From Big Brother to finding an illegitimate bloodline...

Davina searches for her Royal past.

Who Do You Think You Are? The popular presenter, Davina McCall, started by researching a family legend that one of her relatives, James Thomas Bedborough, was the illegitimate son of George IV. During an online search, Davina found his baptism record, but no mention of blue blood! Learn how you can search for birth records for your ancestors here. You can also order copies of the original birth certificates direct from the Ancestry shop.

Continuing the trail, Davina went to the National Archives to research Bedborough’s occupation. Occupational records can give a hint to the sort of life your ancestors led, and it’s easy to find out what they did for a living in our Census records.

Next stop for Davina was the local library’s newspaper archive, where she discovered a glowing obituary to Bedborough, described as a successful property builder and popular Mayor of Windsor. However, further research into his will shows a different story. His property development at Upton Park left mountains of debt, which strained the family he left behind. As Davina discovered, archives can give interesting and differing insights into your family history, Newspapers, Probate and Wills are all available for you to browse on Ancestry.co.uk.