Information from: The Families of LOU DRAPER & CHARLIE MARTIN of Johnson and Henry Counties, Missouri" by James M McMillen, Arlington, Texas

Published in .pdf format 13 January 2010

Sir John Knyvet (born before 1311, died 1381) of Southwick, Northamptonshire, an ancestor of Sir Thomas, was a Chief Justice of the King's Bench (i.e., Chief Justice of England) and when Lord Chancellor was said to have “acted with great wisdom and discretion,” an unusual accomplishment of the time.

The Lunsford line is known back to the England of Edward the Confessor, before the Norman Conquest. Other lines lead back to English royalty and the royal houses of Scotland, France, Poland, Kiev, and many other countries, including the Holy Roman Empire and its first Emperor, Charlemagne.