Mel C has revealed she broke down in tears as she discovered her family’s heartbreaking battle to survive The Great Famine, before rising the ranks as political activists.
The Spice Girl, 50, explored her history for Thursday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and has now shared some of the biggest surprises about her past.
Mel told The Mirror that she found some of the revelations about her family ‘deeply moving,’ and she shed tears several times during the programme.
She said: ‘Finding out about my family’s history with activism and in particular their experiences of the Great Famine in Ireland was eye-opening. Putting myself in their shoes was shocking.’
While both sides of Melanie’s family are from Liverpool, she learns that her great-great-great-grandparents Patrick Flaherty and Catherine Burns were from County Limerick, and travelled to see a farm where they lived.
Mel C has revealed she broke down in tears as she discovered her family’s heartbreaking battle to survive The Great Famine, before rising the ranks as political activists
But her family’s life was devastated in 1945 when The Great Famine hit, with a fungal disease devastating potato crops, the main food source for many living in Ireland.
It left millions facing starvation, and so Patrick’s landlord put the farm up for sale, meaning the couple were forced to move to Limerick City, where they were ‘landless labourers’ before heading to Liverpool in 1855.
Records also showed that Mel’s great-great-great-granparents also lost an eight-month old son Edmund while attempting to settle in Liverpool.
The singer added: ‘Finding out about our family in Ireland, it makes so much sense to realise why my grandmother and great-grandmother were so stoic and strong and resilient.
‘My three times great-grandparents Catherine and Patrick had had the worst hardships that you could imagine.’
On her mother Joan’s side, Mel discovered that her four times great-grandfather, Thomas Keef, was raised an orphan in a workhouse in 1818.
He eventually worked his way up from a baker to an insurance manager, but in 1860 he was charged with embezzlement, and while the cast was later dropped, he was forced to move to Liverpool to restart his career aresh.
Changing his surname to O’Keef, Thomas’ career in Liverpool took off, and he became a major player in politics and public speaking.
In 1866 he was part of the Reform Movement, campaigning to have the number of people able to vote increased, and in 1867 the second Reform Act was passed, meaning all male householders got a vote.
Mel also discovered that her great-grandmother Mary Bilsborough was a money lender who charged ‘exorbitant’ rates of interest to her neighbours.
She told the programme: ‘My great-grandmother Mary is listed as being a money lender, and I really don’t know what that means. I imagine some big burly guy battering your door down to get the money back, and that was what my great-grandmother was doing.’
Bilsborough was one of more than 1,300 money lenders – the vast majority of them women – operating in Liverpool in the 1920s and 30s. The mother of nine was herself living in dire poverty. By loaning small sums to neighbours, she was able to feed her family.
Mel was also presented with evidence that many lenders were ‘terrible bullies’ who charged interest of up to 400 per cent.
Mel also discovered that her great-grandmother Mary Bilsborough was a money lender who charged ‘exorbitant’ rates of interest to her neighbours
Many victims were vulnerable women who had borrowed without their husband’s knowledge, but there is no evidence that Bilsborough victimised her clients.
Chisholm said: ‘I don’t want to think of my great-grandmother as a bully. I’d painted a lovely picture of her helping the community. But of course there’s going to be people who aren’t going to pay and if you have to get your money back, you have got get it back, haven’t you?’
The Money Lenders Bill 1927 required all lenders in Liverpool to register and take an oath testifying to their good character. Chisholm was relieved to find that Bilsborough did register in 1939.
She said: ‘She did it. She proved her character in probably very intimidating circumstances and got her registration. That makes me feel very proud. I am a rule-abider, not a rule-breaker.’
Bilsborough’s private life was complicated. In 1908 she married a soldier named Joseph Nunnery, but while he was serving in India, she had an affair with a man called Thomas Bilsborough. The couple had three children while she was still married then wed in 1918, after Nunnery died.
Mary Bilsborough died in 1973 leaving £3,028, the equivalent of £46,000 today. Chisholm said: ‘She lived through lots of tough times and came out on top. Girl power.’
Melanie Chisholm’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC One on August 29, 9pm.
