TV Alex: My shock over ancestor owning slaves
HORRIFIED Alex Scott fought back tears after discovering her
19th century Jamaican ancestor owned slaves – and had children with one of them.
The former Arsenal and England footballer made the grim discovery while on the Caribbean island to trace her lineage on her father’s side for BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?
Alex, 37, was incredulous when records showed her rich fourtimes great-grandfather Robert Coombs owned 26 slaves from 1817 to 1832.
Wrong
On the show, a historian explains Robert would have been allowed to prosper because he was light-skinned and it was not unusual for free people of colour to own slaves. Tearful BBC Football Focus host Alex says: “In terms of explaining my emotion behind it, I suppose that goes against everything that I stand for, who I am. It was hard to take.
That ownership of a human life is so wrong.
I don’t think that stories are told a lot about black people owning slaves.”
Alex also learned that as well as his relationship with her four-times great-grandmother Frances Tracey, Robert had two children with one of the women he owned, Eleanor Frances Henry.
When he died in 1851, well-off Robert ensured both women and all of his children were provided for.
Alex is also seen exploring her Jewish roots on her mother’s side, learning about her two-times great-uncle Abraham and her great-grandfather Philip.
The “true East End girl” also reveals a special bond with her Windrush-generation grandmother Philicita, who died in 2017.
●Who Do You Think You Are? will air on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday.