A couple months ago at the library, I was browsing recent volumes of TAG and came across Leslie Mahler’s 2018 article ‘The Will of Isabel (Dennis) (Berkeley) Porter: Ancestor of the Deighton Sisters of Massachusetts’ (TAG 90 (2018): 261-262). When
I added the ancestry of Coldplay co-founder, musician Chris Martin, into my database, I pointed out to Leslie that Martin descended from this lady. Leslie turned my attention to another rock musician descendant of Isabel Dennys--James Hetfield, the lead
singer and co-founder of the heavy metal rock band Metallica.

The descent can currently be found in the Genealogics database, in outline form.
https://www.genealogics.org/pedigree.php?personID=I00757032&tree=LEO

For those interested, below is James Hetfield’s descent from Edward I, thru Isabel (Dennys) Berkeley, with more detail.

Edward I had a son:
1) Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300-1338), who had
2) Margaret of Brotherton, 1st Duchess of Norfolk (c.1322-1399), who had
3) Elizabeth de Segrave (1338-1366) m. John, 4th Lord Mowbray, and had
4) Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk (1366-1399) m. Lady Elizabeth de Bohun (c.1370-1425, descended from Edward I), and had
5) Lady Isabel Mowbray (c.1396-1452) m. 2) James, 1st Lord Berkeley (c.1394-1463, descended from Edward I), and had
6) Maurice, 3rd Lord Berkeley (c.1433-1506) m. Isabel Meade (1444-1514), and had
7) Anne Berkeley (b. c.1470) m. Sir William Dennys of Dyrham (c.1470-1533)[*1], and had
8) Isabel Dennys (c.1512-1572) m. 1) Sir John Berkeley of Stoke Gifford (c.1510-1546), and had
9) Elizabeth Berkeley m. Henry Lygon of Upton St Leonard (c.1525-1577, descended from Edward I), and had
10) Isabel Lygon m. Edward Bassett of Uley (d. 1602), and had
11) Jane Bassett (d. 1631) m. John Deighton of Gloucester (1568-1640), and had

[*1] Note: Sir William Dennys of Dyrham (see Generation 7 above) may have been descended from Cardinal Beaufort (and so from Edward III), if his paternal grandmother Joan/Katherine (Stradling) Dennys was the daughter of Joan, wife of Sir Edward Stradling,
the Cardinal’s illegitimate daughter.

12) FRANCES DEIGHTON, bap. 1 Mar. 1612 St Nicholas Church, Gloucester; d. Feb. 1706 Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts; m. 11 Feb. 1633 St Mary Church, Great Witcombe, Gloucestershire, RICHARD WILLIAMS of Taunton, Mass., tanner (bap. 28 Jan. 1608 St
Mary Church, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire; d. Aug. 1693 Taunton), son of William Williams of Synwell & Jane Woodward, and had
13) NATHANIEL WILLIAMS of Taunton, bap. 7 Feb. 1641 Taunton; d. there 16 Aug. 1692; m. 17 Nov. 1668 Taunton, ELIZABETH ROGERS (b. c.1643 Duxbury, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; d. aft. 7 Mar. 1703, when mentioned in will of her mother-in-law Frances),
dau of John Rogers of Duxbury (1606-1692)[*2] & Anna Churchman (c.1617-1670), and had

[*2] Note: The paternal grandfather of Elizabeth (Rogers) Williams, Thomas Rogers (c.1571-1621) was a pilgrim on the 1620 Mayflower passage.

14) JOHN WILLIAMS of Taunton, b. 27 Aug. 1675 Taunton; d. there 18 Aug. 1724; m. by 1701, HANNAH ROBINSON (b. 8 Mar. 1678 Dorchester, Suffolk County, Mass.; d. 2 Dec. 1757 Taunton), dau of Increase Robinson (1641-1699) & Sarah Penniman (1641-aft.1700),
and had
15) SILAS WILLIAMS of Easton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, yeoman farmer, b. 16 Jan. 1707 Taunton; d. 1775 Easton; m. 19 July 1737 Easton, MARY (WETHERELL) DUNHAM (b. 3 July 1715 Bristol County, Mass.; d. 14 Nov. 1757), widow of Isaac Dunham, and dau
of Nathaniel Wetherell of Norton, Mass. (1696-1760) & Mary White (1688-by 1755), and had
16) PAUL WILLIAMS of Easton, b. 16 Feb. 1738 Easton; d. 22 May 1773; m. MARY[?] --- [*3], and had

[*3] Note: Per the 1926 book ‘Ancestry of Richard and Frances (Dighton) Williams and the Posterity of their son Nathaniel Williams of Taunton, Mass’ by Dr. Charles C. Williams, the wife of Paul Williams was “Mary Witherall,” apparently conflating
her with Paul's mother, who was Mary (Wetherell) (Dunham) Williams. I could find no information on Paul Williams's wife. There is no marriage or death record for her in Ancestry databases. She may have predeceased her husband, as there is no mention of
her in the 1775 will of her father-in-law Silas Williams.

17) JAIRUS WILLIAMS of Dana, Worcester County, Massachusetts, farmer [*4], b. 25 Nov. 1764 Easton, Mass.; d. 8 June 1841 Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts; m. 20 May 1789 Hardwick, Worcester County, Massachusetts, HANNAH MORSE (b. 28 Jan. 1770;
d. 5 May 1850 Dana, Mass.), dau of Samuel Morse of Dana, Mass., farmer (1743-1832) & Hannah Chandler (1744-1822), and had

[*4] Note: In the 1775 will of Silas Williams (Generation 15 above), which is available on Ancestry, he made bequests to the children of his deceased son Paul, but didn't specifically name them. I couldn’t find on Ancestry a contemporary record to
confirm that Jairus was the son of Paul, but on p. 85 of the Williams book referred in Note *3 above, under the entry for Jairus, mention is made that on "April 5, 1773, Silas Williams of Easton deeds his son Paul, and Paul's sons Jairus and Solomon,
both minors, 25 acres in Easton." If the original 1773 deed can be found, this entire line of descent from Edward I for James Hetfield can be confirmed in original contemporary records.

18) JASON WILLIAMS of Petersham, Worcester County, Massachusetts, farmer, b. 5 Feb. 1805 Dana, Mass.; d. 7 April 1886 Petersham; m. 23 Dec. 1827 Dana, Mass., MELINDA CHAMBERLIN (b. 21 Sept. 1805 Petersham; d. there 28 Jan. 1884), dau of Levi Chamberlin
of Petersham, Mass. (1769-1838) & Lydia Nye (1766-1839), and had
19) JULIA ANN WILLIAMS, b. 8 Dec. 1832 Dana, Worcester County, Mass.; d. 19 April 1895 Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, bur. Milton Cemetery, Norfolk County, Mass.; m. Oct. 1849, as his 2nd wife, CALVIN SANFORD of Milton, Norfolk County,
Massachusetts, farmer & alms house keeper (b. 17 Mar. 1817 West Brookfield, Worcester County, Mass.; d. 27 Sept. 1888 Randolph, Norfolk County, Mass., bur. Milton Cemetery), son of Josiah Sanford of Barre, Mass. (1772-1852) & Theodora Wood (1774-1858),
and had
20) LUCY FIDELIA SANFORD, b. June 1860 New Braintree, Worcester County, Massachusetts; d. 20 Mar. 1901 Worcester, Worcester County, Mass., bur. Milton Cemetery, Norfolk County, Mass.; m. 6 May 1879 Milton, Norfolk County, Mass., CHARLES WESLEY NOURSE of
Worcester, Mass., granite dealer & monument carver (b. 19 Mar. 1856 Bolton, Worcester County, Masachusetts; d. 15 June 1914 Worcester, Worcester County, Mass., bur. 17 June 1914 Milton Cemetery), son of Rufus Carroll Nourse of Bolton, Mass. (1830-1862) &
Abigail Ann Hall (1831-1885), and had
21) RALPH CARROLL NOURSE of South Gate, Los Angeles County, California, mechanical engineer, b. 23 Nov. 1892 Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts; d. 13 Dec. 1958 South Gate, bur. Angeles Abbey Memorial Park, Compton, Los Angeles County, Calif.; m. 11
Sept. 1926 Santa Ana, Orange County, Calif., ALICE ADELAIDE GLEED (b. 24 Nov. 1892 Plumstead, Kent, England; d. 23 May 1981 Orange County, Calif.), dau of James Alexander Gleed of New Britain, Connecticut, packer (1867-1939) & Alice Martha Hill (1868-
1955), and had
22) CYNTHIA BASSETT NOURSE, b. 23 Mar. 1930 South Gate, Los Angeles County, Calif.; d. 19 Feb. 1980 Orange County, Calif., bur. Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles County, Calif.; m. 2nd 8 July 1961 Clark County, Nevada (divorce 11 Oct. 1978),
VIRGIL GREELEY HETFIELD of Cave City, Sharp County, Arkansas, truck driver (b. 30 July 1925 Omaha, Thurston County, Nebraska; d. 29 Feb. 1996 Cave City, Ark.), illegitimate son of William Henry Garska of Burwell, Nebraska, farmer (1896-1990) & Violet
Clara Hetfield (1903-1986), and had
23) JAMES ALAN HETFIELD of Vail, Eagle County, Colorado, rock musician & lead singer co-founder of heavy metal band Metallica, b. 3 Aug. 1963 Downey, Los Angeles County, Calif.; m. 17 Aug. 1997 (divorce 2022), FRANCESCA TOMASI, costume designer (b. 1970
Rosario, Argentina), and has issue, one son and two daughters. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hetfield

The descent of Frances (Deighton) Williams from Isabel (Dennys) (Berkeley) Porter is found in RD900 vol. 1 (2018), pp. 295-299. It may be nice for future editions to include a note that James Hetfield of Metallica is one of her descendants.

Cheers, -----Brad

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