Another member of the family to gain distinction was Charles Wake, second son of the tenth Baronet; he was an Admiral in the Royal Navy.
Legend states this family to be descended from the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Hereward the Wake (died c.1072).
This legend has been examined by various genealogists, unfavourably by Horace Round[4][5] but favourably by Sir Iain Moncreiffe, who provided grounds for considering it to be accurate.
[6] The Wake family of Lincolnshire claimed descent from Hereward's daughter Turfrida[7] (by his second wife Alftruda)[8] who married Hugh d'Envermeu, founder of Wilsford Priory in Lincolnshire, by whom she was the mother of Godiva d'Envermeu, who married Richard de Rullos.
The heir apparent to the baronetcy is the current holder's eldest son, John Hereward Wake (born 1978).