August 2011 - Genes Reunited Blog

This week's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? will focus on former EastEnders Actor, Larry Lamb. Born in Edmonton Middlesex in 1956 Larry Lamb is also known as evil Archie Mitchell in the popular soap.

Last night was episode three of Who Do You Think You Are? and focused on one of Britain's most successful athletes, Sebastian Cole. Sebastian won Olympic medals in 1980 and 1984 and today is best known for his role on the 2012 Olympic committee. Sebastian was keen to uncover more information on his mother's side of the family as he admitted that his knowledge only went back as far his grandmother. He grew up in Sheffield so in the opening of the programme he travels to the North of England where he meets a local historian who tells him the romantic story of how his grandparents met and even shows him a portrait of her.

The third episode of Who Do You Think You Are? will delve into the family history of Sebastian Coe, famous for his successful athletics career. This week we have some interesting findings from the experienced family historian Roy Stockdill...

J.K. Rowling, or Jo, is the multi-millionaire writer of the infamous Harry Potter books. For a long time she was a single mother working as a teacher, before she changed her life when she put pen to paper and brought Harry Potter to life.

Series eight of Who Do You Think You Are? started last week by looking at the fascinating family history of June Brown. We will be delving into the past of each celebrity to see what interesting finds we can make and we will ask you to rise to the challenge and see what else you can discover! This week we are looking into the family tree of J.K. Rowling and our resident genealogist, Anthony Adolph, has found some interesting discoveries. Can you uncover any more of J.K. Rowling's ancestors?

June Brown was born in 1927 in Suffolk making her the oldest person to have taken part in Who Do You Think You Are. The first episode of this series starts with June and her family before she embarks on her journey to discover her ancestors. She knows she has East End Jewish roots through her mother's side and is keen to find out more.

Hi I'm Nikki, Marketing and Product Executive at Genes Reunited. The BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Show have announced that the first celebrity appearing on this year's show will be June Brown, better known as the chain-smoking gossip Dot Cotton in EastEnders. Before the start of the new series I thought I'd do a little of my own research to see what I can uncover about June's family history.