Layton Williams broke down in tears on the most recent episode of the genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?, as he learned about his enslaved ancestors.
The actor and theatre star, 30, was the latest star to appear on the beloved ancestry show to learn about his family tree, which originated from London and Jamaica.
Layton cried at the end of the episode, after learning about his ancestors who were enslaved, with some forcibly moved from Africa to Jamaica.
‘I’m proud to have come from people who went through that, but came through the other side,’ he said through tears.
‘It’s really beautiful and it’s important that we don’t forget, because it’s real and it happened and it was sad, and I’m sure it was awful, but we’ve made it here.
‘I will look back at this experience for sure and be really happy and really proud of the family that came before me.’
The episode began in Bury, where Layton grew up with his mother and more immediate family, and he then travelled to London to learn more about his maternal side of the family.
In the final part of the episode, the actor travelled to Porus, Jamaica, where he learned about his father’s side and his grandparents Clarence and Berneta Williams, who moved to Britain from Jamaica.
He learned that his great-great-grandmother, Ellen, was a washerwoman who built a better life for her family after her father, Alexander Denton, was born into slavery in 1825.
It was revealed that Alexander’s mother, Jessie, was born in Africa but was forcibly taken to Jamaica.
When slavery was abolished, Porus became a free village where former slaves could own their own land.
This struck home for Layton, who said that his family had always emphasised the importance of home ownership, and he believes this could have been why.
Many viewers were impacted by the episode and took to social media to share their reactions to the episode.
‘Really moving #WDYTYA with @LaytonWilliams. There was such a sense of all the different influences that helped make him who he is,’ said Aspirantdiva on X.
‘Well done to the researchers for finding this link between Layton’s ancestor in Soho and the Stodart Piano Company. What a wonderful musical connection for this theatre star. WDYTYA,’ said emmajolly.
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