Out of Her Absolutely Fabulous Tree

One of the best allies the lgbt community has ever had is actor Joanna Lumley. She is probably most famous these days for her role as Patsy Stone in “Absolutely Fabulous” which confirmed her status as gay icon. But she had that status way back in the 1970s when she played the super-spy Purdey in “The New Avengers”. Her distinctive hair-style became the latest fashion, and I’m sure I’m not the only gay man who had a poster of her on their bedroom wall.

“Absolutely Fabulous” is packed full of lgbt characters and references, so it came as no real surprise when Joanna Lumley declared last summer that her character Patsy Stone is transgender.

As a tribute to Joanna Lumley’s career the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awarded her a Fellowship last week. As my own tribute I present a glimpse of her ancestry and a couple of lgbt connections. As far as I know I’m the first to establish Joanna’s descent from Edward II (1284-1327), the queer king of England. I’m certainly the first to publish it on-line.

A link to that royal ancestry comes in Joanna’s full name – Joanna Lamond Lumley. The name Lamond comes down to Joanna through her paternal grandmother who was baptised Ella Marion Lamond Young in 1882. In turn the name came down to Ella through her own maternal grandmother who was called Elizabeth Lamond (1821-1868), the daughter of Henry Lamond and his wife Margaret Shand.

Mrs. Margaret (Shand) Lamond came from a line of Scottish clergymen, with every male ancestor in the maternal line for four generations, as well as her own father, being Church of Scotland ministers. Monumental inscriptions of these ministers give enough family detail to prove the earliest of these ministers was Rev. Walter Turing (c.1671-1743).

Turing may be a name you recognise. Rev. William Turing is also the direct ancestor of Alan Turing (1912-1854), the father of computer science and massive gay icon in the UK. Rev. William’s wife was Anne Ogilvy, a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in Scotland. She opens up a massive amount of ancestors for both Joanna Lumley and Alan Turing. In doing so it reveals their royal ancestry, for Anne Ogilvy is descended from King James Stewart V of Scotland and his grandfather King Henry VII Tudor of England. Both are descended from King Edward II. This, of course, takes their family lines back to King William the Conqueror in 1066, as well as King Harold II who died at the Battle of Hastings.

One other lgbt connection is Joanna Lumley’s family tree can also be found through the Turing family, as can be seen in this blog by genealogist Brad Verity. It shows the Turing’s relationship to the pansexual Romantic poet Lord Byron. The blog is quite detailed, so it may be hard going for those who are not familiar with narrative pedigrees.

So, that’s a brief look as the ancestry of the gay icon, ally and national treasure Joanna Lumley.

I’m taking a little break now for ten days while I concentrate on another project. I’ll be back on 1st June.