Laurence finds a twist in the tale when he digs deep into his family tree to find the truth about Mr Tricky; Research for Who Do You Think You Are? helps to solve a mystery.(News)

Byline: Tim Lewis

AS a childhe was told tales of how his family lost its fortune to a mysterious stranger knownonlyas Mr Tricky.

But when light was shed on the murky depths of Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen's ancestral past, the picture emerging was not quite so scandalous.

The flamboyant designer, who was brought up in Pembrokeshire, used an appearance on the BBC genealogy programme Who Do You Think You Are? to explore a long-held family legend about how its money was squandered.

Llewelyn-Bowen, 43, said: "People think I must come froma long line of gothic-castle-dwelling Welsh gentry. But it's something I doubt very much."

His grandfather had spoken of a great-great-aunt Kitty, who claimed her father had lost the family estate to aman known only as Mr Tricky. Tracing his family line back, Laurence found an ancestor, George Yo,whowas a very rich squire with hundreds of acres of land in Somerset.

But records revealed the family estate had been sold at auction at the time of this ancestor's death and the money was shared among the children.

Llewelyn-Bowen said: "I started to feel more and more sympathy towards Kitty because she obviously has a lot of misguided bitterness about what had happened. She was a very poor womanandhad been saving to sue Mr Tricky for taking the land.

Thanks goodness she didn't.

"It is a story of a woman who looked at her life and decided it was not how she wanted it, so they blamed somebody else. It's nice to close the book on a family story."

While shooting the BBC One programme, Llewelyn-Bowen, who now lives in Cornwall, learned more about his grandfather's work as a captain in the Merchant Navy.

He said: "I knew there were sailors and mariners on my mother's side and one thing I haveal ways wanted to find out is how far back the family links to the sea go."

After travelling to the Imperial War Museum in London and then to Germany, he got hold of documents detailing how his grandfather's ship had been sunk by a German U-boat in World War I.

He survived and went on to serve in WorldWar II.

His great-grandfather was also a seaman and Llewelyn-Bowen said: "I am pleased that I've been able to trace my family back such a long way and especially the close contact to the sea. I will stop short of saying I am the natural heir to either but then in a way it does explain the fact that when I am by the sea I find it a very romantic experience.

"It's not hard to see I've got salt in my DNA."

Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is on BBC One, October 1, at 9pm

Driven by the internet

Genealogy has become big business, with a plethora of websites dedicated to the topic and regular road shows across the country.

Interested family historians can sign up for evening courses, run by most local authorities, on tracing their relatives.

But the one technological development which has made it easier has been the advent of the internet, with archives such as the 1901 census available online.

Its use for genealogy has grown at such a rate that many experts claim it is the number one pastime on the internet.

The National Archives, Kew, London, attracted 57 million online visitors last year.

CAPTION(S):

FAMILY TREE: Above left, great-great-aunt Kitty Edwards, Phyllis Wilks (Laurence's grandmother) and Peter Wilks (Laurence's uncle) and, above right, the star who is taking part in Who Do You Think You Are?