Star's pride in relative who scandalised Scots society

Wednesday 15 August 2012

SINGER Annie Lennox has told of her pride in her ancestors, despite discovering one of them had scandalised Scottish society.

BACKING: Annie Lennox defended her great-great-grandmother, and the right of unmarried women to have children. Picture: Andrew Montgomery

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Stuart MacDonald

The Aberdeen-born star took part in a forthcoming episode of BBC series Who Do You Think You Are and uncovered startling revelations about her family history.

The former Eurythmics singer, who took part in the closing ceremony of the Olympics on Sunday, was shocked to learn her great-great-grandmother, Isabella McHardy, was hauled before the Kirk Session in 1852 after giving birth to an illegitimate child – Annie's great-grandfather, George Ferguson.

Miss McHardy was called before the elders of the Church of Scotland, whose responsibility it was to maintain moral order among their congregation, and shamed for her affair with William Ferguson.The poultry maid never married and died aged 83 from "gastritis due to over-feeding".The full story will be revealed when the episode airs in September. Ms Lennox, 57, was spotted filming for the show in Aberdeen earlier this year.She told how she was not ashamed of her relative's actions and defended the right of unmarried women to have children. She said: "The experience was extraordinary in so many indescribable ways. "Needless to say, I was profoundly moved and affected by what I discovered on this journey."I am deeply proud of my forebears, and the fact they lived and survived in conditions that could only be described as barely tolerable in this day and age."And, more pertinently, I'm especially proud of the female lineage."Bear in mind that women's health care and reproductive rights are relatively new advents on the global scene – post-Second World War and Marie Stopes.Making no bones about it, I completely and utterly endorse reproductive health care, safety and security for women and girls universally."And I bow my head in acknowledgement to every young woman or girl who has gone through the experiences that countless young women and girls have to cope with and endure, from puberty to menopause."Before filming the show, Ms Lennox knew nothing of her family beyond her grandparents. She lost both her parents to cancer.Her maternal grandparents, William Ferguson and Dora Paton, were a gamekeeper and a dairymaid. The earliest relative found, James Lennox, born in 1760 at Glassford, South Lanarkshire, was a farmer.The singer was born in Aberdeen on Christmas Day 1954 and is daughter of a boilermaker and a cook.She said taking part in the programme had made her realise the debt people owe to their ancestors.She added: "History can be a shared and connective experience for every single one of us whether we realise it or not."I have no personal illusions or desires for grandeur."On the contrary, what was uncovered for me was the realisation that "dignity" and "self preservation" is a fundamental necessity for all human existence no matter what the circumstance."None of us would be here now, without the ones who came before. "It is a significantly humbling thought in itself."Our ancestors are totally essential to our every waking moment, although most of us don't even have the faintest idea about their lives, their trials, their hardships or their challenges."

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Star's pride in relative who scandalised Scots society

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