WDYTYA? - Fearne Cotton

Fearne Cotton's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured two ancestors involved in the medical profession.

From both her maternal and paternal families, these were men who struggled through poverty to follow their desire to help those in need.

In the case of her paternal great-grandfather, this was something that led not only to work in medicine - but also to a prison cell.

Conscientious Objectors in WW1 were imprisoned and punished severely for their beliefs. For many, the stigma never left them.

Still, the coal miner from Abertillery stuck to his principles.

And he made it through. He trained as a chemist, and lived out his life in that profession.





On her mother's side, Fearne traced the life of another chemist, an Irishman who later became a doctor.

Although, 'became' indicates that he trained as a doctor... in his case, it was more like, 'decided he was a doctor, so now he was a doctor, ok?'

Still, he was apparently a skilled one!

WDYTYA? - Lulu

After a small break, Who Do You Think You Are? was back yesterday at the earlier time of 8pm.

This time around, it was the turn of singer Lulu to trace her family's roots.

Lulu focussed on her mother's side of the family - which held a lot of secrets! Her mother had been the only one of seven children to be adopted out of her birth family - and Lulu was keen to research her biological family's background.

This episode was firmly centred in Glasgow, and the city's social history.

Glasgow's history of tensions between the Protestant and Catholic communities was the curring theme here, coming up again and again.

This was a unique one though - think Romeo and Juliet meets Peaky Blinders!

Sometimes fact is truly stranger than fiction.

WDYTYA? - Emma Willis

The last episode of Who Do You Think You Are? before the series takes a short break next week featured Emma Willis.

Emma is a presenter, known for her work on The Voice and Big Brother, as well as being married to Busted/McBusted member Matt Willis.

WDYTYA? is notorious for tears - very few people get away with dry eyes.

So when, within the first five minutes, Emma was already letting slip the odd tear, I did worry for a while! Luckily, Emma held up a lot better than I thought she would!

Emma's story focussed on two aspects - her Birmingham family, and an Irish line of her family.

The Irish line, in turn, split into two lines - a Catholic side, and a Protestant side.

The Protestant side of the family held tales of wealthy land-owners.

Unfortunately, it also reflected the cruelty and harshness of Ireland's colonial and sectarian-strife-riddled past.

It can be difficult to find things in your family which you'd rather you hadn't known. But it can be so rewarding to learn about and understand the past through a personal lens.

And you will always find good people in your family somewhere!

Who Do You Think You Are? returns in a few weeks, and I'll be back then with more little write-ups! :)