Aussie family uncover their royal connection
A family from the New South Wales Central Coast has discovered something unusual about their past which they claim could make them billionaires and even hold titles in a royal court.
The Sharpe family live in Terrigal but have traced their lineage all the way back to a family estate in central London, thanks to a map found among some paperwork.
Michael Sharpe also discovered another surprise fact while working on his family tree: he’s a direct descendant of the Earl of Oxford.
“Elizabeth Sharpe is my seven or eight times great-grandmother and her father being the Earl of Oxford… it’s quite a story,” Michael Sharpe told A Current Affair.
Robert Harley, the Earl of Oxford, was Lord High Treasurer in the court of Queen Anne in the 1700s who owned the estate in Shooter’s Hill until his death.
The estate and title, which included a 100-room mansion called Hazelwood House, were then passed to his son, George Harley.
“There were 375 acres on the estate, which is now part of London,” Michael explained.
“Eighty-seven million pounds was the value of the estate in 1931.”
George’s sister Elizabeth, who is Michael’s grandmother many times over, had settled in the Richmond district in Sydney’s west when their father passed.
But, by the time word reached her of Robert’s death, she was also in a bad way and urged her son William to return to London to claim the estate, according to letters found.
“Unfortunately he died not long after her and it never happened,” Michael said.
After that, the family were unaware of the estate until the Richmond Windsor Gazette obtained Elizabeth’s and her father’s will, publishing her obituary and a call-out for family members to claim the estate.
“In the article, she is urging her children before her death to leave no stone unturned, to claim the property, including a large sum of money in the Bank of England,” Michael said.
Then the search effort began during the 1930s, until the onset of World War II forced it to cease, with Michael and his late father picking up the search again.
“It probably happens all the time when people don’t look into it further,” Michael’s wife Elizabeth said.
Now, the family are hoping to prove their right to the kingly sum.
“DNA - we can prove we are all related and it is just sitting there all these years,” Michael’s daughter Jordi said.
“We have to get lawyers and more information on how to go ahead and contact the Bank of England.”
Image: A Current Affair