Hospital porter discovered he's a descendant of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror Jon Blackmore, 47, has spent five years researching his genealogy Southend Hospital worker believes he has family links to Henry VIII Alfred the Great is his great-grandfather going back 34 generations William the Conqueror meanwhile can be found 27 generations back A hospital porter has discovered he can boast kings, queens and conquerors in his family tree. Jon Blackmore, of Shoeburyness, Essex, believes he is a direct descendant of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror - and has family links to royalty including King Henry VIII. The 47-year-old exhibited his 12,000-name family tree - thought to be one of the largest ever documented - which he has been compiling with partner Tracy at his workplace, Southend Hospital. Research: Jon Blackmore, of Shoeburyness, Essex, believes he is a direct descendant of Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror, and has family links to royalty including King Henry VIII Discoveries: Mr Blackmore has found that Alfred the Great (left) is his great-grandfather going back 34 generations, while William the Conqueror (right) can be found 27 generations back Mr Blackmore has found that Alfred the Great is his great-grandfather going back 34 generations, while William the Conqueror can be found 27 generations back. Richard I is his great uncle going back 23 generations, Henry VIII is his 7th cousin 15 times removed and Richard III is his fifth cousin 20 times removed. Remarkably, the tree goes back to 519AD, starting with King Cedric, who reigned from 519AD to 534AD. Mr Blackmore said: "I've always been interested in history anyway, but it's fascinating to see my relatives" occupations, where they lived and who they married. Project: The 47-year-old exhibited his 12,000-name family tree - thought to be one of the largest ever documented - which he has been compiling with partner Tracy at his workplace, Southend Hospital Born 938 years apart: Mr Blackmore (left) and William the Conqueror's death mask in the Tower of London Close-up: This is one section of the family tree on display, which has Mr Blackmore at the bottom in red You never know who you could come across. I come from a humble working-class background in Liverpool. Little did I know I'd end up related to royalty. Relative: Henry VIII is 47-year-old Mr Blackmore's 7th cousin 15 times removed You learn about all these famous names in history at school and you never think they could be part of your own family history. Mr Blackmore became interested in genealogy around five years ago, and was amazed where his research took him. He said: "My mother-in-law had been doing her own family tree for a few years, so I asked if she could do a little bit of investigating for me. We came across my great, great grandfather, John Blackmore, who was a surgeon dentist. We went looking to see if he had written any papers in dentistry and we couldn't find anything. But we came across a website my cousin Roy Blackmore - who I didn't even know existed - had created about some of my family tree. Mr Blackmore contacted his cousin, who lives in Taunton, Somerset, to find out if the two were related. He went to visit him soon after, and asked if he could take over the research. He said: "His son and daughter weren't really interested and he's not well enough to do it now. I was really shocked to learn about all the royalty linked to the family and the sheer amount of names on there, which are all linked through my father's side of the family. It's taken about 28 years to compile it all - and more than £30,000. Most of it was compiled by Roy, and I'm still working on it now. We're currently trying to get a link back to Constantine I, who was a Roman emperor. After exhibiting the family tree at the hospital, Mr Blackmore and his 48-year-old partner now hope to take it around schools in the local area.