Ryan Gosling
Gosling in 2011, s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Ryan Thomas Gosling
Place of Birth: London, Ontario, Canada
Date of Birth: November 12, 1980
Ethnicity: French-Canadian (half), English, Scottish, Irish, as well as 1/32 German, likely 1/128th African-American
Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor, writer, director, musician, and producer. He is the son of Donna and Thomas Gosling. Ryan was raised in a Mormon (Latter Day Saint) family. He has two children with his partner, American actress Eva Mendes.
Ryan is the first person born in the 1980s to have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor (for Half Nelson, 2006), and thus could be considered the first millennial to have done so. He is also one of three males born in 1980 or after to have received more than one Academy Award nomination for acting (Jonah Hill and Eddie Redmayne are the others).
Ryan is of approximately half French-Canadian ancestry (his father is of roughly three eighths French-Canadian descent, and his mother is of roughly five eighths French-Canadian ancestry). Ryan’s other roots include English, Scottish, Irish, and 1/32 German. Ryan and singers Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne are distant cousins, connected through Québec’s earliest French settlers.
Ryan’s five times paternal great-grandfather, James-Jacques Robinson/Robertson, was described as “Negro” (black) in contemporaneous records, and may have been from the United States. He married Ryan’s five times great-grandmother, Marie Trottier, who was French-Canadian. This likely makes Ryan of approximately 1/128th African-American ancestry.
Ryan’s paternal grandfather was George Bigelow Gosling (the son of George Percy Gosling and Bessie Rae/Ray Bigelow). Ryan’s grandfather George was born in Cornwall, Stormont, Ontario. Ryan’s great-grandfather George was the son of George Edward Gosling, who was born in Kensington, London, England, and of Caroline Minerva Snetsinger. Bessie was the daughter of William Samuel Bigelow, who was English, and of Mary Miller, who was Scottish, from Perthshire.
Ryan’s paternal grandmother was Mary Yvette Brown (the daughter of Joseph Brown and Mary Ann/Marie-Anne Bélaire). Ryan’s grandmother Mary was born in North Glengarry, Stormont, Ontario. Joseph was the son of Frederick/Frederic Brown, an English immigrant, and of Rose/Rosalie Anna Proulx, who had French-Canadian ancestry. Ryan’s great-grandmother Mary Ann was the daughter of Julien Olivier Belaire and Matilda/Mathilda Exilda Séguin, and also had French-Canadian ancestry.
Ryan’s maternal grandfather was Robert Thomas “Bob” Wilson (the son of Henry/Harry Thomas Wilson and Marie Georgina Victoria Dextras/Dextraze). Henry was the son of James Thomas Wilson, who was English, and of Bertha Louisa Hacker/Hackett, whose parents were from Wiltshire, England. Marie Georgina was of French-Canadian descent, the daughter of Joseph Dextras/Dextraze and Marie Célina Elizabeth Quenneville.
Ryan’s maternal grandmother is Ruby Kitts (the daughter of Gérald/Gerrold Kitts and Rose Emma Lalonde). Ruby is of mostly French-Canadian, and some Irish, descent. Gérald was the son of Henry John Kitts and Helen/Hélène Françoise “Ellen” Massia. Rose was the daughter of Alexandre/Alexander Lalonde and Catherine Harriet Piché/Picher.
Ryan’s matrilineal line can be traced back to Catherine Guyard, who was born, c. 1639, in Paris, France, and to Catherine’s mother, Madeleine Venne.
Sources: Genealogies of Ryan Gosling – http://www.nosorigines.qc.ca
https://www.geni.com
http://laurenandtristan.net
http://www.perche-quebec.com
Genealogies of Ryan Gosling (focusing on his father’s side) – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
http://famouskin.com
Marriage record of Ryan’s paternal great-great-grandparents, George Edward Gosling and Caroline Minerva Snetsinger – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Ryan’s paternal great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Marie Trottier – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Ryan’s maternal grandmother, Ruby Kitts – http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Ryan’s maternal great-grandfather, Gérald/Gerrold Kitts – https://www.findagrave.com
Report on Ryan’s distant relatives – http://www.torontosun.com
Family tree showing the relation between Ryan Gosling, Avril Lavigne, and Justin Bieber – http://www.aceshowbiz.com
Marie Cecile Trottier was described as “a woman of color”: https://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogie=Robinson_James-Jacques&pid=1293437
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M426-CVW
http://pages.videotron.com/myfamily/siteanglais/anglais.html
I think Marie was only black by marriage.
https://www.geni.com/people/Mary-Trotter/6000000066659043169?through=6000000066663649906
Considering that French-Canadians are very inbred, there might be other noted descendants of James-Jacques Robinson/Robertson
He’s black.
Henry John Kitts was of Irish, not English, descent.
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=147362752
His own father was born in England, but was likely of Irish descent. He was a Roman Catholic from Lancashire, and his mother’s maiden name was “Kearns” which is Irish.
Correction through his fathers Belaire and Robidou ancestry he is also Spanish. Everybody with the last name Robidou in North America is a descendant of Andre Robidou dit L’Espagnol who came to North America in the mid 1600’s and whose mother was born in Spain.
Assuming Catherine Alice Alue was of Spanish descent (which I’m not sure of), that would make Gosling of 1/4096 Spanish ancestry…
Maybe 1/1024 (a very distant figure) is a good cut off point.
According to this, Catherine’s parents were born in France.
http://www.treecallahanhansen.org/getperson.php?personID=P2654&tree=1