Carol, >I, personally, am having great difficulty accepting, as is, the family >connections to the Dukes of Normandy because of relationship problems. In looking over the various sources regarding the Odard link back to Normandy, I have struggled with similar frustrations. >If Cope is correct on page 12 he says Wm the Conqueror is >their great Uncle, then this cannot be a correct listing. First, note that it isn't Cope speaking on page 12. Cope's book is simply quoting verbatim from "Leycester's Historical Antiquities." See the note at the bottom of page 28. The real question is whether that source can be believed. I would argue that when it disagrees with other sources, especially more recent research on the Norman's, that it should be disregarded. Leycester was not a genealogist; he was simply recording family traditions as they were communicated to him during his time. Cope did no original research on the English or Norman origins of the Duttons. His quotation of Leycester did nothing more than put two works within one cover - his own and the Dutton portion of the Historical Antiquities. So Cope should get no credit and no blame for anything that relates to the Norman Dukes. I would put much more trust into books and articles regarding the Normans written by 19th and 20th century historians and genealogists than in Leycester. Doug Hall