Winslet in 2009, Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Kate Elizabeth Winslet
Place of Birth: Reading & Wokingham, Berkshire, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 5 October, 1975
Ethnicity: English, as well as 1/16th Swedish, small amounts of Irish and Welsh
Kate Winslet is an English actress and singer. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader (2008). Her many roles also include the films Sense and Sensibility (1995), Titanic (1997), Little Children, The Holiday (2006), Revolutionary Road, Contagion, and the Divergent franchise; and the series Mare of Easttown. Some critics consider her the best English-speaking film actress of her generation.
Kate is the daughter of Sally Anne (Bridges) and Roger John Winslet. Her uncle, Robert Bridges, is also an actor. Her maternal grandparents, Linda and Archibald Bridges, founded the Reading Repertory Theatre.
Kate is married to businessperson Edward Abel Smith/Ned Rocknroll. She has a daughter with her former husband, director Jim Threapleton; a son with her former husband, director Sam Mendes; and a son with Rocknroll. Her husband Ned is the nephew, sister’s son, of business magnate and philanthropist Richard Branson.
Kate’s paternal grandfather was Charles John William Winslet (the son of Charles Winslet and Emily Mary Wells). Kate’s grandfather Charles was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Kate’s great-grandfather Charles was the son of John Winslet and Susannah/Susan Mary Phillips. Emily was the daughter of William Frederick Wells and Sarah Ann Smithers.
Kate’s paternal grandmother was Blanche/Blanch Florence Sims (the daughter of George Frederick V. Sims and Florence Edith Bick). Blanche was born in Kensington, London, England. George was born in Cardiff, Glanmorganshire, Wales, and was of one quarter Welsh descent; he was the son of Henry Sims and Sarah Barton, whose own father was Welsh. Kate’s great-grandmother Florence was the daughter of Thomas George Bick and Marian/Mary Anne Colquhoun. Marian’s father was in the Grenadier guards. Marian’s mother was from Ireland.
Kate’s maternal grandfather was Archibald Ottewill/Oliver Bridges (the son of Robert Tilby Bridges and Louisa Amy Hales). Archibald was born in Hackney, London, England. Robert was the son of Robert Bridges and Mary Ann Ottewill. Louisa was the daughter of Henry Hales and Sarah.
Kate’s maternal grandmother was Linda Elsie Plumb (the daughter of George William Plumb and Florence Theodelinda Lidman). Linda was born in Westminster St. Margaret, London, England. George was the son of John Plumb and Louisa Rosamond/Ruth Parker. Florence was the daughter of Alfred Johansson Lidman, a Swedish emigrant, from Enslöf, Halland County, Sweden; and of Mary Ann Treyessick.
Sources: Family histories of Kate Winslet – http://www.telegraph.co.uk
http://blog.findmypast.co.uk
Genealogies of Kate Winslet – http://www.geni.com
http://gw.geneanet.org
Genealogy of Kate Winslet (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.wikitree.com
Kate’s maternal grandfather, Archibald Ottewill/Oliver Bridges, on the 1901 England and Wales Census – https://www.familysearch.org
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