Coronation Street star Ian Puleston-Davies had to eat a large slice of humble pie after embarking on an emotional and enlightening journey to trace his Welsh ancestors.
The 56-year-old, born and bred in Flint, took part in the BBC Wales family history series Coming Home, with his episode set to air on Monday evening.
Ian told the Daily Post that many stories had been passed down by family members over the years – mainly his father – but while the former Flint High School pupil always hoped they were true, he was never convinced.
But now he finally has his answers – and it turns out that his dad was right all along.
The father-of-two, who plays builder Owen Armstrong in the soap, is in fact a distant relative of Owain Glyndŵr, one of his ancestors did invent Welsh braille, and a Puleston did play a part in the American Civil War.
Ian joked that some of these stories formed part of his chat up lines to partner Sue, and he’s relieved that they turned out to be true.
He described taking part in the show as an “absolute thrill” and an experience he will never forget.
“It was a magical mystery tour – one minute I was in Bala the next I was in Liverpool,” he said. “You just sit back and indulge in it. As I said in the programme, every Welshman and woman should get their family tree done.
“I had all but a blindfold put on me. We had dinner in a hotel the night before and I couldn’t eat with the historians as they wanted it to be a surprise.”
He added: “There had been stories passed around the family. My father is a great story teller – he always spoke of the adventures of the Pulestones.
“I was a Doubting Tom of a son but went along with the stories. I was always curious though and never totally convinced that the stories were true.
“But they were factual, pretty much all were validated. I had to go to my father with huge humble pie and say you’re the victor”
Ian, who lives in Chester, added: “The one story that springs to mind is that I’m part of the ancestry of Owain Glyndŵr – that was the talk of the Puleston family.
“I also found out that there was a blind preacher in the family called John Puleston who invented Welsh braille. It was beautiful that it was true.
“One story left out, which was a shame, was that an ancestor of mine was a Lieutenant Colonel in the American Civil War. A lot of Welsh men fought alongside the unionists. That’s something I want to pursue down the line, it’s a fascinating topic.”
Ian admitted there was an element of trepidation in discovering his ancestry, but thankfully there were no nasty surprises.
“You do think about what skeletons are hidden away – it was at the forefront of my mind,” he said. “I was concerned when I was going to Liverpool, because of the connection with America I thought my family may have been involved in slavery. But on the contrary, my ancestors fought to free slaves.”
Ian’s journey begins in the village of Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, near Ruthin, where he meets genealogist Mike Churchill-Jones, and he quickly discovers he has deep Welsh roots in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Caernarfonshire and that most of his ancestors were farmers but also chapel builders.
Some of his farming family moved to a Welsh settlement in America called Arvonia in Kansas, which was named after Caernarfon.
Watch Ian’s journey on BBC One Wales, 7.30pm, Monday.
