Star of the Great British Bake Off, Mary Berry is next to delve into her ancestry on tomorrow night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
It turns out that baking is in Mary’s genes as she discovers that her ancestor Robert Houghton ran a bakery in Norwich. He ran the bakery for almost 40 years and even supplied the city workhouse. To Mary’s surprise, his bakery was located in an area renowned for prostitution and criminality.
Mrs Berry also learns that her 3rd great-grandfather was a printer and bookseller. Successful for a time, he was hit with bankruptcy and he and his family were sent to the workhouse. Only two of the children were spared that experience, her great-great-grandmother Mary and her brother Chris.
“I know Robert Houghton worked very hard in his bakery, but I think my genes come from Mary, who survived the workhouse and was very family focused, just like me,” said Mary.
Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC1 this Thursday at 9pm. Join us on Twitter and Facebook to share your thoughts or questions.