Shaughnessy in 2006, photo by Prphotos.com
Birth Name: Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy
Place of Birth: Hammersmith, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 9 February, 1955
Ethnicity: English, at least 1/8 Irish, distant Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, remote Welsh
Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy, is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He is known for his role as Maxwell Sheffield on the sitcom The Nanny.
Charles is the son of television writer Alfred “Freddy” Shaughnessy and actress Jean Lodge. His brother, David Shaughnessy, is also an actor, and a television producer and director. He is married to Susan Fallender with whom he has two children.
Charles is a 2nd cousin, five times removed, of U.S. President James Knox Polk. Charles’s paternal 6th great-grandparents, William Polk II and Margaret Nancy Taylor, were also President Polk’s paternal great-grandparents.
Charles’ paternal grandfather was the Hon. Alfred Thomas Shaughnessy (the son of Thomas George Shaughnessy, 1st Baron Shaughnessy and Elizabeth Bridget Nagle). Alfred was killed in March 1916 serving with the 60th Canadian Infantry. Charles’s great-grandfather Thomas was the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, and was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Irish Catholic parents from Killeedy, County Limerick, Lt. Tom Shaughnessy and Mary Kennedy.
Charles’ paternal grandmother was Sarah Polk Legh (Sarah Polk Bradford, the daughter of James C. Bradford and Sarah Polk Jones). Sarah re-married to the Hon. Sir Piers “Joey” Legh, who was equerry to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) and master of the household to George VI. Charles’ great-grandmother Sarah was the daughter of Capt. Robin Allen Cadwallader Jones and Sarah Rachel Polk.
Charles’ paternal four times great-grandfather, Colonel William Polk, was a North Carolina banker, educational administrator, political leader, renowned Continental officer in the War for American Independence, Charles’ paternal 5th great-grandfather, Thomas Polk, was a planter, military officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1781, and a politician. Other members of Polk family were also politically involved. Another one of Charles’ distant forebears, John Donelson, was a frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner and explorer, who co-founded the city of Nashville, Tennessee. He was also the father-in-law of U.S. President Andrew Jackson, and the ancestor of several political figures from Donelson family.
Charles’ maternal grandparents’ surnames are likely Lodge and Haylock.
Sources: Genealogy of Charles Shaughnessy (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Obituary of Charles’ father – https://www.theguardian.com
Genealogy of Charles’ father – https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com
Genealogy of Charles’ paternal grandmother, Sarah Polk Bradford (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://wc.rootsweb.com
Genealogy of Charles’ paternal great-great-grandparents, Capt. Robin Allen Cadwallader Jones and Sarah Rachel Polk – https://www.findagrave.com