Louis Tomlinson

Tomlinson in 2011, Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Louis Troy Austin

Place of Birth: Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 24 December, 1991

Ethnicity: English, as well as 1/16th Belgian Flemish, more distant Channel Islander and Irish

Louis Tomlinson is a British singer, songwriter, producer, actor, and footballer. He is a member of boy band One Direction, along with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, and, previously, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne.

Louis is the son of Johannah Lee and Troy Austin. He changed his name to Louis William Tomlinson, after his stepfather Mark Tomlinson. He is of mostly English descent, with more distant (to varying degrees) Belgian [Flemish], Channel Islander, and Irish, ancestry. His sister is model, author, and makeup artist Lottie Tomlinson, who founded self-tanning company Tanologist.

Louis has a son with stylist Briana Jungwirth.

Louis’s maternal grandfather is Leonard Poulston (the son of Leonard W. Poulston and Edna E. M. Hatton). Louis’s grandfather Leonard was born in Hemsworth, Yorkshire, England. Louis’s great-grandfather Leonard was the son of Sidney Poulston and Florence Beatrice Monks. Edna was the daughter of Joseph Hatton and Josephine Caroline Van Egghen/Vanegghen; Josephine was Belgian, of Flemish background, making Louis Tomlinson of 1/16th Flemish-Belgian ancestry.

Louis’s maternal great-grandmother is named Olive M. Mitchell.

Louis’s Poulston line can be traced back to his maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, William Jacob Poulston, who was born in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, c. 1827. Another maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Blake, was born in Sligo, Ireland, c. 1835. Much or most of the rest of Louis’s traceable ancestry is English.

Sources: Information about Louis’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Josephine Caroline Van Egghen/Vanegghen – http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Louis mentions his Belgian ancestry – http://www.sugarscape.com