This has been adapted from an article featured in the Guisborough Life magazine.  Thanks to Derek for letting me publish this on my blog.

We were delighted to find that Derek Brown, who is one of our neighbours, has a close connection with the soon-to-be Royal Bride, Kate Middleton. 

Derek was born in 1935, in a Guisborough house that belonged to his grandmother, Elizabeth Brown, nee Temple, and it was Elizabeth's sister, Florence, who once ran the Red Lion public house, which is now the Yorkshire Bank in Church Street.

Elizabeth had a brother, Thomas Temple, an ironstone miner and steelworker, who was born in Guisborough, in 1872.  Derek's family have been researching their ancestry for a number of years and discovered that Thomas is in fact, great-great-grandfather to Catherine Elizabeth (Kate) Middleton, born 9 January 1982.

Derek was proud to show his family tree depicting hand-painted heraldic coats-of-arms of the families who are linked to himself and Kate. 

The family tree has been researched and designed by close relatives, which clearly shows his direct lineage.  Derek's grandchildren, for example, are at the same level of descent as Kate.

The family photograph shows Derek's grandmother, Elizabeth, her husband, Frederick Brown, ironstone miner and Cleveland Hunt worker, together with their son, who was also called Thomas.  Sadly, Thomas was killed during the battle of the Somme in 1916 and is buried at Thiepval Military Cemetery in France.