A PENSIONER in Taunton is claiming to have a world record for the biggest family tree after tracing over 10,000 of his relatives and ancestors.

Roy Blackmore’s impressive relatives include William the Conqueror and Alfred the Great, and he’s even related to the Queen, being her 22nd cousin, once removed.

Roy, 83, was born in Bath. He was orphaned at the age of seven – his mother Ida died when he was five years old and his father Hubert died two years later from wounds in the First World War.

Roy credits being orphaned at such a young age as one of the reasons he is so interested in his family tree.

He started researching his family tree properly around 30 years ago and says he spent thousands on the task.

But it was at the tender age of 15 that his curiosity began.

Roy was a member of the Light Infantry here in Taunton and was asked to sort out some pictures one day.

In one of the photos, he discovered his father and uncle and still has a copy of it. He added: “It was unbelievable to find that photo and it is something which meant a lot to me at the time. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that I started to do something about finding out more about my family history.

“Its been a very interesting journey and for me one of the most shocking discoveries was finding out that I am a descendant of Alfred the Great.”

Roy’s tree stretches back to the Cerdick family in AD 500 and includes the French Royal family and a 10th century King of France, Hugh Capet.

Roy and his wife Sigrid spent much of their time travelling the country to study archives and records, as most of his discoveries were carried out before the arrival of the internet.

Sigrid sadly died 18 months ago but Roy says she was a great support.

“She thought I was a bit mad at first but she was very supportive and patient. She was a wonderful girl and we had 62 very happy years together.”

Roy is now getting in touch with the Guinness World Book of Records to find out if he does indeed hold the world record. He plans to display his findings in Taunton Library in the near future.