Romney's English roots

Jennie Iveson, aged 69, is Mitt Romney's fourth cousin. Not many people would associate Romney with Britain, but it was in the rain-soaked plains of northern England that his ancestors lived for generations, converted to Mormonism and left for the United States in 1841 in search of the promised land.

Some of the clan stayed, however, and their descendants still live along Britain's drizzly western coast - a world away from the intrigue and glamour of Washington.

Jennie Iveson only recently discovered that she is a distant cousin of the former governor of Massachusetts.

"It's all come out of the blue," she said, while sitting in her modest home in Barrow-in-Furness, a shipyard town once at the heart of Britain's industrial revolution. "It's a surprise really. Quite a surprise. Big surprise."

An original baptism record shows details of some of Romney's ancestors from the area: his great-grandparents Miles and Elizabeth Romney, and their child Sarah.

Jennie Iveson's own link to the Republican presidential candidate came to light when her inquisitive grandson-in-law began tracing back their family history by delving into archives in their home county of Lancashire.

Records show that Iveson is Mitt Romney's fourth cousin - they share a great-great-great grandfather, George Romney, who died in 1859. And now she can't help but notice that her distant American relative does bear a striking family resemblance.

"I saw him on the telly twice the other day, last week I think. He looks a bit like my brother," said Iveson, a retired factory worker, most of whose children have no jobs.

The county of Lancashire, where Romney has his roots, is also the site of Europe's biggest Mormon church, Preston England Temple.

When Romney came to Britain in July this year, he did not visit the place where his family originates - unusual, since emphasising European heritage is often seen as an electoral plus in U.S. politics.

But for Romney his faith and English origins remain a sensitive issue, partly because his Mormon religion is still regarded with suspicion by some American voters.

Romney's known relatives in England are genealogically so far removed that many of them were not even aware of the link until recently when the U.S. election campaign began to gather pace.

Amateur genealogist Simon Nash (left) was astonished to discover while digging into regional records that his wife Maria (centre) was Mitt Romney's fourth cousin twice removed.

Maria, 32, was equally astounded by her husband's research.

"I was very much shocked ... It still feels like ... it's not quite happening to (me)," said Maria, who is Jennie Iveson's granddaughter. "It's quite an unreal feeling."

Would she like to meet Romney in the White House? "I think it would be very surreal," she said with a shy giggle. "I would like to go there for a brew (cup of tea) if he ever got in there."

The Romney family's humble origins in Dalton, where the clan is still remembered as hard-working carpenters, contrasts with the current profile of Mitt Romney, who is one of the wealthiest Americans ever to run for the White House. The presidential candidate has estimated his fortune at between $190 million and $250 million.

But Romney’s roots in Dalton are not entirely without social cache. The town’s most famous son was George Romney, who went to London and became one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the 18th century. He is also said to have had a secret affair with the mistress of Lord Nelson, the naval hero who defeated the French at Trafalgar.

The sun shines on the gravestone of George Romney, who was buried in the churchyard of St Mary's parish church - where Mitt Romney's great-great grandparents were baptised and married before converting to the Mormon faith in 1837 and moving to the United States.

Mormons attend a service at a church beside the Preston England Temple in Lancashire, where the history of the Mormon religion played a vital role in Romney’s family story; early Mormon missionaries here, at the time when Romney’s relatives converted, offered not only salvation but a free ticket to the United States.

In his autobiography, Mitt Romney said the family left England for New Orleans and travelled by steamer up the Mississippi to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they joined other Mormons. Later they followed Mormons in a trek across the plains to Utah. "Romneys are, by nature, an adventurous breed," he wrote.

The area is still very much the heartland of the British Mormon community. The Ribble, a local river, is known as the River Jordan of European Mormonism. This is where England's early Mormons were baptised. A memorial near its muddy bank commemorates those early conversions.

"The missionaries that we see coming from America will have roots that originated here in England," said Bishop Michael Turner, leader of a local Mormon congregation. "It's an exciting time ... to have a candidate who is a member of the church."