July 2013 - Genes Reunited Blog

I had a great great grandfather, who died 143 years ago. There’s nothing unusual in that, of course. Everybody had great great grandfathers. However, my great great grandfather was Charles Dickens and therefore I am able to find out all there is to know about him with a few clicks on a computer keyboard, and I feel so fortunate to be able to build a complete picture of who he was, where he lived, how he was received and perceived. Whilst learning about Charles Dickens I can see traces of him throughout the current Dickens clan, many of whom are involved in the world of communication. We have writers, actors, journalists, musicians, marketing experts and restaurant owners among our numbers.

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington's family tree bears a great resemblance to the life of his on-screen character Jon Snow. It is littered with heroes, royals and military greats! Like his fictional counterpart, Kit has noble blood, as his paternal great-grandfather sir Richard Harington was 12th baronet and High Sheriff of Herefordshire and served as a judge in Bengal, while his great-uncle Kenneth Harington married the queen's cousin, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon.

We can't believe that it was the start of the tenth series of Who Do You Think You Are? Last night. Ten series, and still each episode is individual and interesting. The series began with the story of Una Stubbs and her family. A popular actress and entertainer, like many of us starting out in family history she knew nothing of one side of her family.

It’s been a brilliant series so far and episode 5 of Long Lost Family was no exception. This week we saw the stories of twins Gail and Juliet looking for their twin brothers. We also saw Robert who was looking for the mother who disappeared from his life when he was just a toddler.