Dr Laura King discusses Bear Grylls’ Family History on ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

Dr Laura King, Associate Professor in Modern British History at the School of History, has appeared in a recent episode of the BBC’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ about adventurer Bear Grylls.

Dr King, an expert in history of families, emotional and inter-generational relationships and everyday life in twentieth-century Britain, discussed the history of Bear’s family on his father’s side.

Bear’s great-grandfather Lionel, the headmaster of Harrow School, wrote a memoir about his son Richard’s life after he died as a teenager, which Dr King shared with Bear.

In an emotional scene, Bear read from the memoir and said: “I’m a wreck reading it a hundred years on! You can’t imagine what the family went through.”

Watch Who Do You Think You Are? (Series 20:3. Bear Grylls) on BBC iPlayer. Dr King’s section starts at 33 minutes, 29 seconds.