On Sunday, September 3, 2017 at 8:48:58 PM UTC+2, Richard Smith wrote: > It seems frequently to be repeated that "experts say" 80% of the > population (presumably meaning the English or perhaps British > population) are likely to be descended from Edward III. I've never seen > a citation for this figure, and it smacks a little of being an off the > cuff remark by someone who hadn't a statistical model to back it up; > nevertheless I don't intrinsically find it hard to believe. One published source, but certainly not the only one, would be Ian Mortimer's Edward III biography, which has a special appendix on this subject.

On 04/09/17 06:27, Andrew Lancaster wrote: > On Sunday, September 3, 2017 at 8:48:58 PM UTC+2, Richard Smith wrote: > >> It seems frequently to be repeated that "experts say" 80% of the >> population (presumably meaning the English or perhaps British >> population) are likely to be descended from Edward III. I've never seen >> a citation for this figure, and it smacks a little of being an off the >> cuff remark by someone who hadn't a statistical model to back it up; >> nevertheless I don't intrinsically find it hard to believe. > > One published source, but certainly not the only one, would be Ian > Mortimer's Edward III biography, which has a special appendix on this > subject. Thanks. I shall find myself a copy. Richard