Richard Osman discovers ancestor formed an amateur detective group
Moment The Thursday Murder Club author Richard Osman discovers his four-times great-grandfather was a tobacco-smuggling fisherman who hid loot in his clothing on Who Do You Think You Are?
- Richard Osman appeared in new episode of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?
- In a clip released ahead of airing on June 9, presenter learned of his ancestors
- He was left chuckling after learning his fisherman relative was a smuggler
- Said: ‘I’m glad he was getting a little extra money from somewhere because what an incredibly hard way to make a living’
The moment Richard Osman discovered his four-times great-grandfather was a fisherman convicted of smuggling tobacco in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are has been revealed.
The BBC genealogy series sees well-known people trace their family tree, but the presenter’s forthcoming episode, set to air on June 9, will focus solely on Richard’s mother’s family.
During the episode, The Thursday Murder Club author was presented with a newspaper article which details the conviction of Gabriel Gilliam, a fisherman born in Brighton in 1789, who would secretly smuggle food and tobacco.
However rather than being dismayed, the TV presenter was left tickled after he learns his relatives were smugglers, saying: ‘I’m glad he was getting a little extra money from somewhere because what an incredibly hard way to make a living.
‘If you can find any way around it, who wouldn’t?’
The moment Richard Osman discovered his four-times great-grandfather was a fisherman convicted of smuggling tobacco in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are has been revealed
In the clip, he was shown the newspaper cutting from the Brighton Gazette in 1852, saying: ‘Okay, here we go! Smuggling. I said right at the beginning, I’d love to find a pirate and a smuggler will do me.
‘John Smith, Gabriel Gillam, James Atheral, Edward Stanford, Thomas Lynn and Henry Parris, six fishermen were charged with smuggling nine and a half pounds of foreign tobacco concealed ingeniously in the different clothing bags of each prisoner.’
Meanwhile the historian said the smugglers could have earned ‘a months wages’ for the ‘nights work’, adding: ‘They’re not going to turn it down.’
Richard finished the article, learning the prisoners were each fined 17 shillings and costs of 6 shillings to the owner of the boat.
In a newly released clip, he was shown the newspaper cutting from the Brighton Gazette in 1852 which described the crimes
However rather than being dismayed, the TV presenter was left tickled after he learns his relatives were smugglers
He added: ‘Thank goodness for that!’
Elsewhere in the episode, he learned his debut novel unwittingly mirrors a story straight out of his family archive.
The Thursday Murder Club follows a group of friends in a retirement village as they investigate unsolved crimes.
But the TV presenter discovered Gabriel also formed a detective group to solve a real-life murder centuries before he wrote his book.
Osman’s four-times great-grandfather discovered a dead body and became involved in one of the biggest murder trials of the 1800s.
Elsewhere, Richard (pictured on BBC’s Graham Norton Show) made the discovery that his debut novel unwittingly mirrors a story straight out of his family archive
He told the Radio Times: ‘Given the books I write, you just couldn’t make it up!
‘It was extraordinary to discover that Gabriel Gillam formed an amateur gang of detectives.
The Thursday Murder Club follows a group of friends in a retirement village as they investigate unsolved crimes. But the TV presenter recently found out his ancestor formed a detective group to solve a real-life murder centuries before he wrote his book
It felt like it would make a good Sunday night TV drama. There are a million stories about the British upper class, from Downton to Bridgerton, but very few about poor communities.’
The Thursday Murder Club was published in September 2020 and quickly became a best-seller.
The global film rights were bought by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment. A sequel, The Man Who Died Twice, arrived in September last year.
Ahead of the episode airing, Richard admitted he had no interest in learning about his paternal family – after his father walked out when he was nine years old.
Richard, 51, and his older brother Mat were raised by mum Brenda Wright, with his maternal relatives those he considers to be ‘genuinely close to.’
Speaking to Radio Times, Richard described his father’s walking out as the worst thing to ever happen to him.
When they met 20 years later, they didn’t bond, which left the quiz show host with no desire to discover more about his forebears when the opportunity for Who Do You Think You Are arose.
Richard and his older brother Mat were raised by mum Brenda Wright, with his maternal relatives those he considers to be ‘genuinely close to
Childhood: The BBC favourite previously said his childhood was shattered when his father walked out on his family for another woman when he was nine-years-old (Richard pictured with his brother Mat
‘My dad’s side of the family wasn’t something I was interested in because that’s not the family I grew up in. It would, in a funny way, be like learning about strangers,’ he told the publication.
Richard shared a close bond with his grandfather, Tom ‘Fred’ Wright: ‘So much of what I am I owe to him,’ he says on the show, adding that he would have loved to have followed in his footsteps and been a detective.
His nystagmus – involuntary rhythmic side-to-side, up and down or circular motion of the eyes – may have meant that was never a possibility, but his career most certainly hasn’t fallen flat.
Richard, as creator and co-presenter, is at the very core of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless.
Ahead of the episode airing, Richard admitted he had no interest in learning about his paternal family and would solely focus on his mother’s side – after his father walked out when he was nine years old (pictured, Brenda)
The television star, who also fronts House of Games, said: ‘I was initially uncomfortable with co-hosting [Pointless].
‘I’m not an extrovert in any way and I never wanted to be in front of the camera. But when they asked, I was nearly 40 and I said “Yes”, thinking it wouldn’t last,’ he admitted.
Last month, Osman announced he is stepping back from BBC game show Pointless after nearly 13 years ‘to concentrate on writing’.
He co-hosted more than 1,300 episodes with Alexander Armstrong.
Osman will continue to present Pointless Celebrities and his BBC Two show Richard Osman’s House Of Games.
His episode of Who Do You Think You Are? is due to air on June 9 on BBC1.
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