My Amazing Ancestors

Fearne Cotton on her joy at discovering courageous and fascinating characters in her family tree

- Caren Clark

 

Talking to TV Times about investigating her family tree in Who Do You Think You Are? this week, Fearne Cotton reveals: ‘I was looking for something exciting. I had a lovely childhood, but there were no weird stories or dramas lurking there or anything of an exotic nature so I wanted to find something like that.’

As it turned out, Fearne was in luck as her journey uncovered two extraordinary men. Her paternal great-grandfather, Evan Meredith, was jailed for being a conscientious objector during World War One, while her maternal four times great-grandfather, William Gilmour, was a doctor on a troop ship during the Crimean War and even dined with Queen Victoria!

Here, Fearne, 35, tells us more…

What was it like taking part in who do you think you are?