civil engineer in the famous U.S. Army 32nd Infantry Division during WWI. Allen’s maternal grandfather, Elmer R. Anderson, was also a veteran of WWI.

Mr. MATTHEW A. WATKINS, MPA, BA, AA (1976-), USA, DAV

Matthew is the firstborn child and only son of Naval LT. The Rev. Prof. Allen G. Watkins and his wife, Ms. Barbara Traxler. Matthew is heir to two families, both Watkins and Traxler. He has a younger sister, Jen, who is an RN-DNP from Duke University.

Matthew was medically discharged from the US Army in 1999 after a service-related serious injury during training. He was visited at the Army hospital bedside by his company captain, the Army hospital administrator, a Colonel, and the Base Commanding General. He is now a service-connected disabled veteran of the US Army, a member of DAV. Had he continued in military service, he most likely would have deployed to Iraq and been with PFC Jessica Lynch in 2003. Matthew’s first cousins include Sgt. Daniel Watkins, USMC, and Sgt. William McKenna Jr., both veterans of the First Gulf War. He is also an in-law to Army medic PFC Adam Fargo, KIA in Iraq, 2006.

Matt graduated with a BA in English and an MPA degree from The University of Texas System. He has worked as an Insurance and Securities Broker, now as an IT Professional.