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Big Yin read tragic family story in
The Sunday Post
By John Paul Breslin
 BILLY CONNOLLY is no stranger to seeing his name in print. But the comedian was stunned in April when he discovered previously unknown details of his family history while reading an article in The Sunday Post.
The Glasgow funnyman had just arrived home from a tour of New Zealand when a friend called to tell him a story about his great-great-grandmother Ann McCluskey had appeared in the paper in January.
The Big Yin had been unaware of the heartbreaking period in his great-great-grandmother Ann’s life, which she spent in the poorhouses of Glasgow.
Intrigued
And he was so intrigued that he arranged to visit the National Archives of Scotland who had uncovered the details.
They had emerged as researchers were putting together a series of exhibitions exploring the family history of well-known Scots.
The exhibition on Billy Connolly’s family, presented in the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh from January to March, revealed Ann spent the final 12 years of her life in Barnhill Poorhouse, Glasgow, before dying there in 1885.
It also emerged she travelled 80 miles from Glasgow to Dundee to apply for poor relief in 1873 but was refused on the grounds that she didn’t normally live in the region.
Staff at the NAS say when Connolly’s agents contacted them last year to confirm he was happy for them to research his family history they’d also said he wouldn’t be able to attend the exhibition as he’d be on tour in New Zealand.
Surprised
However, archivists were pleasantly surprised in April when they received a call from the comedian’s housekeeper at Candacraig House in Aberdeenshire.
Dr Tristram Clarke, project officer for the Famous Scots Exhibition, said, “It was to ask if he could come and see the exhibition.
“We told him it was over but said we could show him some of the material we found while researching his family history.
“He arrived the next day with his daughter Cara and we showed them our findings.
“We also presented him with prints of the exhibition panels, copies of the certificates we had used and a laminated A2 copy of his family tree.
“He had everyone laughing and seemed very interested in learning more about his family.”
For more details on the Famous Scots exhibition go to www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk
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