Top 30 Shocking Reveals on Who Do You Think You Are

Top 30 Shocking Reveals on Who Do You Think You Are?

Caitlin Johnson

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today were counting down 30 of the most shocking and surprising revelations on Who Do You Think You Are?

#30: Michelle Keegans Suffragette

During her episode, Michelle Keegan was surprised to find that her grandmothers birth had been entered into records by a registrar named E. Pankhurst. Yes, Emmeline Pankhurst herself worked in the area, and had already begun organising through the WSPU. Keegan has only one question, though: was her great-great-grandmother a suffragette? She does some more digging, learning about the militant tactics the suffragettes employed, and eventually finds out that yes, her great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Kirwan operated as a suffragette full-time. They found out because shed written it in the census as a point of protest. Of course, the suffragettes were ultimately successful, thanks to women like Elizabeth.

#29: Martin Freemans Mysterious Deaths

Shortly before his big break in Sherlock, Martin Freeman appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? to learn why he had so many missing family members, and why so some of those who survived had gone blind. He talks to a historian who reveals that there was most likely a disturbing reason for all this tragedy, though: syphilis. Syphilis was extremely common and largely incurable before the discovery of penicillin, and as well as leading to the tragic deaths of Martins ancestors, is also a likely cause of the blindness. More shocking, though, they eventually learn that Ada probably contracted it congenitally when she was born, and also years later, leading to the deaths of her own children.

#28: Joe Lycetts Chimney Sweep

Brummie comedian Joe Lycett learnt a lot during his episode, but most harrowing was this discovery that one of his ancestors was a chimney sweep. As much as you may think you know about chimney sweeps, it turns out that the truth of how they lived is even more distressing. It was extremely dangerous work that remained commonplace in Britain for hundreds of years, until eventually being abolished in the 1870s as compulsory education laws were brought in simultaneously. The most shocking moment, however, was when Lycett was told that his ancestor may have cleaned the exact chimney in the stately home he was visiting, as he worked there.

#27: Rupert Everetts Con Artist

Why did Rupert Everetts great-great-grandfather leave the country? Well, it turns out that he was caught up in a banking scandal, accused of defrauding investors by selling them shares in a silver mine. Incidents like this were far more common in the nineteenth century, and Frederick Everett was ultimately put on trial for fraud. He was eventually acquitted, but declared bankrupt, and was never able to work as a stockbroker in the City of London again. So, this fall from grace was what led Everetts great-grandfather, also called Frederick, to run away from his destitute family and go to sea.

#26: Claire Foy & a Tragic River Death

Few things are as disturbing as going to the place where one of your ancestors died, but thats what Claire Foy went through during her episode. She walked the length of a river where, during a cross-country race, there was a tragic drowning accident in which her great-great-grandfather sadly lost his life. Of sixteen men who went out on what was meant to be a simple race, two were married, and those two were, horrifically, the ones who drowned. Worse, Claire found the very spot in the river where they went in and then where the bodies were found, and realised that if anybody had been watching, they could have been rescued.

#25: Cheryls Forgotten War Hero

There were a lot of revelations in Cheryls episode, including the big, initial one that there was a secret side to her family that her mother never met. She learnt that Joseph Wilson Ridley, her great-grandfather, was a soldier, but that nobody liked to speak about him. Contacted anonymously for the programme, a relative sent a letter explaining to Cheryl that Ridley was known to be a violent drunk, and that after Ridleys first wife died  with whom he had eight children  he shacked up with somebody else, his housekeeper. His children with the housekeeper are Cheryls ancestors, and he was written off by his other family, despite his service in the war.

#24: Daniel Radcliffes Wartime Love Story

Another wartime tragedy, Daniel Radcliffe uncovered these letters between his great great uncle Ernie and his sweetheart Jeannie. Ernie and his brothers went off to fight in the war, but the letters from Ernie stopped in 1916. Tragically, despite getting married and writing home diligently, Ernie was the only one of the four McDowell brothers who died in the war. Radcliffe also reads a letter about Ernies death in which the family was informed of the details of his last moments. Its likely that most people in the UK  and, indeed, most of Europe  have family who died in the First World War. Ernie was hit with a stray shell.

#23: Rose Ayling-Elliss Nosey Neighbours

There was lots of drama in Rose Ayling-Elliss family history, which she likened to EastEnders, the show that made her famous. The first shocking moment was when Alfred Chilton, her great-great-grandfather, slapped a customer during a drunken incident. Elsewhere, though, there was a story about her family being squatters and getting into trouble, which turned out to be partially a myth. They actually werent squatting but were in bother with the neighbours for being too noisy. There was an official complaint about the children being rowdy by accidentally kicking a ball over a wall, which led to their eviction.

#22: Julie Walters Family Farms

Travelling to Ireland, Julie Walters found out a lot about her ancestors history as tenant farmers. With the whole country owned by English landowners at the time, Irish farmers were left struggling to survive and constantly under threat of eviction. But her ancestor Anthony Clarke was one of many people campaigning to get these laws changed, but then he got an assault charge after allegedly attacking a seventy-five-year-old man. The man died and Clarke was temporarily charged with murder until it was determined that hed died of a stroke. Regardless, Clarke didnt get the chance to buy his familys land before he died himself. The entire saga was shocking to unearth.

#21: Emma Williss Political Attack

Another celebrity who found out she was Irish was Emma Willis, who also went across the sea to investigate her familys connection to Irelands colonial past. She disturbingly found out that one of her ancestors was accused of attempted murder after a late-night attack on a man and his son. The motive for the crime was political, with her ancestor, Richard Fowler, a member of the Orange Order. Willis was highly unsettled upon learning the details of the violent attack, though was grateful that the victims, Michael and Thomas Egan, survived their injuries. That was despite being set upon by multiple men wielding bayonets.

#20: Lesley Garrett & the Possible Poisoning

Perhaps more shocking than the story itself was singer Lesley Garretts overjoyed reaction to the fact her great-great-grandmother died after ingesting carbolic acid. Contemporary news reports and the death certificate said that the carbolic acid, which was a commonly used disinfectant, was administered accidentally to Mary Ann Garrett. Though she only had a tablespoon of it and a doctor was sent for immediately, she died in a matter of minutes. Garrett talks to a pathologist who says that a tablespoon was more than enough, and that many people actually died the same way back when the substance was regularly kept in houses. Garrett still suspected that her great-grandad Charlie might have done it on purpose.

#19: Kate Winslets Imprisoned Relative

She headed to Sweden to learn about her ancestry on her mothers side, and her great-great-great-grandfather Anders Jonsson. But she found out not only that one of his children died young, but that in 1832, he was arrested, along with another man, for stealing barrels of potatoes. She then finds out that he was sent to prison for this, and that he sadly died in prison in a nearby castle. She goes to the castle to talk to another historian about what happened, finding out that hed stolen other things, too, including some beehives full of honey. He was sentenced to be whipped, but died when he contracted typhus before the sentence was carried out.

#18: Nigella Lawsons Vanished Family

Its no secret that Nigella Lawson, whose father was a peer in the House of Lords and whose mother was a restaurant heiress, came from money. But that isnt the entire story, as she learnt when she investigated her roots. She found that she had Dutch ancestry and a lot of Jewish ancestry, but also that her great-great-grandfather Barnett Salmon grew up in poverty. In the 1840s, Salmon and his siblings lived in a tiny house in Spitalfields, London, where multiple children died of diseases related to malnutrition and unsanitary living. She found this out after two of the children disappeared from records and she went searching for their death certificates to put the pieces together.

#17: Graham Nortons Shotgun Wedding

Norton grew up in the Republic of Ireland, but his mother was Northern Irish and had roots in Belfast. So, he headed across the border to learn about that side of the family, recalling childhood visits to Belfast during the Troubles as he went. He ran into trouble during the research, though, because his great-grandmother had recorded two different maiden names on different documents. He wanted to know why, coming to suspect that she was illegitimate, and thats why she had no father listed on her marriage certificate. But most shocking was learning that she was already eight months pregnant when she walked down the aisle.

#16: Clare Baldings Great-Grandfather

Even more aristocratic than Nigella is Clare Balding. Its true that her lineage was even more well-known before appearing on the show and can eventually be traced back to Henry VII disturbingly, through more than one close relative. But the show focused largely on investigating her great-grandfather, Sir Malcolm Bullock, to determine whether or not he was gay. Bullock was an MP between the 1920s and 1950s and there were always rumours that he was, but as Balding points out, at the time, it would have been a crime had he been discovered, and his career certainly would have ended, so it had to stay secret.

#15: Greg Davies Illegitimate Ancestor

Though he grew up in Shropshire, Greg Davies parents were both Welsh and drove him across the border so that he wouldnt be born in England. He found out that his great-grandmother hadnt been married to his great-grandfather and their kids had been born out of wedlock. She eventually took him to court to try and get the child support payments he owed her, but he didnt have any money. He kept investigating William Owen, who turned out to have trouble with drink. He was even arrested at one point for being drunk and in charge of a horse and cart, as well as once attempting to climb Mount Snowden in the middle of the night.

#14: Sarah Millican & the Pegasus Disaster

None of Millicans relatives died in the Pegasus disaster in 1843, but one ancestor, James, did work for a shipping company that employed him and others to retrieve things from shipwrecks. This included the grisly work of bringing bodies to the surface, which families of the deceased would give rewards for. The details of the disaster were harrowing, but more shocking is that an event like this could be so widely forgotten, buried in nineteenth century newspapers. She read through advertisements placed offering cash rewards for the recovery of loved ones remains in these disturbing scenes.

#13: David Tennants Orange Order Relatives

Though he believed nearly his entire family came from Scotland, Tennant went off to Northern Ireland to meet the relatives of his maternal great-grandfather after losing the trail for the Scottish side of the family. He was surprised to find out that his Northern Irish family werent only protestants, but that at least one of them had been an Orange Man, a member of the notorious Orange Order. His relatives actually gave him one of the orange sashes they had, which shocked and disturbed him. He found it hard to reconcile that his family could have belonged to the Orange Order, particularly during the Troubles.

#12: Sheridan Smith & the Alleged Arsonist

This one was full of twists and turns, as Sheridan Smith went to Sheffield to unearth her family history. She was looking for information about her great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Doubleday, whod tried to make it as a musician playing the banjo - but she found out that he had a number of suspicious arsons in his history. A pub he owned actually burned down when the building was totally empty, leading investigators to suspect it was done for the insurance, charging him for it. But she kept digging and eventually learnt that he was found not guilty, so hopefully, that verdict was correct and he didnt set the fire.

#11: Stephen Frys Wartime History

An immense tragedy was uncovered when Stephen Fry traced his roots, wanting to learn more about his Jewish heritage. It was difficult to watch him find out that some of his closest relatives, including his great-aunt, perished in Auschwitz during the war after being sent there by the Nazis. His family didnt initially know exactly what had happened to them, only that they had been taken to Auschwitz and never heard from again but presumably had died. He had an old family photograph, and it was deeply heartbreaking putting faces to the names as he goes through the list of his cousins, most of whom died within the walls of the Nazis most notorious camps.

#10: Boris Johnson is Related to King George II

As an old Etonian and Oxbridge graduate, it shouldnt really come as a surprise that Boris Johnson is posh enough to be related to royalty. But back in 2008, he was notable as one of the first celebs to find a king of England in his family tree. Turns out that Johnson is directly descended from King George II. (For those who dont know their Horrible Histories songs, he was the bad one.) King George was a Hanoverian, so an ancestor of our current royal family. That means that Boris is distantly related to the Queen, the Swedish and Dutch royals and even the Romanovs.

#9: Mark Wright Didnt Expect the Spanish Inquisition

TOWIE star, Mark Wright, has always believed that his blood was Italian. Turns out, that was a myth. The family was Spanish, hailing from Jaén in Andalusia. Mark discovered that their roots were also Jewish. The family had fled Spain to escape the Inquisition after one ancestor was burnt at the stake and another subjected to torture. The tortured man was named David Antonio. He managed to hold out long enough to convince his tormentors that he was not a practicing Jew and concocted a plan to escape the country with his family. On a lighter note, he was also a master swordsman, so Mark got to do some swashbuckling.

#8: Josh Widdicombe is Descended From Henry VIII (Possibly)

Josh Widdicombes family history journey took him back to Mary Boleyn. She was his fourteen times great grandmother, sister to Anne Boleyn and mistress of Henry VIII. Shes also the main character in The Other Boleyn Girl. Many historians believe that Katherine Knollys, Marys daughter, was also Henrys illegitimate child. Katherine is also Joshs ancestor. As the comedian was very excited to discover, this means he could be a direct descendant of Henry VIII. However, even if this is fake news, Josh still has some royal blood. On the Boleyn side he can trace his ancestry back to King Edward I. So theres a consolation prize.

#7: Jack Whitehalls Unlikeable Ancestor

Comedian and actor Jack Whitehall has made a career out of being posh. That is to say, a lot of his comedy involves poking fun at himself and his background. Taking part in Who Do You Think You Are? with his dad, Michael, Jack hoped to find some ancestors who were a bit more relatable. What he got was Thomas Jones Phillips, a lawyer and - as Jack puts it - a perennial snitch. Jones Phillips played a part in opposing the Chartists, a political group who fought for working men to have the vote. During the Newport Rising, Jacks ancestor tracked down their inspirational leader, John Frost, and turned him in for the reward. His four times great grandson was not impressed.

#6: Patrick Stewarts Father Suffered From Shell Shock

When Patrick Stewart agreed to take part in Who Do You Think You Are? he planned to find out about his fathers military service. Stewarts childhood home had been marred by domestic violence, but his memories of his father were mixed. He remembered the violent man, but also the exciting war stories his father used to tell. In this deeply personal episode, Stewart wanted to explore and understand the conflicting sides of his fathers character. Over the course of the programme, the actor discovered that his father suffered from shellshock. We would now call it PTSD. This discovery gave the actor some new insight into a man who may have been different, had he never been to war.

#5: Judi Denchs Shakespeare Connection

Judi Dench is now a familiar face on the big screen, thanks to film roles in projects such as Shakespeare in Love and Philomena. But primarily, shes a Shakespearian actress. Her first role at the Old Vic theater was playing Ophelia, in Hamlet. The play is set in Denmark, in the royal castle of Elsinore, where Ophelia lives with her father. While investigating her family history, Dame Judi was shocked to discover that she actually had an ancestor who lived in the real Danish castle. Even better, she turned out to be related to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are actual characters in the play. It was an emotional discovery for the actress and a fascinating coincidence for the viewer.

#4: Alan Cummings Grandfathers Real Cause of Death

Actor, Alan Cummings, investigated a family story that was a bit closer to home. His mothers father, Tom, was killed while serving as a police officer in Malaysia. Supposedly, a gun that he was cleaning backfired. But when Alan spoke to an old service comrade, he uncovered a different story. His grandfather died from a gun wound to the back of the head. The story was, he had been playing Russian Roulette - apparently he was a habitual player. It is suspected that his luck ran out or he got careless. Does this mean he did accidentally shoot himself? Or did someone find out he was cheating and have him killed? Either way, it wasnt the story that his grandson expected to find.

#3: Matthew Pinsent, Related toGod?

There have been a few instances of royal ancestors cropping up on Who Do You Think You Are? but the reveal during Matthew Pinsents episode is one of the most bizarre. The Olympic medalist traced his lineage back to the Plantagenet kings. He discovered that he was a direct descendant of Edward I. He was then shown an archaic scroll that follows the line of succession back even further. As the Medieval royals were keen to justify their claim to the divine right of kings, the scroll takes some unexpected turns. According to this particular document, Matthew is related to Jesus, King David, Adam and Eve and - right at the very top - God. As he says, thats pretty much as far as you can go.

#2: Ainsley Harriotts Slave Owning Ancestors

Ainsley Harriotts search took him to the Caribbean island of Jamaica, where his father grew up. Although he assumed that his ancestors had been brought to Jamaica as slaves, the TV chef was still in for an unpleasant shock. He discovered that his family name originally came from a white slave owner, his two times great grandfather, James Gordon Harriott. Ainsley visited the estate where slaves and slave owners - both his distant relatives - once lived. Good or bad, its part of my make-up. he concluded. The history of the Harriott family really encapsulates the history of the West Indies.

#1: Danny Dyers Royal Pedigree

Will there ever be an episode like this one? Professional Cockney geezer, Danny Dyer, didnt expect to find any money in his family tree. At the beginning of his journey, we didnt either. Tragic tales of poverty and the workhouse began the story, but then something remarkable happened. He hit an aristocratic line. After the first breakthrough they just keep coming. He learnt about Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII and his fifteen times great grandfather. He then followed the Seymour line (Cromwell married his son into nobility) and discovered he was directly descended from the Plantagenet kings. Among his other direct ancestors, he can count Eleanor of Aquitaine, William the Conqueror and King Louis IX, who was even canonized as a saint.

Let us know in the comments if youve ever researched your ancestry in depth.