J. K. Rowling

Rowling in 2007, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Joanne Rowling

Place of Birth: Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 31 July, 1965

Ethnicity: English, as well as some Scottish, 1/16th Alsatian German, possibly 1/16th French

J. K. Rowling is an English novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. She wrote the Harry Potter books. She has also used the pen name Robert Galbraith, for crime fiction.

J. K. is the daughter of Anne (Volant), a science technician, and Peter John Rowling, a chartered engineer. They had met while both were in the Navy. She was raised mostly in Winterbourne, Gloucestershire.

J. K. is married to Scottish doctor Neil Murray. She has a daughter with her former husband, Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes; and two children with Neil. She calls herself Jo.

J. K.’s paternal grandfather was Ernest Arthur Rowling (the son of Frank Harold Rowling and Louisa Mary Holland). Ernest was born in Walthamstow, Essex, England. Frank was the son of William Richard Rowling and Frances Emily Andrews. Louisa was the daughter of Charles Western Holland and Louisa Blay.

J. K.’s paternal grandmother was Kathleen Ada Bulgen (the daughter of Thomas Edward Bulgen and Rose Caroline Card). Kathleen was born in Enfield, Middlesex, England. Thomas was the son of John Philpott Bulgen and Annie Elizabeth Warner. Rose was the daughter of Jack Card.

J. K.’s maternal grandfather was Stanley Georges Volant (the son of Louis François Alexandre Volant, born Louis Schuch, and of Eliza Mary Ann Smith). Stanley was born in St Marylebone, London, England. Louis was born in Paris, France, the son of Salomé Schuch, who was born in Brumath, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, of ethnic German descent; Louis was raised by Salomé’s husband, Louis Pierre Volant, who was evidently not Louis’s biological father. When J. K. received the Légion d’honneur award in France, she mentioned that her great-grandfather Louis Volant had received the same award for his service in the first World War. Louis had in fact received the Croix de Guerre. J. K.’s great-grandmother Eliza was English, the daughter of Henry Smith and Elisabeth/Elizabeth Hunter.

J. K.’s maternal grandmother was Louisa Carolina/Caroline “Freda” Smith/Watts (the daughter of Dugald Campbell and Mary Smith). Louisa was born in Islington, Middlesex, England, and was raised by the Watts family. Dugald was Scottish, from Lamlash, Isle of Arran, and was the son of The Rev. Colin Fisher Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, from Kilchattan, and of Anne Mary MacMillan.

Sources: Genealogies of J. K. Rowling – http://genealogy.about.com
http://www.geni.com
http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk

Information on some of J. K.’s other ancestors – http://www.telegraph.co.uk
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk