Thirteen episodes of family history
Each chapter spans a century, grounding real ancestors in the social history of their age — the Norman Conquest, the Reformation, the English Civil War, and beyond.
A thousand-year lineage
The story begins with Baron von Ravensburg and follows the male Gladwish line through Flanders, Norman England, Sussex and Kent across 36 generations.
Archive-based genealogy research
Sources include Windsor Archives, the Bodleian, College of Arms, East Sussex Record Office, Canterbury Archives, and French and German municipal libraries.
About the book
The Power of the Memory Gene — also known as The de Glidewisse Story — is a unique work of historical family narrative by Prof. Victor E. R. Gladwish, C de M. It traces one of England's oldest traceable family lines: the Gladwish family of Sussex and Kent, whose origins lie with a Saxon mercenary who settled near Bielefeld in Germany in 944 AD.
The book interweaves meticulous archival research with the author's own lived experiences, exploring how personal "visions" — triggered in childhood — gradually revealed themselves as memories of his ancestors. It draws on genealogical documents unavailable to most family historians, including papers from the Viscount de L'Isle's private collection, the Historic Manuscripts Commission, the Sussex Family History Group, and civic archives in France and Germany.
The result is thirteen episodes — each spanning a century — that follow the de Glidewisse / Gladwish / St. Leger family line through the Norman Conquest, the Battle of Hastings, the Barons' Wars, the Reformation, and into the modern era.
Read reviews and recognition →Who this book is for
Genealogists researching Sussex and Kent
If you are researching the surnames Gladwish, Glydwishe, de Glidewisse, St. Leger, de Socknersh, de Aquila or connected families in the Rape of Hastings, Burwash, Ticehurst, Cowden or Penshurst areas, this book contains rare primary source material unavailable elsewhere.
Norman conquest and medieval history readers
The family's connection to the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror, and the subsequent Norman settlement of Sussex is documented here from heraldic records and close rolls spanning the 11th to 15th centuries.
Readers interested in inherited memory
The "memory gene" device — the author's account of experiencing vivid visions of his ancestors' lives, later verified by archival research — raises genuine questions about ancestral memory, epigenetics and family legacy.
A note on purchasing
This is the author's own website, maintained by a family member. Purchasing the eBook here ensures Prof. Gladwish is rewarded directly for his decades of research and dedication.
The eBook is available directly from the author for £9.99 / USD $12.50. Email verg1944@gmail.com for payment details. The print edition retails worldwide for £39.99.
See all editions →Publication details
- Publisher
- Bluerose Publishers
- Published
- Language
- English
- Print length
- 496 pages
- ISBN-10
- 937018385X
- ISBN-13
- 978-9370183858