Geri Halliwell
Halliwell in 2016, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Geraldine Estelle Halliwell
Place of Birth: Watford, Hertfordshire, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 6 August, 1972
Ethnicity:
*father – Finland-Swedish, English, small amount of French
*mother – Spanish
Geri Halliwell is a British singer, songwriter, author, actress, and philanthropist. She is a member of girl group Spice Girls, along with Mel B, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, and Melanie C. She is also known as Geri Horner and Ginger Spice.
Geri is the daughter of Ana María J. (Hidalgo-Pueyo) and Laurence Francis Halliwell. Her father is of Swedish and English descent. Her mother is Spanish, from Huesco. Geri has also stated that her father has some French ancestry. Geri’s father took his own stepfather’s surname Halliwell. Her father may have also gone under the surnames Sjövik, his father’s, and Ball, his mother’s.
Geri is married to race car driver Christian Horner, who is Team Principal of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team. She has a daughter with her former partner, journalist, screenwriter, and director Sacha Gervasi; and a son with Christian.
Geri’s paternal grandfather was Mathias Karlsson “Matt” Sjövik (the son of Karl Jonasson Sjövik/Smeds and Anna Greta Josefsdotter Pellfolk). Mathias was born in Harrström, Korsnäs, Österbotten, Finland. Karl was the son of Jonas Johansson Smeds and Anna Maria Andersdotter Ström. Geri’s great-grandmother Anna Greta was the daughter of Josef Karlsson Pellfolk and Anna-Beata Johansdotter Nygård. Both of Mathias’ parents were born in Korsnäs, and were of ethnic Swedish descent, from the Swedish ethnic minority in Finland. Geri has stated that her grandfather was Swedish. The vast majority of people living in Korsnäs also speak Swedish.
Geri’s paternal grandmother likely was named Kathleen Ball.
Geri’s maternal grandfather was named Máximo Hidalgo. Máximo was from Huesca, Aragon, Spain.
Source: Genealogy of Geri Halliwell – http://www.geni.com
Beautiful combination of european ethnicities.
“Sjövik” was not Laurence’s maiden name, it was his father’s surname. His mother’s maiden name was likely “Ball”.
It should also be mentioned that Geri’s paternal grandmother possibly was Kathleen Ball, and that Geri’s father’s took his stepfather’s surname, “Halliwell”.
An imposter purporting to be English. Millions of them in England.
Ana María (Hidalgo) —> Ana María J. (Hidalgo-Pueyo)
According to this short genealogy, it was Ana-Maria’s father who was named Maximo Hidalgo.
http://www.famechain.com/family-tree/1702/geri-horner-geri-halliwell
Geri’s father, Laurence Francis Halliwell, is said to have been born with his father’s surname, Sjövik, but took his stepfather’s name once his mother remarried. Laurence was born on August 12, 1922, but there was no people born in 1922 in Britain (it is unlikely that Laurence was born outside of Britain) named Laurence Sjövik, or Laurence Halliwell. However, there is two sets of marriage registration records for Geri’s parents, one where her father’s surname is “Ball”.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV64-Y7YB
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV64-LVNW
By looking up people born in 1922 named Laurence Ball, you’ll find two people name Laurence F. Ball, of which only one has “Ball” listed as his mother’s maiden (the other one’s middle name was also apparently Fred).
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV3C-7YBM
The birth place also matches the one in the genealogy linked above (assuming it is correct), both says that Francis was born in Liverpool. I strongly suspect that this is Geri’s father.
Out of the couples where the man is named “Halliwell” and the woman is named “Ball” that was married in England or Wales, one couple was married in 1923, just a year after Geri’s father was born. They were Kathleen Ball and Alexander E. Halliwell. It seems probable that Kathleen Ball is Geri’s paternal grandmother.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZG-NDXQ
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZG-6YSN
*both says that Laurence was born in Liverpool.
Geri has claimed to have a bit of French on her dad’s side (@ 0:40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tnoeWatBpM
Finland-Swedish would be more specific