Who Do You Think You Are?
Marvin Humes discovers tragedy and triumph in his family tree…
Monday / BBC1
I spent time researching my own ancestry recently, so I’ve been glued to this hit series. Pop-star-turnedpresenter Marvin Humes makes some shocking discoveries as he visits Jamaica this week…
Marvin Humes has always been very intrigued by his heritage. But when the former JLS singer and presenter traced his family tree for this week’s Who Do You Think You Are?, he was shocked to uncover tragic tales of mental illness and slavery as well as the story of a war hero. Here, in an exclusive chat with TV Times, Marvin, 33, reveals all…
Why did you want to take part? I’m a huge fan of the show. Coming from a mixed-race background, there have always been questions, and to be able to answer those was incredible.
You travelled to Jamaica to find out why your paternal grandfather robert – known as randall – wasn’t brought up by his parents, Joseph and Mabel. What did you discover?
When I heard that Joseph cheated on Mabel and deserted her, it was shocking. It was a horrible, sad story because Mabel was left in such a bad way that she ended up dying
in a mental hospital. You also learnt that your fourtimes great-grandfather John Williams owned two slaves…
I didn’t know that black people owned slaves. I’m not angry, but I’d like to think that being a black man himself, knowing what was going on, he’d have treated them with respect.
on your mum’s side, you searched for her grandfather Frederick Buckingham…
He was given up by his family at the age of about two and was in and out of workhouses and got really ill as a child. He ended up going to sea and helped out at the evacuation of Dunkirk.
What did you discover at dunkirk? In 1940, he was working on a ship called King Orry that came under attack by the Germans. Several people died, but he survived. It was fascinating to find out he was a war hero. I was filled with pride.