Latest news with #genealogy
Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Times
My grandfather wasn't who I thought — now I'm retracing his footsteps
Fordington in Dorchester is little changed since local Thomas Hardy hymned the 'intra-mural squeeze' of its passageways and thatched cottages with their eaves 'thrust against the church tower'. Today the centre of the action in this bucolic spot is Bean on the Green, a vintage-styled café where tables spill onto the slopes of the green and a board advertises Dorset Pilates, oat lattes and afternoon teas. Apart from that, it's the same sleepy scene a man named Bernard Sheppard strolled through in December 1944, before boarding a steam train for Penzance and a fateful tryst with my grandmother Virginia. Five million Britons have taken a DNA heritage test since 23andMe launched the first genetic home-testing kits in the UK in 2014. Many of these curious souls have been rewarded with a genealogical shock, in the form of a'non-paternity event', or NPE. The International Society of Genetic Genealogy estimates that 1-2 per cent of contemporary Britons have an unexpected father, with these numbers rising to 10 per cent at grandfather level. The travel companies Ancestral Footsteps, run by the former BBC Who Do You Think You Are? genealogist Sue Hills; Ireland's Roots Revealed; and Kensington Tours (which teams up with genealogists from Ancestry Pro on its Personal Heritage Journey packages) have crowded into the market, using clients' DNA results to offer tailored 'roots tours'. These tours explore clients' ancestors' lives by, for example, taking them for a pint at a forebear's local boozer; visiting the cemeteries she or he is buried in; or peering at homes they inhabited. These can be self-guided, or with a professional genealogist in tow. My own DNA detective journey began in 2019, at the age of 42, whenI took a DNA heritage test through Ancestry DNA (spitting into a vial and posting it off). Soon after receiving my results, I was contacted by Kevin, a sixtysomething from Texas who ventured that I might be his close genetic relative. A second surprise email arrived, this time from Beverly, a 69-year-old based in knew she had been adopted in Dorchester in 1955 and that I was her close relative; either her first cousin or half-niece. 'I wonder if the family knows about me …' she wrote, searchingly. Thus began a quest that led to the discovery my father's father was not, as I'd believed, a mild-mannered Brummie butcher named Sidney (I grew up in Birmingham), but a brewery worker from Dorset who had fathered at least ten children in his colourful life. These children included my dad, Ken, and Beverly, who was adopted. After we followed the DNA trail to its only plausible conclusion, Kevin, Bernard's nephew, wrote: 'Bernard was charming, but I'm afraid was a known rogue.' I planned my trip from my home in Lewes, East Sussex, to Bernard's home town, Dorchester, with the help of genealogists from AncestryPro, professional genealogy arm. As far as surprise ancestral homes go, I had struck lucky. The Dorset market town retains many of the features of Bernard's day, from the grassy adumbrations of the old Roman amphitheatre at Maumbury Rings, where I enjoyed a spectral sunrise jog, to the High Street's lofty Georgian townhouses (many still going by their Victorian names), and the red-brick muscularity of the Eldridge Pope brewery, where census records located Bernard working as a cashier totting up the sales of its 'celebrated strong ales' in 1939. These days the site is a glossy Dorchester restaurant and shopping district, Brewery Square, and the old 'bonded store' where Bernard dispatched brews on the train to London has been reborn as an industrial-chic tapas and cocktail joint. The genealogist Simon Pearce says the UK makes for rich rewards for DNA sleuths. 'There's plenty left to see: cemeteries, churches your ancestors attended, former homes that are still standing.' Pearce has a special interest in family history during the wars and says that as far as DNA big reveals go, my story is run-of-the-mill. 'The Second World War saw young people called up and sent across the country and to the other side of the world,' he says. 'It also brought well-dressed American and Canadian servicemen to the UK at the same time as life was unpredictable and people, rightly, feared they might die tomorrow.' Little wonder, then, that shock parenting events, as well as divorces, spiked in the 1940s. • Read our full guide to Dorset I'm staying at the King's Arms, a Georgian coaching inn that was recently renovated by the boutique hotel group Stay Original. The group's managing director, Rob Greacen, gives me a tour of the hotel's unearthed original features: the 17th-century posts that led to the inn's stables, a 16th-century inner room and a 1950 restaurant menu that was discovered tucked in a wall cavity and is now framed in the hotel's smart, American-style bar. The menu advertises steamed chicken with mushroom sauce and boiled potatoes with a choice of fruit jelly or sprats on toast for dessert, which Greacen agrees doesn't sound like the sort of fare to put lead in a philanderer's pencil. These days the King's Arms is a more toothsome proposition, with gourmet à la carte breakfasts including local smoked trout omelette Arnold Bennett and, in its smarter double rooms, freestanding bathtubs commanding the old Georgian bay windows. The next morning I stroll around Victorian Borough Gardens, where, in Bernard's day, brass bands would have blasted out rousing tunes from an ornate painted bandstand. Then I head on to the Shire Hall Museum, a preserved Georgian courtroom and jail that's now a tribute to the lowly souls who passed through its notorious docks, from the Tolpuddle Martyrs to children imprisoned for infractions such as stealing vegetables. It stands as a timely reminder, not to romanticise the routinely hard-knock lives of those who went before us. • 19 of the best UK pubs with rooms Back in the King's Arms, a smoking room occupies the spot where wagon wheels and horses' hoofs would have clattered through the gates of this ancient wayfarers inn. I dine here on crispy Dorset coast fish, a dish Bernard might have recognised, although the wild garlic aïoli and samphire might have confused a 1940s lad (mains from £18). Time moves on, and lemon posset with pumpkin seed biscotti finds favour over fried sprats for pud. After a week on the DNA trail, I think I've cleared up the mystery of how Virginia and Bernard met, with local records showing Bernard's family link to generations of sailors who lived between Weymouth and Sennen Cove, a few miles from Virginia's native Pendeen. I'll never know the full truth about Bernard and Virginia's rendezvous, though I feel this mission has given me a fresh appreciation of our emotionally open — and gastronomically improved — modern times. I also have a sense of my secret grandfather's life from the houses, streets and pubs he passed through. Here's to you, Grandad, you old rogue. This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue Sally Howard was a guest of Discover Dorchester ( and the King's Arms, which has room-only doubles from £150 a night ( Curated DNA heritage tours from Ancestry Pro and Kensington Tours start from £276 (
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Will Young makes the shock discovery he's related to King Edward I as he breaks down in tears over his late grandfather
Will Young has revealed that he's a distant relative of British royalty. The Pop Idol star, 46, was left stunned by the discovery, which features in an upcoming episode of Who Do You Think You Are?. In the episode, Will learns that Edward I is his 20 times great grandfather, with the monarch ruling from 1272 to 1307. After discovering the royal link, Will says: 'No? Edward the First! No? You are joking? You have made it up. That's unbelievable. This is just amazing. 'I cannot believe it. It is wonderful. Being related to a king, will it change my behaviour? I mean the short answer is Yes. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'What you are beholding is essentially a future despot. You see Mr Nice Guy. Now get ready for Mr Nasty.' The royal link is revealed at the very end of the episode, which sees Will learn about his 18 times great grandfather was Hugh Le Despenser, considered one of the most prominent political figures of the 14th Century. Hugh and his wife Eleanor de Clare were nobles during Edward II's reign, with the latters mother being Joan of Acre, The Countess of Hertford and Gloucester. Joan's parents were King Edward I and his first wife Eleanor of Castile, making Eleanor de Clare the granddaughter of King Edward I. Hugh became a key political figure in the King's Court, and in 1318 he was appointed the King's Chamberlain, becoming known for his evil and greedy reputation. After England was invaded in 1326, Hugh was captured and beheaded. Will said: 'I don't think he deserves it from me but I might offer up an apology to the people that he harmed. 'So I have an 18 times great grandfather and I didn't know I was related to him and he is so well known in late medieval history as being an evil person. 'He changed the shape and direction of the country during his time. I suppose that counts for something. At least he made his mark. 'I have learned about a man who has done horrific things in his life yet through his wife's connections in her family, they are kind of erasing history in a way like.. yeah it's alright you can still have a tomb. It is almost propaganda isn't it?' During the episode, Will also learns about his more recent family history, including his late grandfather. Digby Young became a prisoner of war during the Second World War, but knew little else about his life as he passed away before Will was born. Will discovers that Digby, a bomber pilot, was hit by fire and suffered engine failure, survived and was taken as a prisoner to the Luftwaffe-run camp, in Poland. After the war ended, the British servicement marched through the winter, with Digby using 'alcohol and a few kitchen knives' to amputate a Nazi soldier's leg when they developed frostbite, according to a fellow Prison of War's account. Will breaks down in tears as he reflected on his grandfather's life, saying: 'There is a sadness that comes with it, is that I think he was perceived as a bit of a loser after the war, by some of the family, this is the proper telling of a really decent man.' 'An extraordinary man, I don't think has passed down to me through my father, and hasn't for my father.' 'So this means so much to me and my dad, sorry, I feel quite emotional about it.' Will went onto reveal that he has had a tattoo of plane and Digby's squadron number to remember him. It comes after Will revealed he is 'enjoying dating again' and has 'rediscovered his libido' during an intimate chat on Jamie Laing's Great Company Podcast. The Pop Idol star who came out as gay publicly in 2002 age 23 at the time, said he was always afraid of falling in love again, in case he got his heart broken. But the hitmaker has now shared he is 'met someone really nice' and is having fun 'opening his heart' up again. Will - who just released his ninth album Light It Up - said: 'I am dating someone quite nice at the moment, which, by the way, is quite a new experience for me because I have a very closed heart in relationships. 'So, [relationships] have not been a pleasure for me at all.' 'Are you a sexual person?', Jamie asked. Will replied: 'Oh I love sex, I have rediscovered it again. I had a bit of a drought but we all do. The libido is back!' The singer also admitted he is 'dreadful' in relationships because of past heartbreak that has caused him to shut off. He said: 'Give me something to be successful at and I'll knock it out of the park but relationships are my kryptonite because my heart has been closed. 'I think my heart is opening, which is quite a new experience for me… which is nice at age 45. I am enjoying dating for the first time.' Will also shared that being alone has helped him find happiness within himself, rather than staying in a 'lonely' relationship. He added: 'The real thing is, you've got to be happy with yourself and that has taken me a long time. 'There's nothing more lonely than being in the wrong relationship. That is the loneliest place in the world.'
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Will Young becomes tearful after discovering grandfather was not a ‘loser'
Singer and actor Will Young became tearful when he found out that his grandfather was not a 'loser', as had been the belief by some in his family. The 46-year-old knew that Digby Young was a prisoner of war during the Second World War, after moving from Australia, but did not know many details of his life before taking part in BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? To trace his history, he first speaks to his Aunt Wiggy who says her father died as a teenager, and remembers him as a kind man who was looked down on by some. Later Young discovers that Digby, a bomber pilot, was hit by fire and suffered engine failure, survived and was taken as a prisoner to the Luftwaffe-run camp, Stalag Luft III, in German-occupied Poland. As the war ended, the British servicemen were marched in winter, and when a Nazi guard got frostbite, Digby used 'alcohol and a few kitchen knives' for an amputation, according to a fellow PoW's account. Young said his grandfather saving the life of his captor, makes him a 'very remarkable man', adding: 'There is a sadness that comes with it, is that I think he was perceived as a bit of a loser after the war, by some of the family, this is the proper telling of a really decent man.' '(An) extraordinary, man, I don't think has passed down to me through my father, and hasn't for my father,' he also said, breaking down. 'So this means so much to me and my dad, sorry, I feel quite emotional about it.' Young also said he feels 'like (family) history has been a bit unkind to him, so it's nice that history is being kind'. His grandfather escaped because the Russian head of a camp 'liked his liquor', and was bribed with a Rolex watch, and Digby was able to take off with a friend on a bike to where the American soldiers were. After the war, he was a Squadron Leader flying jets, which Young says 'makes me really happy, because I think he really did find his vocation'. 'It's completely not how I saw him at all,' he added. 'I didn't know he went on to do any of this.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Will Young (@willyoungofficial) 'Now I feel like I've got another grandfather,' he added. 'I didn't feel like I had a right, really, to claim another grandfather, because I didn't know him. 'All he was was a picture and an early death, of which it was potentially quite sad circumstances. And now the picture and the death is not even part of his story.' Later he shared that he got a tattoo of a plane and Digby's squadron number to remember him. Young also learns from a historian that he is related to Colonel Sir Aretas William Young, who was named the protector of slaves in Guyana and was fired after a 'pretty damning' report on his prejudice, and later a governor of Prince Edward Island in Canada. He also discovers his relation to Hugh Despenser, an adviser to King Edward II, who was executed as a traitor after greedily seizing land in South Wales, and becoming one of the richest men at the time, and Edward I. The singer called it one of the most 'soul nourishing experiences I've ever had, I didn't expect it, my 20 times great-grandfather was Edward I, that's just bonkers, and then we move to the man, the myth, the legend, the horror that is Hugh Le Despenser, who's just an absolute monster of a man'. Young has scored four UK number one singles and four UK number one albums since winning Pop Idol during its inaugural series in 2002. He has authored two books about mental health and sexuality, appeared on The Masked Singer and Strictly Come Dancing and been nominated for an Olivier Award for the musical Cabaret. Young's episode airs on June 3 on BBC One at 9pm.
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Five living descendants of Leonardo discovered
One is an amateur inventor, one is an artist, and another a keen welder. While they all share the traits of one of their most famous ancestors, the Vincis of northern Italy lived for years without knowledge of their rich family heritage. Until now. A team of Italian scholars and scientists believe they have traced back the family of Leonardo Da Vinci to 1331, just before the bubonic plague arrived in Italy. Using bone fragments from the Leonardo's family burial tomb in the Church of Santa Croce in the town of Vinci, they have now formally identified at least five heirs of the great inventor. The five men – still living in Tuscany not far from Leonardo's home town – all have DNA that matches segments of the Y chromosome from the bone. And though they may never become as famous as their genealogical forefather, they appear to share some of the investor's quirks and passions. The oldest of the five living heirs, Dalmazio Vinci, 89, has a passion for flight that began with building model aeroplanes, leading him to eventually gain a pilot's licence. He later built some of the first go-karts in Italy using lawnmower engines and would go on to invent new aeroplane propeller and ship refrigerator systems, but never ended up successfully patenting anything. Mauro Vinci, 79, is an artisan whose fine tapestry work adorned beds for a number of famous people, including Vladimir Putin. 'At the end of the day, you investigate and investigate and well, they figured it out, and it is a great satisfaction,' Mauro told Repubblica TV. Bruno Vinci, 81, who long worked as a metal mechanic, recalled that his father and aunts were convinced of the ancestral tie and for years sought to prove it in vain with ancestral manuscripts. 'I have been asked so many times – sometimes just to tease – so are you a descendent of Leonardo Da Vinci? But in the end, it turned out to be true,' said Giovanni Vinci, a retired technician who worked in a municipal engineering office. 'I wrote my first words backwards' Milko Vinci, 49, the youngest of the five, apparently shares a physical trait that can be linked to genetic continuity of the Da Vinci male line. 'I was born left-handed, and wrote my first words backwards, and since I was little I have loved to take things apart to see how they work,' Milkosaid, jokingly adding that to say 'just like Leonardo would be a big overstatement'. A team of researchers, historians, molecular biologists and forensic anthropologists have been painstakingly tracing Leonardo Da Vinci's family ancestry for years. The result is an elaborate family tree going back 21 generations and involving more than 400 individuals dating back to 1331. Leonardo died in 1519 and had no children himself, but is believed to have had 22 half-siblings. The research appears to have identified 15 direct male-line descendants of Leonardo's father. The research also suggests Leonardo's mother, Caterina, may have been a slave trafficked from Eastern Europe. Launched in 2016, the project involves a number of major public and private partners in Italy and the US and was coordinated by The Rockefeller University. The researchers had one major goal: to trace the Y chromosome, which is passed unchanged from father to son. 'Our goal in reconstructing the Da Vinci family's lineage up to the present day, while also preserving and valuing the places connected to Leonardo, is to enable scientific research on his DNA,' said Alessandro Vezzosi. 'Through the recovery of Leonardo's DNA, we hope to understand the biological roots of his extraordinary visual acuity, creativity, and possibly even aspects of his health and causes of death.' 'Even a tiny fingerprint on a page could contain cells to sequence,' says Jesse H. Ausubel of The Rockefeller University, who wrote the book's preface and directs the project. '21st-century biology is moving the boundary between the unknowable and the unknown. Soon we may gain information about Leonardo and other historical figures once believed lost forever.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Awful freak accident that killed 'Rothschild heir' at Los Angeles home revealed
A man who claimed to be an heir to the Rothschild banking dynasty died in a blaze that ripped through his Los Angeles home after suffering a stroke while cooking. William Alexander de Rothschild, 87, was found in an 'unrecognizable condition' following the fire at his $1million Laurel Canyon house in November. Officials ruled de Rothschild, who told his neighbors he was from the prestigious family, had been in the kitchen when he suffered the medical emergency. Soot was found in his airway and an elevated amount of carbon monoxide indicate that he was alive for some time after the fire had started, officials ruled. According to the report his official cause of death is hypertensive cardiovascular disease, with smoke inhalation being a contributory fact. His passing was ruled as an accident. Despite his remarks to his neighbors and his surname, he did not appear anywhere on the storied family's official genealogical records and his brother has since identified him as William Alfred Kauffman. Kauffman changed his name in a petition to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1985, records show. In his application, he told the judge: 'I want to take my family name, that I prefer to Kauffman, it would simplify my life greatly, taking the name from my mothers side'. The name change was granted and Kauffman became de Rothschild for the remainder of his days. Speaking with in March, his younger brother Richard revealed that he had no contact with his brother until after his death. 'Oh, boy! This is a really bizarre story,' he said. 'For 40 to 50 years I had no contact with my brother so I just accepted that he had died from some sort of illness. And then I got that phone call.' He was told by a reporter at the Los Angeles Times last year that a wealthy man by the name of Rothschild had died in a November house fire in Laurel Canyon, a haven for the city's artists and musicians since the 1960s. Might this man be his long lost brother? Richard knew his brother as William Kauffman, who had disappeared after telling his family he was leaving their home state of Oregon for LA to pursue his passion for art. So it made sense he'd be living in an artsy Los Angeles idyll, in a $1.2million hillside home adorned by a fleet of rare cars. William had always been obsessed with cars, and the victim was in his eighties, so the timeline added up too. But officials had identified the dead man as William de Rothschild, who claimed to be part of the prominent Rothschild banking family. Richard knew of no family connection to the Rothschilds, so why was his missing brother posing as one? In disbelief, he fixated on the memory of their unforgettable final conversation, which had been ricocheting through his mind all those years. 'He seemed like he wanted to tell me something else but he was holding back. We had a couple of phone calls after he moved to Los Angeles and then he just disappeared,' Richard said. 'But the last call, I remember, was so strange because it sounded like he wanted to say something, but he never did. We hung up and I never heard from him again.' The Rothschild connection perplexed him. The secretive Rothschild dynasty had the world's largest private fortunes in the 19th century. Their golden era dwindled in the 20th century, but surviving family members still possess substantial fortunes. Over the years, the name has been used by many imposters who have taken advantage of their mystique. But the case of the man who died in a fire at his Los Angeles home may be one of the strangest. Neighbors said the man they knew as De Rothschild had told them he was a member of the prestigious European family, whose fortune is worth billions of dollars. However, he did not appear anywhere on the storied family's official genealogical records. Neighbors, who lived next to De Rothschild on Lookout Mountain Avenue, also said he was a 'nice, good-looking older gentleman', who always dressed impeccably and had classic cars parked around his hillside home. They said he was a quiet man and had a dog but no one had seen him or his pet in the months before the November fire. A family friend told the Daily Mail that De Rothschild was a 'brilliant and talented' artist who was a very private man. The friend said De Rothschild's dog had died 10 months ago. 'He was absolutely dynamic,' the friend said. 'He read 24 hours a day and just knew everything. He was an absolute expert with classic cars. The only reason he talked about cars all the time was because it made him happy, and very interestingly, he didn't like to talk about himself.' Richard, 78, agreed that the man who people knew as De Rothschild had many similarities with his long lost older brother. 'That sounds like him,' Richard said. 'He was always into cars when I knew him and he was always a sharp dresser. I mean, the person I knew sounds like the same person all of his neighbors have described. And yes, he was a very smart and talented guy.' Neighbors also said that De Rothschild had donated some rare vehicles to the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, but museum officials told the Daily Mail there were no records of any vehicle donations by the 87-year old. A family friend has now revealed that some of the rare vehicles De Rothschild kept in pristine order for years will go under auction. De Rothschild was born William Alfred Kauffman but he changed his name in 1985, according to Los Angeles Superior court records. 'I want to take my family name, that I prefer to Kauffman, it would simplify my life greatly, taking the name from my mother's side,' he wrote. A judge granted the petition since there were no objections filed and he legally became William Alexander De Rothschild. Richard, 78, said neither his mother nor father had any connection to the Rothschild lineage. Before he moved to Los Angeles and settled at the Laurel Canyon home, De Rothschild lived in Eugene, Oregon where he grew up with his parents, William and Juanita, and younger brother Richard. Records show he graduated from North Salem High School and then earned a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from the University of Oregon in 1962. Richard said he remembered William, who was nine years older, was always crafting, sculpting or drawing something. 'He was a savant,' Richard said of his sibling. 'He always participated in art projects and was sculpting something. He had some art shows when he moved to California, but we never heard anything from him again.' Richard said he and his parents never had a falling out with his brother. He remembers his parents mentioning that William was renting cars for the movie industry before he suddenly disappeared. 'I thought he might have had some sort of physical problem that he didn't want anyone to know about when he called. All these years I thought he had died.' Richard said officials with the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office contacted him about providing a DNA sample to confirm the man found in the burned Laurel Canyon home was his brother. The test kit was sent to local Oregon police, who then collected a swab sample from Richard. The kit was then mailed securely back to the LA Medical Examiner's Office. Richard said the results showed the man who went by the name William De Rothschild was definitely related to him. He was positively identified using DNA records on January 28, according to the LA Medical Examiner's office. The certificate also showed De Rothschild was married to Margaux Mirkin, heir to the Budget Rent a-Car fortune founded by her father, Morris Mirkin. Morris Mirkin opened the first Budget Rent-a-Car office at Wilshire and Robertson boulevards in Los Angeles in 1958. Margaux would later open her own business venture called 'Drive A Dream', which rented out exotic cars. 'For $50 to $350 a day, plus 50 cents a mile, you can rent a Porsche, a Mercedes, a Rolls-Royce or a flashy replica of more dramatic models,' according to a 1980s advertisement for the business. Richard said he has tried several times to reach out to Mirkin, but has not received a response. According to the death certificate, De Rothschild was cremated. While Los Angeles fire and police officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, Richard hopes Mirkin would be open to speak to him to help answer some questions. Richard said he was told Mirkin was still upset about losing her husband but wanted to send her thanks for providing his DNA samples to authorities. 'I am the only one left who knew my brother before he changed his name, and she is the only one who can tell me about the last 40 to 50 years of his life,' Richard said. 'I don't know if Margaux ever knew that he was not a Rothschild because he had changed his name prior to them getting married. I'm giving her space to grieve and hopefully we can come to some understanding.' Richard said he hopes that one day he will be able to see any sculptures or artwork left behind by his beloved brother. 'I came to terms with my brother's death a long time ago, so it's more a curiosity at this point,' Richard said. 'I am curious about what he did all of these years, and to maybe own one of this art to remind him by. He was so talented when I knew him and bet he was his whole life.'
