Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, known to the world as Kate Middleton, was born 9 January 1982 at Reading, England, the first of Carole Elizabeth Goldman and Michael Francis Middleton’s three children. She met Prince William at St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, where they both studied.
Most people are aware that she has no royal background and no titles in her family, and that her parents run their own business. And although she is a commoner, her ancestry reflects a wide range of occupations and social standings, all thoroughly British.
Kate’s Parents and Siblings
Carole Elizabeth Goldsmith (born 1955 at Ealing, Middlesex) and Michael Middleton (born 23 June 1949 at Chapel Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire) were married 21 June 1980 in Dorney, Buckinghamshire. Carole was an air hostess, while Michael was a flight dispatcher. Later, in 1987, they founded a mail order company called Party Pieces, which sells party supplies and decorations. Kate has two younger siblings: a sister born in 1983, Philippa Charlotte (known as Pippa), and a brother, James William, born in 1987. Kate grew up in Bucklebury, Berkshire, attended St. Andrew's School in Pangbourne, Berkshire and Marlborough College in Wiltshire before heading to St. Andrew’s University in Scotland.
The Middletons
Kate’s father, Michael Francis Middleton, was born 23 June 1949, the son of Peter Francis Middleton, and Valerie Glassborow, who were married at Leeds, Yorkshire on 7 Dec. 1946. Peter Middleton (born in1920 at Leeds, Yorkshire), a flight instructor, is the son of Richard Noel Middleton and Olive Christiana Lupton. Valerie Glassborow (b. Marseille, France 5 January 1924), died at Andover, Hampshire, on 13 September 2006, and was the daughter of Frederick George Glassborow and Constance Robison.
Richard Noel Middleton (called Noel by his family) was a well-to-do solicitor in Leeds, where the Middletons were prominent citizens. His father John was legal counsel for the Leeds Permanent Benefit Building Society. He was president of the Leeds Law Society and founder of the Leeds and County Conservative Club. When John died in 1887 he left a sizeable fortune to his four children.
Noel’s wife, Olive Lupton, came from another prominent family in Leeds. Her father Francis managed the family cloth business William Lupton & Co. (founded 1773), growing it into a thriving business that supported the family in comfort. He was also a member of the Leeds city council.
Valerie’s father Frederick Glassborow was a bank manager; his ancestors often held positions as bank clerks, shipping managers, and mercantile clerks in various fields.
The Goldsmiths
Carole Goldsmith, born 31 January 1955, is the daughter of Ronald John James Goldsmith, (born 25 April 1931 in Hayes, Middlesex) and Dorothy Harrison (born in Sunderland, County Durham, on 26 June 1935). They were married 8 August 1953 at Southall, Middlesex. She died at Reading on 21 July 2006.
Ronald Goldsmith, Carole's father, was a builder and lorry driver whose father and grandfather were laborers. Dorothy Harrison Goldsmith’s father was a carpenter; previous generations were laborers and miners from County Durham, a coal-mining area in the north of England.
Kate the Commoner
It’s clear that Kate Middleton is a commoner, not royalty, and this quick look at her ancestry shows she has both working-class and middle-class roots. She also has some very successful solicitors (lawyers) and business people in her family tree – not a bad pedigree for someone who will need to understand and communicate with a huge variety of people for the rest of her life.
Sources
Reitwiesner, William Addams and Michael J. Wood. The ancestry of Kate Middleton, retrieved 16 November 2010.
Wilson, Christopher. "Kate, the Coal Miner's Girl," Daily Mail (London), 22 December 2006.
Joseph, Claudia. “Revealed: Secrets of the Middletons’ money and how Kate’s ancestors made a fortune,” Daily Mail (London), 22 March 2009.
Katharine Garstka - Katharine Garstka specializes in genealogical research and in historical and genealogical writing.
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