'He looks like our Mike': Mitt Romney's unlikeliest fans... his relatives from the North of England

• Romney did not visit his family when he came to Britain in July
• His distant cousins live in terraced houses and some are unemployed
• Romney is one of the wealthiest Americans to enter the presidential race
• His English relatives say they would love to meet for a cup of tea
• His great-great grandparents converted to Mormonism and moved to the US in 1837

By Emma Reynolds

Published: 10:20 EDT, 8 October 2012 | Updated: 07:05 EDT, 9 October 2012

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has some unexpected roots, it has been revealed - his ancestors were carpenters in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria.

The family of the former Massachusetts governor lived in England's industrial northwest for generations before converting to Mormonism and heading for the New World.

Romney is one of the wealthiest Americans ever to run for the White House and has estimated his fortune at between $190million and $250m.

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British connections: Mitt Romney, left, has family in the north of England while President Barack Obama, right, last year visited an Irish village where one of his forebears once lived

Before we were Mormons: Romney's ancestors lived in Dalton-in-Furness before moving to the US in 1837

Many of his remaining family in Britain's rainy north, however, are factory workers or unemployed.

Jennie Iveson, a 69-year-old widow who lives in a modest home in Barrow-in-Furness, the shipyard town once at the heart of Britain's industrial revolution, said: 'It's all come out of the blue.

'It's a surprise really. Big surprise.'

Her link to Romney came to light when her grandson-in-law began tracing their family history by delving into archives in their home county of Lancashire two weeks ago.

Records show that Mrs Iveson is Mitt Romney's fourth cousin - they share a great-great-great grandfather, George Romney, who died in 1859. Now she can't help but notice that her distant American relative bears 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 Mrs Iveson, a retired factory worker, most of whose children have no jobs.

'[My brother] looks quite like him. He had dark hair like him. It's all grey now. He (Romney) looks like our Mike. Same sort of face and everything.'

Distant cousins: Jennie Iveson, a former factory worker, said she believes the wealthy American looks like her brother

Cuppa and a catch-up, Mitt? Simon Nash, his wife Maria and their 12-year-old daughter Sarah at their home in Preston, northern England. Mrs Nash is Romney's fourth cousin, twice removed

She shrugs and smiles when asked about Romney's privileged status in the US, where he is sometimes accused by critics of being out of touch with poor people. 'I wish him luck and everything else,' she said.

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

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

Barack Obama, who faces Romney in the November 6 presidential election, went down well last year when he toured an Irish village where one of his forebears once lived - despite being born in Hawaii himself.

Romney's campaign spokeswoman made no comment when asked how the Republican challenger felt about his English origins.

In Lancashire, the county the candidate's ancestors left behind, Romney enthusiasts offered their own explanation.

'He is Mormon and this is Mormon central,' said Christopher Nelson, a local vicar with an interest in Romney's heritage. 'Perhaps he would perceive (coming here) as highlighting his Mormonism more than highlighting his roots.'

Amateur genealogist Simon Nash was astonished to discover while digging into regional records recently that his wife Maria - Mrs Iveson's granddaughter - was Romney's fourth cousin twice removed.

Humble origins: A sign for Romney Road in Dalton-in-Furness, where relatives of the Republican candidate were born and bred in the 18th and 19th century

Poring over archival material at his home in the industrial city of Preston, Mr Nash, whose day job involves dressing in a duck outfit and posing as a mascot for a local football team, more interested in US politics.

'If he got in, America would be a completely different place in three years time to what it is now,' he said. 'I don't know if it will be for the better.'

Mrs Nash, 32, was equally astounded by his research.

'I was very much shocked ... It still feels like... it's not quite happening to (me),' she said. 'It's quite an unreal feeling.'

She said meeting Romney in the White House would be 'surreal', but she 'would like to go there for a brew if he ever got in there.'

The village of Dalton-in-Furness, a picturesque scattering of mediaeval cottages, is where the Romney clan began.

Hidden past: Romney did not visit the area his family are from when he came to Britain in July

One of his ancestors was carpenter William Romney, who gained notoriety for making his own coffin and putting it on display in his workshop before he died in 1915.

'I get the impression that quite a few Romneys were carpenters. It seems to be a family trait,' said Jim Walton, a Dalton historian, outside a canary-yellow cottage where William Romney used to live and work.

'Should Mitt Romney succeed and become the next president of the United States, he would be able to look around in pride and say: "My great-great-granddad came from Dalton-in-Furness". Well, I hope he can say that in pride.'

Another famous son in the family was George Romney, who went to London and became one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the 18th century.

Who do you think you are? An original baptism record shows details of some of the presidential candidate's relatives in what was then Lancashire

Two streets and a park are named after the artist, who is said to have had a secret affair with the mistress of Lord Nelson, the naval hero who defeated the French at Trafalgar.

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

Their daughter Sarah's baptism record from the year before is still in the archives in Preston, with her father's vocation - joiner - scribbled in an old parish book.

'It's a fascinating story that Dalton holds,' said Reverend Alan Mitchell, gazing over the town's skyline from the top of a church tower - a view that has changed little since Romneys lived here.

Pointing at a couple of old communion cups, he added: 'The Romneys could have touched these.'

At the time, Lancashire was a tough, polluted and chaotic place to live, and disease and drunkenness were rife. Mormon promises of a better and more orderly life fell on fertile ground.

'It was a grimy, mucky hell on earth,' said Nelson, the vicar. 'Why on earth you would want to stay here, if somebody tells you there is milk and honey elsewhere? It was a horrible place.'

VIDEO: Meet Mitt Romney's fourth cousins from England!