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We’ve all heard of famous families like the Kardashians and the Beckhams. But some family connections are less immediately obvious.

For instance, did you know that footballers Frank Lampard and Jamie Redknapp are cousins? Sandra Redknapp is Jamie’s mother and Frank’s aunt, and the two boys often played football together growing up.

����ý Bitesize takes a look at three intriguing family connections that you might not be aware of.

Lord Byron and Ada Lovelace

What do an infamous Romantic poet and the world’s first computer programmer have in common? Why, they’re father and daughter!

Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was Lord Byron’s only legitimate daughter, from his short-lived marriage to Annabella Byron (née Milbanke). Within weeks of her birth in 1815, Byron left the family and moved overseas, never to return again.

Annabella heavily encouraged Ada to study subjects like mathematics and science, unusual for a woman at that time, because she didn’t want Ada to follow the path of her father into poetry. Ada excelled in these subjects and at the age of 17, was introduced to the mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage.

He was working on a prototype of a computer, known as the Analytical Engine, which Ada studied in detail. In her notes she explained how the machine could use codes to work and repeat a series of instructions, which has since been described as an early computer program.

In recognition of her achievements, the second Tuesday of October is known as Ada Lovelace Day, dedicated to celebrating the work of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). When the U.S. Department of Defense developed a new computer language in the 1980s, they called it Ada.

Once described as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’, Lord Byron had a scandalous private life but was also one of the leading figures of the Romantic poetry movement. Having fled England in 1816, he lived in Italy for many years, where he spent time with fellow literary greats Percy Shelley and his wife, Mary Shelley.

In July 1823, Byron signed up to fight in the Greek War of Independence but he died from a fever on 19 April 1824 and his body was returned to his ancestral home in England. Despite their distant relationship, Ada requested that she be buried next to her father upon her death.

Dame Angela Lansbury and George Lansbury

A legend of stage and screen, Dame Angela Lansbury famously played detective Jessica Fletcher in the hit US TV show Murder, She Wrote. Born in 1925, she was thrice nominated for an Oscar and won several Tony awards, as well as starring in Disney classics Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Beauty and the Beast.

But within her family tree, there are a number of influential political figures, and not just in the UK. For starters, her grandfather George Lansbury was Leader of the Labour Party between 1932 and 1935.

Prior to leading the Labour party, Mr Lansbury was elected mayor of Poplar, London, promising to introduce a £4 minimum weekly wage for municipal workers, including women. This put him at odds with the central government and he was eventually jailed for several weeks in 1921, along with other councillors, following the Poplar rates rebellion. They had refused to pass on a portion of the money the council raised from taxing residents to the central government, arguing that they wanted the money spent on local services.

Dame Angela Lansbury was also related to the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, Penny Mordaunt. Angela Lansbury was the cousin of Ms Mordaunt’s grandmother. In 2022, Ms Mordaunt took on the role of Leader of the House of Commons.

Former Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull has also revealed that he is related to Angela Lansbury. In a social media post showing a photo of them backstage at the Theatre Royal Sydney, he referred to her as his cousin and later called her ‘Aunty Angela’.

Helena Bonham Carter and H.H. Asquith

Sticking to the political theme, award-winning actress Helena Bonham Carter’s paternal great-grandfather was once Prime Minister of the UK. Herbert Henry Asquith, Earl of Oxford (commonly known as H.H.) was a member of the Liberal Party, and governed as Prime Minister between 1908 and 1916.

Lord Asquith is the only British Prime Minister to have taken office on foreign soil.

During his tenure, Lord Asquith introduced several pieces of legislation which are often collectively referred to as the Liberal reforms and which aimed to improve the lives of those living in poverty, particularly children, the unemployed, the elderly and the sick. These included the following:

• The Old Age Pension Act: Gave a pension of 5 shillings a week to those over the age of 70 who earned less than £21 a year. Those who earned between £21 and £31 were given a reduced amount. To qualify, individuals needed to have been UK residents for 20 years and pass certain character tests, such as not having been imprisoned within the last ten years.
• The Shops Act 1911: Granted shop workers a half-day holiday each week, as well as limiting the maximum working week to 60 hours.

Lord Asquith was still Prime Minister when World War One began in 1914, although by 1916 he had been replaced by David Lloyd George. In 1925 he was granted a peerage and made Earl of Oxford.

This article was published in February 2023.