Heather Locklear
Locklear in 2009, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Heather Deen Locklear
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: September 25, 1961
Ethnicity: English, Scottish, German, remote Swiss-German and Cornish, possibly distant Lumbee Tribe
Heather Locklear is an American actress.
Heather is the daughter of Diane and Robert Locklear. She has a daughter, model and actress Ava Sambora, with her former husband, guitarist Richie Sambora.
Heather has stated, “I am part Lumbee – way, way back on my father’s side.” The Lumbee are a Tribe in North Carolina, who have Native American and/or African ancestry. It is not clear if Heather’s Lumbee ancestry has been verified/documented. Heather’s most recent ancestors are all listed as “White” on U.S. Censuses. Through her father, Heather is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Duncan Locklear/Locklair and Nancy Quick, of South Carolina. These ancestors were, at least publicly, caucasian.
Socialite and model Tiffany Trump is descended from the same Locklear ancestors, and is Heather’s half-fourth cousin, once removed, through their common forebear William Jesse Locklear.
Heather’s paternal grandfather was Harper Hamilton Locklear (the son of William Jesse Locklear and Martha/Mattie/Madeline Walena Hatfield). Harper was born in Kentucky or Georgia. William was the son of William Jesse/Jessie Locklear and Roseanna Garrett. Martha was the daughter of Hiram Edward Hatfield and Julia Dorinda Whitaker.
Heather’s paternal grandmother was Esther Mary/Mae Wolsifer (the daughter of William George Wolsiffer and Mollie H. Wilson). Esther was born in Indiana. William was the son of John Wolsiffer, who was born in Boerrstadt, Platz, Bavaria, Germany, and of Christina Bertram, who was born in Ohio, to German parents, her father from Rhineland-Palatinate and her mother from Baden-Württemberg. Mollie was the daughter of William or Henry B. Wilson and Melissa J. Ashby/Ashbey.
Heather’s maternal grandfather was Kenneth L. D. Tinsley (the son of Jesse/Jessie William Tinsley and Hattie Belle Black). Kenneth was born in Missouri. Jesse was the son of Joseph Burton Tinsley and Ellen B. Johnson. Hattie was the daughter of Jacob Robert Black and Lydia A. Garlough.
Heather’s maternal grandmother was named Ruth B. Roberts (the daughter of a man surnamed Roberts, and of Mary). Ruth was born in Illinois.
Sources: Genealogies of Heather Locklear (focusing on her father’s side) – http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
Heather’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Heather’s paternal great-great-great-grandparents, William Jesse Locklear and Mary “Polly” Turner, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
PBS Frontline statement that Heather likely has some Lumbee ancestry, citing no particular source – http://www.pbs.org
Heather’s maternal grandfather, Kenneth L. D. Tinsley, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
As the PBS special mentioned, Locklear is a name only linked to the Lumbee Nation. Most Lumbees are triracial. I’ve seen her father’s pic and he is mixed. The Native American community in Hollywood tried to honor her and she recognized her heritage but she supposedly didn’t grow up with the culture.
I’d like to correct you. Her father does not look mixed.
Here’s a pic of her father:
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/heather-locklear-and-father-bill-locklear-during-47th-news-photo/105584663
His name is Bill Lockyear & he looks like a very unmixed white guy. While she may have had Lumbee far far far back so far it’s unproven. It’s definitely a possibility though.
The Quicks were identified in 19th century documents as Indians who were afforded the status of whites in South Carolina due to the Revolutionary War service of an ancestor. Locklear is a common Indian name in North and South Carolina among Pee Dee and Lumbee Indians. If Heather Locklear’s ancestry traces back to Nancy Quick and Duncan Locklear, she is certainly Native American. Nancy was from a slaveholding branch of the Quicks, all of whose siblings married Locklears. It’s unclear whether Duncan or Nancy had any African ancestry.
The surname Quick originated in Cornwall in Great Britain. The Cornish are a Celtic group most closely related to the Bretons and the Welsh. The name Quick derives from the Cornish language and is rare in the rest of the UK except in Cornwall and in part of the West Midlands today. There is also a Cornish name Lockley, which I believe was corrupted to Locklear in America. Young men from Cornwall were sent to the Carolinas in the early 18th century, many of them in servitude. The Tuscarora War left a surplus of Indian women, some of whom married the surplus of white men who had finished out their servitude. I believe that both Nancy Quick and Duncan Locklear had paternal lineage in Cornwall and native maternal lineage in America.
Purely subjectively, I see a family resemblance in pictures of Heather Locklear from when she was younger, with facial features more clearly suggesting non-Caucasian ancestry. Her current appearance seems to have been altered over the years, especially the nose, which is now much narrower.
Thank you for the info! Very interesting.
How do you know that Duncan Locklear and Nancy Quick had (partial, as you say) Native American ancestry? What documents about them suggest or prove this? Are the names of their Native American ancestors available?
I am sure that information would be easily found. Nancy Quick and Duncan Locklear were probably Native Americans.
Well, according to pdquick, they were both born to caucasian fathers and Native American mothers, and so the surname Locklear is actually of British origin.
But how do we know for sure they both had Native American mothers?
If they were both half Native American, that would make Heather 1/64th Native American.
Are the names of their Native American mothers not listed?
And 1/64 isn’t much of anything. That is 1%.
I can’t find any records of their names. Their son Jesse is listed as white, but that doesn’t prove anything.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M8G2-VWJ
But what is the evidence researchers have that Locklear + Quick had Native ancestry?
I don’t know. I guess someone the Internet just said that Locklear + Quick were.
Heathers fathers parents are Native American and from NC. My Grandmothers two sisters moved to San Francisco with Heathers grandparents. They moved away to have a better life than they had in the poor rural community where they lived. One of my aunts moved back to that community in NC when the man that she met and married in SF died. She told me all about Heather grandparents when I asked her about Heather in the 80’s
Native Americans? North Carolina? Her paternal grandmother was from Indiana, and her paternal grandpa was from Georgia. On censuses, they both identified themselves as white. There is some ancestry going back to the Carolinas farther back in her line.
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=:296576&id=I16807162
@delnegro
That’s a bit harsh isn’t it.I mean granted she’s old now,but in her youth,she was cute;at least imo
I don’t believe she is partly lumbee, but that being said lumbee’s are not a tri-racial group. The original lumbee’s are Native American. They are not federally recognized but there are still many of them still around. Of course a lot of them have heavy European mixture and even some lumbees mixed with Africans to a lesser extent. There are some people who are mostly black who also claim to be lumbee. There are many lumbees who are mostly Native American with European ancestry, more or less like any other Native American group. Google Jana Mashonee, a lumbee with some European ancestry. That’s closer to what a ethnic lumbee looks like. Also keep in mind that being lumbee is also a cultural identity, so there are some self-identified lumbee’s who physically appear to be white or black and have very little or no visible native American influence.
@guurl
Lumbee has always been seen as a tri-racial group,that’s the very reason they’re not recognized as native American.
(Jana Mashonee, a lumbee with some European ancestry. That’s closer to what a ethnic lumbee looks like.)
Says who?
(Also keep in mind that being lumbee is also a cultural identity, so there are some self-identified lumbee’s who physically appear to be white or black and have very little or no visible native American influence.)
You should keep in mind that the outward appearance,doesn’t tell you how much native influence someone does or doesn’t have
It depends on the Lumbee and who claims to be one.
@guurl
(It depends on the Lumbee and who claims to be one.)
But that’s just it,aren’t they all claiming to be lumbee.
They weren’t just one real tribe. They were a branch of different natives who happened to live along the lumbee river in North Carolina, said to be of the Iroquois language sub division. Some mixed and they all got clumped together as lumbee, and that’s why they are not federally recognized because they are so diverse. So yes, those ones are mixed. Some are more bi-racial(native and euro), while others are tri-racial(African, native, euro) They can look different. Yes, the culture plays a big part more than native blood amount, but I think it’s because its so sparse to begin with. Too complicated, no wonder why they are not federally recognized. Federally recognized Native Americans have status by their blood quantum. Anyways, too much blabber. Heather Locklear most likely isn’t part lumbee in the Native American sense.
@guurl
(Some mixed and they all got clumped together as lumbee, and that’s why they are not federally recognized because they are so diverse.
I’ve study the lumbee,so i do know a little bit about them,and that’s not the argument,that I’ve come across.They weren’t seen as native american,that’s why they’re not recognized by the Feds.
(So yes, those ones are mixed. Some are more bi-racial(native and euro)
They’re also in the form of (native and black)
(Heather Locklear most likely isn’t part lumbee in the Native American sense.)
Follers base hers opinion on the family census,What are you basing your opinion on?
Good example of the real meaning of “exotic beauty”
about Jana Mashonee
Her last traceable paternal ancestors were Duncan Locklear and Nancy Quick. How do we know what their ancestry was?
@guurl
Just out of curiosity,would you happen to be a member of the lumbee?
No I am not. And Heather Locklear is just European in my eyes. You can’t document Lumbee ancestry anyway unless you could find a specific tribally enrolled Native American member, which isn’t the case in hers. She is not Lumbee and I meant previously that Jana Mashonee is Native American ethnically anyway because she is also Tuscarora. Her Lumbee side is Native American and euro. She considers herself just Native American and speaks for Native causes. In this specific case, this girl is Native American mainly, with some euro. She is considered a Native American and is one. I can’t say the same for other Lumbees because they may be different racially. For other Lumbees each case should be taken individually because some are quite mixed and diluted racially. You can’t say one Lumbee is the same as the other. Some Lumbees consider themselves mixed. Some consider themselves white with some Native American(lumbee) Some are tri racial. Some are black with some native(lumbee) Some are white with tri racial Lumbee origins. It depends. Like I said, it depends on the lumbee and who considers themselves one. And I could go on a rant forever.
@guurl
(Heather Locklear is just European in my eyes.)
That’s fair enough,you’re entitled to your opinion
(Jana Mashonee Lumbee side is Native American and euro)
Unless you can provide a link to the information for me,I’m going to assume that this is your opinion also,because I looked,and can’t find that information anywhere
(For other Lumbees each case should be taken individually because some are quite mixed and diluted racially. You can’t say one Lumbee is the same as the other. Some Lumbees consider themselves mixed. Some consider themselves white with some Native American(lumbee) Some are tri racial. Some are black with some native(lumbee) Some are white with tri racial Lumbee origins. )
Well you might not see it this way,but you kinda proved my point about them being tri-racial(they don’t all have to be mixed the same).Also there is a problem with taking them as individuals.Simply because those individuals belong to families,and if that individual is mixed a certain way,then the odds are that the family is mixed.Also since native clans like to interbred,and 65000 is not a lot of people,there’s no telling who is what.Also as I’ve shown on here many times,lily white skin doesn’t mean granddad or ma wasn’t black or whatever.
However since you’ve made up your mind,and it’s not a big deal to me.I’ll simply let it go.
You seem to be correct that lumbee’s generally are tri-racial. You can’t be lumbee without Native American ancestry though. Jana is a Native American and is socially seen as native. Not all natives have status cards. It looks like I’ll be seeing you around this site often Fuzzy.
@guurl
(It looks like I’ll be seeing you around this site often Fuzzy.)
I sure there will be many who say (too often)
It could be that the Lumbee part was made up. So many people claim NA heritage, like Elizabeth Warren, and were even TOLD they had NA heritage, but when traced by geneologists, there is nothing there. In Warren’s case it is very possible that her “ancestor” killed Native Americans on the Trail of Tears, according to genealogists.
I am willing to cut her some slack and say that her family was passing around incorrect urban legends about themselves. This could be in this case too. Heather’s last names, Quick (maternal) & Lockyear (paternal) are both British names.