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Barack Obama's English heritage

US experts believe that Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan, is descended through his Kansan mother's family to some of the earliest settlers in Massachusetts at the time of the Pilgrim Fathers.

Two clear links to England can be found, pointing to the possibility that direct ancestors of the 44th president may still be lying in the medieval churchyards of Stapleford, a village just outside Cambridge, or Sutton in Ashfield, Notts.

Researchers at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, which has traced the roots of several presidents including George W Bush, believe he is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Edward Fitzrandolph, a settler from Nottinghamshire.

Fitzrandolph's ancestors are said to include a knight involved in the murder of Thomas Becket.

Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)