Who Do You Think You Are?
Our Girl star Michelle Keegan discovers a suffragette and brave evacuee in her remarkable family tree…
Star of Our Girl Michelle Keegan traces her family tree in this one-off episode and learns of some amazing women from her past, including her greatgreat-grandmother Elizabeth. As she digs deeper, the former Corrie actress discovers there’s a connection to suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and evidence of her ancestor’s support for the fight for women’s votes.
Michelle Keegan has played a few strong women, from Coronation Street’s Tina McIntyre to army medic Georgie Lane in Our Girl, which returns this week (turn to page 9).
So the actress was delighted to learn there are tough females in her own family as she investigated her ancestry for a Who Do You Think You Are? special.
In her episode, marking the 100th anniversary of British women getting the vote, Michelle learns one of her maternal great-great-grandmothers, Elizabeth Kirwan, became a suffragette.
In 1904, Emmeline Pankhurst – the leader of the suffragette movement – was the registrar named on the birth certificate of Elizabeth’s daughter Norah, and Elizabeth also listed her occupation as ‘suffragist’ on the 1911 census.
Empowering
‘Elizabeth was a strong leader in her community and fought for women’s rights,’ says Michelle. ‘It was emotional and empowering to finally read her name on the voting list.’
Michelle also visits Gibraltar to find out about her maternal grandmother, Mary Wiltshire, who was born there.
During World War Two, the British territory became a military fortress and in 1940, around 16,000 Gibraltarian civilians, including Mary, her two brothers and mother, Leonor, Michelle’s greatgrandmother, were evacuated to London. Michelle’s great-grandfather Charles stayed behind as an army electrician.
‘For Leonor to be on her own with three kids in London during the war would have been terrifying,’ says Michelle. ‘I am very proud of her and that all these strong women are part of me.’