Family Heritage Quest leads to Tudor and Norman links

Through the ages we look and wonder about where we came from and what secrets the past may hold.



Above: My 14th great grandfather Sir William Petre. 

Above: My paternal grandmother was Rhoda Regan (formerly Howard). She lived in Birkdale, Southport, and went on to marry my grandfather, Patrick. 

Above: my grandad, Patrick (Parky) Regan.  He died of wounds in the First World War.

Deeper into the mists of time...

Thanks to my pal, Jess, and her sterling ancestry work I have managed to discover family links connected to Rhoda's line, that stretch back centuries.

Sir William Petre (c. 1505 – 1572) was Secretary of State to three consecutive Tudor monarchs, namely Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queen Mary I.



Sir William also deputised for the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. He rose quickly in the royal service and was knighted in 1543. 

William was the eldest son of John Petre of Tor Newton in the parish of Torbryan, Devon, by his wife Alice Colling, daughter of John Colling of Woodland, Devon.

The family had been established at Tor Newton from at least the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399). 

The following concerns my 11th great grandfather. 

Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton (c. 1579–14 October 1618) was an English nobleman.

Clifton was a son of Sir John Clifton of Barrington Court, Somerset and was educated at St Alban's Hall, Oxford. 

In 1591, he became a Knight of the Shire of Huntingdonshire, settled in Leighton Bromswold and married Katherine, a daughter of Sir Henry Darcy (a previous Knight of the Shire) that year and was knighted by 1597. From 1597-98 and also in 1601, Clifton was MP for Huntingdonshire and was raised to the Peerage by writ of summons in 1608 as Baron Clifton, of Leighton Bromswold, County Huntingdon.

Above: Arms of Clifton of Clifton, Nottinghamshire. 

Gervase was a descendant of the Nottinghamshire family and shared a common ancestor with the Clifton baronets Sir Gervase Clifton (d.1508), Knight of the Bath (1494), of Clifton Hall, Nottingham, High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and the Royal Forests in 1502. 

From the latter's eldest son Robert Clifton were descended the Clifton baronets whilst from one of his younger sons, Gervase Clifton of the Customs House, London, was descended in the third generation the 1st Baron Clifton.

Norman links

Gervase Clifton, 1st Baron Clifton, had no direct link to William the Conqueror, However, his family's lineage apparently can be tracked back to the Norman Conquest. 

The 1st Baron Clifton was part of a branch of the Clifton family, whose origins were in fact historically linked to Alvaredus de Clifton, a Norman knight who served under William the Conqueror. 

The family assumed the name of 'Clifton' from the village when they purchased the lands in 1272 from the de Rhodes family.  

One branch of the family likewise assumed the name 'Wilford'.  The family home became Clifton Hall on the summit of the Clifton heights overlooking the a large bend in the River Trent.

More reseach in needed here... 

https://www.clifton-village.org.uk/cliftonhist/cliftonf.html 

In Pictures: Yesterday’s (11 October) Car Boot Sale at Heatons Bridge Inn

 

Once again, the weather was kind and the event went ahead.

More info and contact details:

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/

CAR BOOT SALE THIS SATURDAY (11 OCTOBER) AT HEATONS BRIDGE

 

Outdoor car boot sale - Saturday 11th October

Open to the public from 10.00am.

Free public admission and parking.

Heatons Bridge Inn, 2 Heatons Bridge Road, 

Ormskirk, L40 8JG. 

Munchies Burger Bar will be there this Saturday at Heatons Bridge Inn.

Customer and seller parking 'only' on the field to the rear of the inn. No parking in the pub car park.

Sellers please arrive at 9.30am. 

cregan192@yahoo.com

WhatsApp 07548262061

NB. Please check our pages the day before in case of bad weather.

Contact us for more details. 

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/

FUNDAMENTALIST DECEIT AND DEADLY TERRORIST DANGER IN OUR MIDST

 

FUNDAMENTALIST DANGER LURKING IN THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY 

Like father like son? Trust me, I'm a doctor...

Previously, the father of Manchester synagogue attacker condemned his son’s terrorist attack as a ‘heinous act’. 

Faraj al-Shamie fully distanced himself and his family from the atrocity and expressed ‘deep shock and sorrow’ at the heinous actions of his son, Jihad al-Shamie. 

However, today the press reported…. 

'The father of the Manchester synagogue attacker praised the Oct 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in a series of disturbing Facebook posts. Faraj Al-Shamie celebrated and praised the murderous invasion of Israel during which almost 1,200 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage. On October 7, the trauma surgeon who came to the UK from Syria, urged the Hamas terrorists to 'take good care of your weapons and aim them accurately for your brothers' hours after the fighters began their bloodthirsty siege of Israel.’

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15159909/Manchester-attackers-warzone-doctor-father-praised-Hamas-terrorists-carried-barbaric-October-7-attacks.html

It certainly does not take a mastermind to realise that lethal fundamentalism, feeding on hate, is alive and well within the UK and that the clueless UK Government leaves us all in great peril, via their apathetic, two-tier, policies and lack of action. 

Basically, no one is safe in the UK, thanks to political narrow-mindedness which is self-righteously championed by our ineffectual excuse for a Prime Minister.  

The father of the Manchester synagogue terror attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie, worked at North Manchester General Hospital, a neighbour has claimed.

Faraj Al-Shamie was once involved with the International Committee of the Red Cross, last working for the group in 2015. Police have described Jihad Al-Shamie as a British citizen of Syrian descent. It's believed he entered the UK as a child and was granted British citizenship in 2006.

More info also on this link...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/03/manchester-synagogue-terrorist-family-condemn-heinous-act/

HOW THE PM FAILED TO PROPERLY READ HIS FABIAN GUIDE BOOK

 

STARMER, THE ELITIST FABIAN WHO 'THINKS' HE KNOWS WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU!

So, where does the despotic Nanny State attitude that Starmer regularly displays come from? 

Why is it always a case of ‘GET TOLD’ by this duplicitous autocratic politician? 

Starmer wrote for socialist magazines in the 1980s, including Socialist Lawyer where he cited Karl Marx in support of his view that social change required more than just quarrelling about rights. 

He was also part of the editorial cooperative for Socialist Alternatives, a magazine connected to a Trotskyist group. However, and more significantly, Starmer was also a member of the Fabian Society's executive committee before becoming leader of the Labour Party.

The Fabian Society is a left-leaning think tank affiliated with the Labour Party. In 2021, Starmer wrote The Road Ahead, a Fabian pamphlet outlining his political vision. The PM’s loyalty to Fabian ideals seems to be well-entrenched in his psyche.  

Nevertheless, Marxist critics, in particular, have been highly vocal in their outright rejection of Fabian ideas.

WILL THE REAL RACISTS PLEASE STAND UP

In politics hypocrisy knows no bounds

 It’s quite laughable to hear the PM mouth off at millions of concerned UK people, of all ages and from all walks of life, with the typical ‘go to’ left-wing allegations of ‘Far-Right’ and ‘Racist’ when individuals diverge from Stamer’s chosen narrative. 

He should remember that critics of his Fabian ideals such as the Human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson pointed to the Fabians' historic support for eugenics policies, which informed discriminatory practices against Indigenous peoples, such as the "stolen generations" outrage in Australia. 

The "Stolen Generations" scandal involved the enforced removal of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families by Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions between approximately 1905 and 1970. The atrocious policy was a deliberate act of social engineering that began enormous, lasting suffering to the communities targeted, 

Numerous early Fabians, including founders Sidney and Beatrice Webb, were involved in discussions on eugenics, a pseudoscience promoting selective breeding. 

The Webbs expressed openly xenophobic and antisemitic views and believed in the "degeneration of type". The Webbs, along with other Fabian members, engaged in debates that were racist towards persons of Jewish, Black, and Asian legacy.

Other critics of Starmer’s beloved Fabianism noted that the philosophy promotes blanket decree by an intellectual elite, rather than ordinary democracy. 

H.G. Wells and Vladimir Lenin highlighted the fact that the early Fabians were overwhelmingly middle-class and lacking in any connection with the working class. It would appear that things have not changed much when we see whole working-class communities now rising up in protest against Starmer across the UK. His irrational and hypocritical actions seem to spark off an instinctive fear and mistrust in ordinary folks. 

The way in which this clearly confused PM ‘tells us’ rather than ‘asks us’ what his government will do with us lesser mortals and the nation, smacks 100% of such Fabian -style elitism. The latest example is Starmer’s conceited pronouncement that all UK residents must to hold an ID card - or else! 

In Starmer’s little world – YOU will comply, without question, to his diktat and if you dare to object then his wrath will be aimed directly at you. If you fail to follow his narrow-minded narrative, you will be labelled an extremist or racist and treated like a lesser being. 

With a petition against his despised ID card policy now reaching well over 2 million signatures it seems that this stubborn old Fabian will soon be making one of his famous U-turns yet again.  

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194?

Incidentally, the Fabian Society was named after the famous Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (nicknamed Cunctator, meaning the "Delayer"). 

His stratagem sought steady triumph against the greater Carthaginian army under the celebrated general Hannibal through perseverance, aggravation, and wearing the enemy down by erosion, rather than any kind of epic battles. Basically, it was hit and run tactics! 

The "Fabian strategy" has been implemented and modified by numerous military leaders throughout history. Wearing down a more powerful enemy is frequently a prudent tactic, yet 'only' for those who actually know how to utilise it properly. 

Hannibal allegedly respected Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus and the Fabian strategy; but today, the UK’s leading advocate of the Fabian approach, Starmer, would most likely receive ridicule not only from Hannibal but any other foe that may cross his path. 

The PM who is a devote of the Fabian philosophy has clearly misread the  guide book because the only person who he is wearing down is currently gazing right back at him in the bathroom mirror! 

Yesterday's Car Boot Sale In Pictures: Once Again We beat The Rain

 

The Car Boot Sale organised by Southport Crafts went ahead yesterday, despite fears of rain. 

Here is a small selection of images from the event, which took place behind the Heaton's Bridge Inn in Scarisbrick. 

More updates for forthcoming events in and around Southport on this link: 

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/

U-TURN AHEAD? Kamikaze politics at its very best

 

The petition against the costly anti-liberty, snooping, ID card is now well over one million signatures and growing fast. 

Looks like old totally gormless and woefully out of touch with reality Two Tier Stammerer will be doing one of his famous U-turns again soon.

THEY WILL COLLECT YOUR PRIVATE DATA, TRACK YOU AND ANALISE EVERYTHING FOR THEIR USAGE.  

With this ploy you may as well give them your life blood or even your DNA. Under their devious pretext of security, YOU will be controlled by them. 

More. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvJV07XrREQ 

For goodness sake – sign this petition and help put this pathetic excuse for a PM out of his misery... 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/730194?

 

The day the UK said ‘NO’ to duplicitous political corruption

 

People Power is awakening in the UK‘s new dawn

The day the UK said ‘NO’ to duplicitous political corruption and Stalin – like anti-free speech government rhetoric.

Clearly some so-called news accounts of the massive London March have more to do with trembling soft-option political prejudice than fair – minded reporting. Such apathetic general media dross will do nothing for social harmony and will simply inflame rising passions.

The tired old derogatory ‘Far Right’ expletive - that is so beloved of overtly vocal pro-terrorist activists and their overseeing communist – leaning politicians and their minions is now well past its ‘sell by’ date.

Ordinary people like mums dads and grandparents, in their thousands, actually march through the streets protesting when they have seen enough officialised censorship, assaults on free speech, and decay in their respective overburdened communities that is forced on them, via apathetic administration from a weak and despised insincere government system.  

The Rise of fundamentalism 

History also teaches us that creeping radical fundamentalism (of ALL kinds) thrives in unstable political habitats, like the UK now finds itself in.

Each branch of the three leading Abrahamic faith (mind-control) system shouts for prominence, claiming that its own respective brand the scriptural mindscrew is the only ‘true’ one. 

We are living in highly inflammatory times. Religious extremism is set to rise exponentially. Sadly, this fact is one that most people are blinded to and never realise it until it’s too late. Take your mind back to the atrocities of the 11th to 13th centuries, when great bloodshed occurred with the crusades. 

Such periods were mega-violent with numerous atrocities committed against Jewish, Muslim, and Orthodox Christian populations, all of course driven by intense fundamentalist religious fervour - in the name of God.

History has a way of repeating itself! 

Times are changing as they always must. We are witnessing the painful birth of a new dawn. 

More: 

https://pat-regan.blogspot.com/2025/09/fundamentalism-real-enemy-of-peace.html 

 

FUNDAMENTALISM – THE REAL ENEMY OF PEACE

 

Palestinian flags being controversially raised in Southport, apparently close to the War Monument.

https://eyeonsouthport.co.uk/southport-friends-of-palestine-on-lord-street-today

My grandad’s name is in fact carved in the monument’s stone therein. He was one of millions of young men who died far too young, fighting to preserve our country from a foreign enemy.

Today, in these volatile times of ineffective and corrupt government leadership such protests will most likely create mixed feelings and possible hostility with so many passionate agendas now on our overcrowded streets and towns.

Many people forget that the real enemy of peace is blind uncompromising FUNDAMENTALISM, as found within ‘all’ of the leading three Abrahamic faith (mind - control) systems.   

The mega-divisive and destructive manmade concepts that are Allah, Jesus, and Jehovah will never save humanity from its own lack of adult responsibility, or from its zealous desire to convert the world into its own respective brand of indoctrinated religious mindscrew!

After eons of murderous religious wars and insanity, all of the big three monotheistic faith systems rather comically continue to claim to be of a peaceful nature. However, all suffer from ingrained extremist core beliefs, while each one imagines it has the exclusive handle on so-called 'divine truth', and some more than others.

Humanity MUST finally grow up and realise that throwing all of these totally incompatible, and ever- quarrelling one-god doctrines into a single overburdened system will always end in tears. It simply creates utter havoc with massive social distress. 

Of course, any species that suffers from gross overcrowding will invite social decay and eventual destruction of the original population present. 

The issue of immigration has always been a contentious one. In the past immigration may not have seemed like a huge problem due to lower native population levels. However, today with big overcrowding problems unchecked immigration is dividing communities across the UK. Since 2000, the magnitude and velocity of immigration has been unparalleled in our history. The UK has always experienced periods of immigration, but never on the same scale as that which we have observed over the past two and a half decades.

It's the old goldfish bowl syndrome. Introduce too many new fish to your tank and before long they all start dying. Simple physics and basic logic! Moreover, a greater influx of people means less wild spaces/countryside as more and more new houses replace the precious landscape. We are NOT the only species on this overcrowded island. 

More on the threat to the UK countryside here: https://pat-regan.blogspot.com/2017/02/official-extensive-immigration-is.html

Peace will never exist until the primary origin of world conflict is properly addressed.

FUNDAMENTALISM KILLS! 

 

 

 

 

 

IN PICTURES: BIRKDALE CAR BOOT SALE – 6TH SEPTEMBER 2025

 

Busy times today at the Car Boot Sale in the Red Brick Church, Birkdale .

Southport Crafts and Events - supporting local businesses and worthy causes. 

More:

https://southport-crafts-and-events.jimdosite.com/