Elizabeth McGovern

McGovern in 2013, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Elizabeth Lee McGovern

Place of Birth: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.

Date of Birth: July 18, 1961

Ethnicity: Scottish, English, German

Elizabeth McGovern is an American actress and musician. She is the daughter of Katharine Wolcott (Watts), a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. Her sister is novelist Cammie McGovern. Elizabeth is married to director and producer Simon Curtis, with whom she has two children.

Elizabeth’s paternal grandfather was William Montgomery McGovern (the son of Felix Daniel Chauncey McGovern and Janet Blair Montgomery). William was born in New York, and was an adventurer, political scientist, university professor, anthropologist, and journalist, who possibly inspired Indiana Jones. Felix was born in Pennsylvania, to Irish parents, John James McGovern and Mary Agnes Doran. Janet was the daughter of Alexander Blair Montgomery and Ella Janet Mitchell.

Elizabeth’s paternal grandmother was Margaret Montgomery (the daughter of Charles Jenkins Mongomery/Montgomery and Jessie S. Scott). Margaret was born in Georgia. Charles was the son of James Gardner Montgomery and Fanny/Fannie Holland Brown. Jessie was the daughter of Thomas Knight Scott and Margaret Gwatkin Cobbs. Elizabeth’s paternal grandparents were second cousins.

Elizabeth’s maternal grandfather was Ethelbert Watts, Jr. (the son of Ethelbert Watts, a diplomat, and of Katharine Lorenz Gregg). Elizabeth’s grandfather Ethelbert was born in Prague, Czech Republic, to American parents. Elizabeth’s great-grandfather Ethelbert was the son of Henry Miller Watts, a lawyer, politician, and diplomat, who was U.S. Minister to Austria-Hungary, from September 25, 1868 to June 1, 1869; and of Anna Maria Schoenberger, whose father founded the Shoenberger Steel Company. Anna Maria was of German descent. Henry’s brother, Elizabeth’s great-great-great-uncle Frederick Watts, was U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture, from 1871 to 1877.

Elizabeth’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Lee Snyder (the daughter of Charles Philip Snyder, an admiral, and of Cornelia Lee Wolcott). Charles P. Snyder was the son of Charles P. Snyder (Charles Philip Snyder), a Democratic U.S. congressman from West Virginia, from 1883 to 1889; and of Jane Adelia Goshorn. Cornelia was the daughter of Christopher Columbus Wolcott and Elizabeth Westward McRae.

Source: Genealogy of Elizabeth McGovern – https://www.geni.com