Top 10 Most Emotional Reveals on Who Do You Think You Are

YouTuber Joe Sugg wanted to find out how his family ended up in Jersey, since generations of them lived there – though he grew up in Wiltshire. In the 1700s, his family were middle class protestants working a respectable profession but fled France to go to Jersey because of sectarian conflict. Sugg discovered that his ancestors were trying to escape religious persecution after King Louis XIV made it illegal to be a protestant. They took the brave choice to break the law and go on the run after years of oppression, and succeeded, making it to Jersey. It’s a harrowing piece of history that often goes forgotten.

Radio DJ Chris Moyles traced his family history to Southampton, but the shocks didn’t stop there. He eventually tracked his ancestors Annie and Hannah Nelson to Dublin and found out that Annie was living in South Dublin Union Workhouse. He visits the site of the workhouse with an Irish historian. Annie ended up in the workhouse hospital after being admitted with TB, separated from her children to try and stop them from contracting it as well. Eventually, he finds Annie’s death certificate; it turned out that she’d been moved from the workhouse to another hospital where she succumbed to the TB. At the time, his grandmother was only six.

Sheridan Smith was horrified to find out that her ancestor Benjamin Doubleday had been arrested on suspicion of arson and fraud. After initially feeling an affinity with Doubleday because of his showbiz career, as he came from a long line of performing banjo players, this was a gut punch. She learned that his wife had left him and taken all the furniture from the pub he was trying to operate, with the lack of furniture making it look like he’d burned the pub down on purpose to claim the insurance. A court case ensued where ultimately, Benjamin’s name was cleared, but Sheridan was moved to tears learning about his journey.

More dark history; in this shocking segment, comedian Joe Lycett learned the harsh realities of life for chimney sweeps. Upon finding out that his great-great-grandfather Robert was a sweep, he goes to find out more about this horrific profession. Worse, Robert was employed illegally as a sweep aged ten, because he was meant to be at least sixteen to learn the trade, but boys as young as three were commonly trained up to do it even after the law changed. Lycett was brought to this stately home because it was likely that Robert was climbing up those very chimneys, all those years ago.

Television queen Davina McCall is actually half-French and wanted to learn more about her French roots during her episode. After thirty years away from her French family, she reunites with her mother’s cousin in these highly emotional scenes. She broke down in tears when they found each other again after all this time. Her relative told her that she was directly related to Célestin Hennion, an influential Frenchman who became the Prefect of Police in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. But ultimately, “Who Do You Think You Are?” isn’t about grand historical figures, it’s about those tiny moments where people get to reconnect with their family.

Olivia Colman traced her three-times great-grandmother Harriet across the world, all the way to India where she was born. In 1812, Harriet had been sent to England, but soon returned to India after inheriting three hundred pounds – a fortune back then. Harriet came to Calcutta and got married, only for her husband, William, to die after barely a year together, in an awful tragedy. The family actually lived in India for generations, after Harriet met her second husband Charles, but it must have been difficult to say goodbye to her first husband so young. Later, Colman learns about how Harriet and her mother were separated, bringing her to tears.

Heading to Malaysia, Alan Cumming wanted to find out what happened to his grandfather, who died there in 1951. He discovered that he was shot in the head and killed. His grandfather, Police Lieutenant Tom Darling, brutally enforced the law when the country was still a British colony, but was there for less than a year before his death. Cumming finds out from someone who also served in the police and still lives in Malaysia that it’s believed that Tom died playing Russian roulette. More shocking, he had a reputation for playing Russian roulette, and eventually, his luck ran out. Cumming was deeply disturbed to learn these gruesome details.

Claire Foy went to investigate an old family story that her great-great-grandfather Henry Stimpson had drowned, and found out that, sadly, it was true. While serving with the army, he’d gotten involved in a recreational race with his regiment, with many of the men crossing the River Eden. But the river was in flood and more dangerous than it looked, with three men – Henry Stimpson included – swept away by the current. Worse, she finds out that they were pulled into a whirlpool not far from where they went in, but that nobody found them before they drowned. It was a harrowing moment.

Dame Barbara Windsor found out that one of her ancestors made matchboxes and went to the East End to learn more. Much like chimney sweeps, matchgirls also worked in despicable conditions that led to serious, debilitating health issues. Working in match factories meant that people were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a condition called “phossy jaw”, where the jawbone would rot away. She found out that many matchgirls were Irish and that she may have Irish roots – which turned out to be entirely correct, her family came from Irish immigrants who left the country during the Great Famine and eventually made their home in London.

Actress Anna Maxwell Martin wanted to learn about her grandfather Maxwell Youngson, whose name she adopted for her stage name. Aged five, Maxwell was sent to an orphanage, and she wanted to know why. It turns out that Maxwell and many of his sisters were sent there because their father – Martin’s great-grandfather – was deemed to be unfit. Years later and the older sisters tried to get Maxwell removed from the orphanage so that they could look after him, but officials were resistant. Though it eventually ended with Maxwell being taken in by his sister in New Zealand, Martin broke down in tears hearing about how desperate they were to reunite. Let us know which celebrity you want to see trace their lineage on “Who Do You Think You Are?”