Guernsey Press

Australian celebrity traces his ancestry to our islands

ACTOR, musician and presenter Cameron Daddo traced his ancestry to the Channel Islands through the Australian version of Who Do You Think You Are?

Published
Australian actor Cameron Daddo at Castle Breakwater while shooting for Who Do You Think You Are? (Picture: Warner Bros/International Television Production Australia Pty Ltd)

He features in season 11’s episode three, which will be available to watch online on Tuesday 2 June with an Australian VPN.

Guernsey Ancestry consultant genealogist Susan Ilie helped the show’s producers, Warner Bros International, to discover the connections.

Ms Ilie said: ‘Warner Bros sent a film crew over to Guernsey last August. I researched for the Guernsey part of the episode, going right back to around the year 900. They held two interviews, one with me at Hauteville House and one with Steve Foote at Town Church.’

In the episode, Mr Daddo aims to find whether romance runs deep in his ancestry.

On the way, his father revealed his great-great grandparents both had the surname Daddo.

In Guernsey, he discovered that his great-great grandparents were third cousins.

Many Channel Island connections were found, including those of his de Carteret ancestors – noble landowners who participated in the First Crusades and the Battle of Hastings.

In Jersey, he met a distant cousin at the de Carteret family manor and discussed their historical relatives Philippe and Margaret de Carteret. In 1470, Philippe led a resistance against a corrupt Jersey governor and was accused of treason.

Shackled in the dungeons, he awaited trial by battle to the death.

Margaret travelled to England – days after giving birth – by boat in a hailstorm to petition King Edward IV.

She convinced the king of her husband’s innocence, so Philippe was released and the corrupt governor ousted.

In previous years BBC’s version of the series found connections to Guernsey through celebrities Sheila Hancock and Monty Don.

n Visit sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/who-do-you-think-you-are to view the episode, which will need a VPN filter web-browser extension.