0:00:05 > 0:00:09Brooke Shields is one of Hollywood's leading actresses.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14She found fame at a young age, starring in The Blue Lagoon, when she was only 14.
0:00:14 > 0:00:22Since then, she's had a successful film, television and modelling career, spanning four decades.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24I'm at the time in my life right now where I'm ready
0:00:24 > 0:00:26to really delve into my past.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29I know very little about my family.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34My mother never really talked about her side of the family that much.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37And I know very little about my father's side of the family.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39I've heard they are royalty.
0:00:39 > 0:00:45I don't know how far back that exotic side goes, or even if it's true.
0:00:46 > 0:00:52And I'm just ready to really find out the...nitty-gritty of where I came from.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Brooke Shields was born in New York in 1965.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Whenever anybody says, "Where are you from?"
0:01:22 > 0:01:24I immediately say, "New York."
0:01:24 > 0:01:26I'm a New Yorker.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31She still lives in New York City with her husband Chris
0:01:31 > 0:01:34and their daughters Rowan and Grier.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38We've, um, been lucky enough to build a great family life here in the city.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42But growing up for me, things were very different.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Although I was close to both of my parents,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47they were divorced by the time I was five months old.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51My dad Frank remarried and eventually moved to Florida.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54He died in 2003.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56I basically grew up with my mom Teri
0:01:56 > 0:01:58who had dabbled in modelling herself.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02And she got me into the business by the time I was just 11 months old.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07The modelling led to movies and television and theatre.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10My parents could not be more different.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They were the antithesis of one another.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15On one side, my dad, there was aristocracy
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and sort of old money and Park Avenue.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And then my mom's side, which was working class
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and saving every dime and not spending anything.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28There was a difference between the two and I never knew where I belonged.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Until recently, I hadn't thought of exploring my family history.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35But then, suddenly, everything was put into perspective.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I've been alone all my life, in a way.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49I've sort of been this singular person,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52you know, with my mom, but my parents were divorced.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56When 9/11 happened, I was on Broadway,
0:02:56 > 0:02:57performing in Cabaret.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59So there was that career part of me
0:02:59 > 0:03:03and the, sort of, the ambition, and I didn't want to admit
0:03:03 > 0:03:05that anything existed before me.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08The whole world started when I came here.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12And all of a sudden, everything came to a halt.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19So many families lost everything.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21I just thought, "My God."
0:03:21 > 0:03:26I was brought out of myself
0:03:26 > 0:03:31and that made me really think about blood being thicker than water,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33something I never wanted to believe.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36All of a sudden,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39I was keenly aware of what I wanted to learn
0:03:39 > 0:03:42about who I was.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47I'm now about to go on this journey
0:03:47 > 0:03:50to find out where I came from.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52And it's a little scary.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58My dad passed away. My mom's not well enough now
0:03:58 > 0:04:00for me to discuss any of this with her.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03So, the person I always go to is my best friend Lisa.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05We basically grew up together.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09She's really truly like my family -
0:04:09 > 0:04:12my "go to person", when I'm doing something important in my life.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17So, there's my dad and my mum
0:04:17 > 0:04:19with me individually.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22- Are your parents still together in that picture?- No.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25They're divorced. Divorced.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- That could have been your weekend with either one and...- Yeah.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32- It could have been the same weekend.- The drop-off in the parking lot!- That was!
0:04:32 > 0:04:35LAUGHTER
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Which side of the family do you identify with?
0:04:41 > 0:04:45It is so, as this picture, spilt down the middle.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51And I'll go into one and I'll think, "I don't fit in here.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53"I have to go back to the other one."
0:04:53 > 0:04:56I'll go in here, "I don't fit in here, they don't understand me."
0:04:56 > 0:05:00All my life I have flip-flopped, so I can't answer as to which one.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02It used to frustrate the hell out of me.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06(Wow!)
0:05:06 > 0:05:10There it is. My mother and her mother.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13- You know how I feel about my grandmother.- Yes.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15I can't say that I'm a fan.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18My grandmother was so mad, I think, that her husband died.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20- And never got over it. - Never got over it.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24I had such resentment for her.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26I just... I hated her.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30And why? Because I saw the way she would treat my mom.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Just snide remarks all the time.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37And she never would want to give my mom credit.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40You couldn't so much as say, "Boo" to my mother and I'd want to kill you.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43- You know that.- Yeah.- You've seen it.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46So, there was this, sort of, fierce protection of my mother.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50I think my grandmother was horrible to my mother
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and I started disliking her at a very young age.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58And the stronger the bond with my mother became,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01the more I resented her mother.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05My mom wanted a different life.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08The minute she could, she left Newark.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13That was something my grandmother never could do.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17My sympathy for my grandmother, my empathy, has always been sort of tainted
0:06:17 > 0:06:19by, "But how could you treat Mom like this?"
0:06:19 > 0:06:22I don't like having that feeling in my heart,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24of just...of just bitterness.
0:06:24 > 0:06:30And I wonder if knowing anything about where she came from would help me understand
0:06:30 > 0:06:32how that affected my mother.
0:06:37 > 0:06:38I'm leaving New York,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40which I never really do in my heart.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44I want to find out more about my grandmother's...
0:06:46 > 0:06:48life and her family.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52So I'm on my way to New Jersey.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I haven't been back for a long time.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03My early connection with New Jersey, I've blanked out. If you ask me about New Jersey, I'll just say,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05"I went to college in New Jersey."
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I was a French Literature major.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13I have replaced all memories of New Jersey with my education.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17I don't know anything about my grandmother's life, her family, her parents.
0:07:17 > 0:07:24I just, I want to like my grandmother.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26What made her the type of person
0:07:26 > 0:07:31who gets bitter, and sad, and afraid, and not...
0:07:31 > 0:07:36you know, what was in her character that came from her...upbringing?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39All I know about my grandmother is that
0:07:39 > 0:07:43she had a sister, Lillian.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Brooke's grandmother Theresa Dollinger
0:07:46 > 0:07:47was born in 1908,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51and Theresa's sister Lillian in 1915.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Brooke's come to the New Jersey State Archive
0:07:57 > 0:07:59to meet genealogy expert, Michelle Chubenko.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04They're looking for the birth certificates of Theresa and Lillian.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06All right.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08I'm hoping they might give me some clues
0:08:08 > 0:08:10about my grandmother's early life.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12- Oh.- Oh. Doll...
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Ooh, ooh, ooh, wait, wait.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Theresa.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19My grandmother's birth certificate doesn't tell me much.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22All it really tells me is that her mom's name is Ida
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and she was born in Newark like my mom.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28But what about her sister Lillian's birth certificate?
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Um, so Lillian Elizabeth Dollinger.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Born the 26th of September, 1915.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37Wait.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Number of children in all by this marriage, four?
0:08:44 > 0:08:50So...my grandmother had three siblings.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Which just...
0:08:51 > 0:08:54I've only known her to have one sibling.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59I'm just in shock that there were two more siblings.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05I've never heard of these other brothers or sisters before.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09But Michelle has found their birth certificates.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12So John...
0:09:12 > 0:09:16There was a John William Dollinger.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18OK, so that's John.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21So there was a girl, a boy, a girl.
0:09:21 > 0:09:26OK, but you're gonna need to make room between these two because
0:09:26 > 0:09:28there's an Edward William.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- Edward. - Mm-hmm.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Number of children living... two.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37Mm-hmm.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41So we know she's alive, so he had to have died.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46Brooke now knows her grandmother, Theresa had two brothers.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49John died in infancy when Theresa was only two,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51so she probably didn't remember him.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54But what happened to Edward?
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And now there's this boy, this second boy,
0:09:58 > 0:10:04Edward William Dollinger, younger than my grandmother.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06But doesn't seem to die because
0:10:06 > 0:10:11by the time we get to Lillian, the numbers still make sense.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Mm-hmm.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16OK. I want to know Edward now.
0:10:16 > 0:10:17I want to know this guy.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19I want to find out more. SHE LAUGHS
0:10:19 > 0:10:21I want to get in there now, I want to...
0:10:21 > 0:10:23This is... It's just,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25you feel like you're a detective of some kind.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Brooke's on her way to Newark, New Jersey,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35where her grandmother was born and raised.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Theresa's family, the Dollingers, were German immigrants,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44who came to America in the mid-19th century.
0:10:44 > 0:10:50Brooke hopes that Newark historian Tom McCabe can explain more about this immigrant neighbourhood.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55There's been a lot of jokes about Newark over the years
0:10:55 > 0:10:57and one of them is, what's the best view of Newark?
0:10:57 > 0:11:00The one you get in your rear-view mirror when you drive away.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01SHE LAUGHS Oh, no!
0:11:01 > 0:11:05I think one of the great views of Newark is just down here,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09this is Ferry Street - the spine, the nerve centre of this immigrant neighbourhood.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14I found this picture from 1910, which, as you can see...
0:11:14 > 0:11:18This is the same view! I love that!
0:11:18 > 0:11:23At this time, very much a German influence - Slazenger Shoes.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28You have some Italian influence in this picture as well.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33So all sorts of new immigrants came into this neighbourhood to try to establish themselves first.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Em, you had the Irish coming here, initially, followed by the Germans.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Of course, the Dollingers would have been part of that immigration.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41This was taken in 1910.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44My grandmother... Where was my grandmother?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47At this time, just over your right shoulder -
0:11:47 > 0:11:50she would have been living right over here,
0:11:50 > 0:11:51at the corner store.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53- At Easy Pickins? - At Easy Pickins.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55- She was living at Easy Pickins? - Yes.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58So this is, er, you know, a streetscape
0:11:58 > 0:12:00that she would have been very familiar with.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01Oh, that's amazing.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Two of her siblings were born across the street
0:12:05 > 0:12:08here at 148 and a half.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Uh, it is now the Banco Popular.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Lillian and Edward were born right across the street. They moved around quite a bit...
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Why would they have moved?
0:12:17 > 0:12:20They'll be moving, looking for the best rent out of necessity.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25Those at the lower part of the economic ladder will be the most vulnerable,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28most insecure and they'll have to move the most.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31So they would have packed up all their earthly belongings
0:12:31 > 0:12:35and walked them down the stairs and down the block and moved to the next place,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37one step ahead of the rent or the landlord.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38Right, right.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46Tom has a map showing Newark at the time when Brooke's grandmother Theresa Dollinger was growing up.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I wanted to show you my favourite map of this city.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54- Wow! - It's from 1911.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57This highlighted portion is where we walked.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00We walked this portion, so here is giving you
0:13:00 > 0:13:04these small, self-contained towns almost.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07So you have the Germans here and the Italians down there.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10You have these ethnic concentrations, so it's very much
0:13:10 > 0:13:13a working-class city and you came here and settled with your own.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18And two out of every three Newarkers were either foreign-born
0:13:18 > 0:13:20or the sons and daughters of immigrants,
0:13:20 > 0:13:25so it was very much an immigrants' city when the Dollingers were here.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26Two out of three?
0:13:26 > 0:13:28It's an amazing...
0:13:28 > 0:13:31I found something I wanted to share with you.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33I think it sums up your...
0:13:33 > 0:13:36family's story quite well
0:13:36 > 0:13:40and it's Philip Roth, Newark's great novelist,
0:13:40 > 0:13:41and he's talking about
0:13:41 > 0:13:45immigrant America.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46It starts there.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51"As a family, they still flew the flight of the immigrant rocket,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55"the upward, unbroken immigrant trajectory
0:13:55 > 0:13:59"from slave-driven great-grandfather to self-driven grandfather
0:13:59 > 0:14:03"to self-confident, accomplished, independent father
0:14:03 > 0:14:06"to the highest high flier of them all,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11"the fourth-generation child for whom America was to be heaven itself."
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Wow!
0:14:13 > 0:14:15So that would be your heavenly existence,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18but built on the shoulders and the backs
0:14:18 > 0:14:19of the Dollingers.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25I do get the feeling that the rules don't seem to apply in the same way to my generation.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31We CAN pursue, basically, whatever we want. We're not confined to
0:14:31 > 0:14:34just what's in our immediate vicinity.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I agree with that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39"The flight of the immigrant rocket." I love that!
0:14:45 > 0:14:51I feel that immigrant rocket took off and...I'm the one that benefited.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I think that I never
0:14:53 > 0:14:58really...looked at my history
0:14:58 > 0:15:02as something that truly, deeply affected me.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Life here was ordinary.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Well, it... It's about as ordinary as it gets
0:15:09 > 0:15:13and yet it feels extraordinary to me
0:15:13 > 0:15:18because it was MY family.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23I grew up in a very different world
0:15:23 > 0:15:25than my grandmother.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27I really am beginning to understand
0:15:27 > 0:15:30how hard it must have been for her.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Brooke's meeting Michelle Chubenko again,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38who's found more information about Theresa and her brother Edward.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40I did additional research,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44and I want to share those documents with you today.
0:15:44 > 0:15:50- OK.- This one may begin to answer some more of your questions about your grandmother.
0:15:50 > 0:15:51OK.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53This is Ida's death certificate.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57So this was Theresa's mom.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Date of death, January 12, 1919?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02- Yes. - She died at 38.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05She died of cancer. Uterine cancer.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06Uterine cancer.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09At 38. God.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13So my grandmother lost her mother when she was...
0:16:13 > 0:16:15- Ten. - Ten
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- That'll do it. - That'll do it.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22My grandmother then really did have to be a parent to...
0:16:22 > 0:16:23To her younger sibling.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25From the time that she was...
0:16:25 > 0:16:27that my grandmother was a little kid,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29she had to be an adult.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Yeah.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Really be an adult.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40So I do have one more document for you.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45We have a certificate of death for Edward.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Oh, my God.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53This is him.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Accidental drowning while she was taking care of him,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00presumably, where she was... There was no mom.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- There was no...yeah. - There was no mom.
0:17:03 > 0:17:0713 years old, one month, 15 days.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Yes.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Trade Profession - Schoolboy.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Mm-hmm.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21That's...wow. My, my, my. OK.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23SHE CLEARS HER THROAT
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Her younger brother that she was a mother to
0:17:30 > 0:17:33for eight years, basically.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36So it's like she lost a son as well as a brother.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Yeah.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Man, she didn't have it easy.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45This is deep loss.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48Your heart, then,
0:17:48 > 0:17:54just goes out...to her, you know?
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Michelle gave me an article on Edward's drowning,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10so I've come to the very spot where the incident occurred.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24"The drowning of Edward Dollinger
0:18:24 > 0:18:28"of 215 North 4th Street
0:18:28 > 0:18:30"was attributed to the heat.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33"He and other boys, pupils of Lincoln school,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36"had gone in bathing in the Passaic River.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"Dollinger could not swim.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43"As he was sinking, Joseph Weznick
0:18:43 > 0:18:45"grabbed him, but lost his hold.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47"The body was recovered by the police
0:18:47 > 0:18:50"near the scene of the drowning."
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Loss after loss after loss,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04it takes a toll on, you know, your soul.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14I don't think she could have healed from all these wounds, one after the other.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18It's sad. It's really, really sad.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22I understand my grandmother now.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26I understand how she could resent my mother.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29She was the oldest and she then
0:19:29 > 0:19:31had to take care of the family.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34My mom was the oldest and she ran away.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I have empathy for her and I...
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and I don't mind having it.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Now that Brooke has found some answers about her mother's family,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03she's returned to New York to research her father Frank's
0:20:03 > 0:20:06very different family history.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08My dad died in 2003,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and we never really spoke much about his family history.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15So I don't really know much about his side of the family.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18I do know that they were aristocrats.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22I do know that his mother was named Marina Torlonia,
0:20:22 > 0:20:26and that supposedly is a big name in Rome.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Some Italian...um, I don't know if it's nobility,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I have no real idea.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33I've seen snippets of pictures,
0:20:33 > 0:20:35but I really want to know how far they go back,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and really where my father came from.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Brooke has come to the New York Historical Society
0:20:45 > 0:20:48to meet genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- Hi.- Hello, nice to meet you.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55He's prepared a family tree that traces the Torlonia line,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58back from her father's mother, Marina,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01to the most prominent Torlonia of all, Giovanni,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04an 18th century banker.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07This one is a banker to the Vatican.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13- Wow.- Like, say, the Rothschilds, or other European families,
0:21:13 > 0:21:19they begin supplying kings with whatever's necessary
0:21:19 > 0:21:20for wars or what have you.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22How fascinating. Really?
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Yes, they made so much money, they could marry into the high nobility.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29That already is exciting to me.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32But we haven't gone any further up here.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33- That's right.- His father...
0:21:33 > 0:21:36so he was basically... well, he's a clock merchant.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- And then... - And that is...
0:21:39 > 0:21:40- So it stops there? - Yes.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42His origin is really unknown.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45It's thought that he may have changed the name.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Torlonia is not an ancient Italian name.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Ooh.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Where did they come from to get to there?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59You know, I mean, you found the bank,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02but where was his father?
0:22:02 > 0:22:05And where did his mother come from?
0:22:05 > 0:22:10I want to know what came before Marino Torlonia.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13I want to know more.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Brooke is travelling to Rome
0:22:16 > 0:22:22where her ancestor Giovanni Torlonia was the banker to the Vatican.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24In the 18th century,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Rome was one of the most important cities in Europe,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31a focal point of European culture, religion and commerce.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37So, I've come to Rome to find out more about
0:22:37 > 0:22:39my father's side of the family, the Torlonias.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43I want to know how they got so powerful.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45I would love it if I could have told him
0:22:45 > 0:22:47something that he didn't know.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52You know, cos I really don't know how much he knew.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53I think, more than anything,
0:22:53 > 0:22:58I think he would have been proud that I cared to do this,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00to make this effort.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Brooke knows that her ancestors Giovanni and Marino Torlonia
0:23:07 > 0:23:10bought their way into the nobility,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13but that they started as cloth merchants.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21She's come to the Via Condotti, to meet Daniela Felisini,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25who's written a book about the origins of the Torlonias.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29So what do we have here? What is this?
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Here, at the first floor,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37there was, in the beginning, a small textile shop and later
0:23:37 > 0:23:41textile and, let's say, small bank.
0:23:41 > 0:23:42And at the end, only the bank.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46That little bank grew into a big bank.
0:23:46 > 0:23:47- Yes, yes. - OK.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Giovanni was a very good entrepreneur.
0:23:50 > 0:23:57He has some sort of intelligence for business, for information,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02- for...he knows the keys of a business.- Right.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08At the end of the 18th century,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10when Giovanni was establishing the bank,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Napoleon and the French Army conquered northern Italy,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18creating an opportunity that Giovanni took advantage of.
0:24:18 > 0:24:25When the French Army arrived in Rome, at the end of the 18th century,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29he is supplier of the Army, of the French Army,
0:24:29 > 0:24:35and at the same time, the official Pope banker,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39but, above all, he built up the first private bank in Italy.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Not only Rome, but in Italy.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49He has branches in almost all the towns in Italy
0:24:49 > 0:24:53and also in Switzerland and France and Austria.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55God, he's a smart guy.
0:24:55 > 0:25:01But later, he has to build an identity as a member of Rome aristocracy.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So, he bought important properties,
0:25:04 > 0:25:10- one of them is not far from here in Rome.- Oh, really?
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Oh, my God, it's beautiful.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Can you imagine living here?
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Oh, my gosh!
0:25:27 > 0:25:29It's like a...
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Well, it is...a palace.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38We arrive now at Villa Torlonia,
0:25:38 > 0:25:44the summer house of the family. Giovanni bought the property
0:25:44 > 0:25:46from a very ancient Roman family.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- This is the ballroom for the party. - This is the ballroom?
0:25:53 > 0:25:58Just extraordinary. Look at the carving.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01All the angels and all of the...
0:26:01 > 0:26:03Oh! Look!
0:26:08 > 0:26:13And here, there is a sort of gallery of portraits of writers
0:26:13 > 0:26:16and kings and queens.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Oh, my gosh.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22It's just stunning.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28And also, Mussolini lived in the villa.
0:26:28 > 0:26:29- For real?!- Yeah.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Because Torlonia family rented to him
0:26:34 > 0:26:38- for a symbolic, erm...- Really?- Yes.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43- So, Mussolini paid rent?!- Yes! - To my family?!- Yes! - SHE LAUGHS
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Why not?! OK!
0:26:45 > 0:26:48I'm intrigued about Giovanni's origins.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51What did he come from that he was able to be
0:26:51 > 0:26:54that focused, that ambitious, and that smart?
0:26:54 > 0:26:58And you have to have a certain kind of character,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and I wonder where he came from to get that character?
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Daniela has discovered a document
0:27:03 > 0:27:06on Giovanni's father - Marino -
0:27:06 > 0:27:10that might finally tell me where the Torlonias came from.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14We have a wedding certificate of Marino Torlonia.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17He came from Giralo,
0:27:17 > 0:27:22with maybe the Italian transcription,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26of a name of a town in France.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Because we see Giralo is Italian for Augerolles.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34- He's French origin. - So, he's French origin.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36- Yes.- It's French origin.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39That is fascinating to me.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41I'm shocked at that.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43There's this other side of my brain
0:27:43 > 0:27:47which is just so French, so comfortable in France.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50I even majored in French Literature.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51So maybe that was it.
0:27:51 > 0:27:56Somewhere deep inside, I knew that there was a...
0:27:56 > 0:27:57something in my,
0:27:57 > 0:28:01in my make-up that came from France.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Now I want to go farther back and find out
0:28:05 > 0:28:07where he came from.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17To find out more about her ancestor Marino Torlonia's French ancestry,
0:28:17 > 0:28:21she's headed to the town of Augerolles in central France.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31To go from a cloth merchant to a successful banker...
0:28:31 > 0:28:33I want to know what made him so driven.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Where does that come from? Where does it start?
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Where's the germ of that?
0:28:37 > 0:28:41What was his childhood like? Where were his parents?
0:28:41 > 0:28:43And why leave France?
0:28:50 > 0:28:53I'm hoping that historian Carene Rabilloud
0:28:53 > 0:28:56will be able to tell me if Marino Torlonia
0:28:56 > 0:28:58was actually born here.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02And so my question is, did he come from France?
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Was he born here? Did he just come here? How...?
0:29:05 > 0:29:08I have the pleasure to show you
0:29:08 > 0:29:13the birth of your ancestor, Marin Torlonia, in France.
0:29:13 > 0:29:19And I have the pleasure to show the document of his birth.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21It's very, very old, very fragile.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27And you can read. It was baptism, Marin Torlonias,
0:29:27 > 0:29:32son of Antoine Torlonias.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35You're telling me they're French?
0:29:35 > 0:29:36Yes.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38Like French French.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40French French, yes. Really French.
0:29:40 > 0:29:41- Really French, OK.- Yes.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Not just in name, but in blood.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46- Yes. - OK, wow.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49Well, so he was born here in France.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51That's amazing.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53So Marino Torlonia
0:29:53 > 0:29:56was actually born Marin Torlonias
0:29:56 > 0:29:59in rural France in 1725.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02So how did Marin get to Rome?
0:30:02 > 0:30:07Because the priest of this church was the grand uncle of Marin,
0:30:07 > 0:30:12the priest was appointed by the very famous abbot,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16so Marin became the servant of the abbot.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19Carene told me a fascinating story
0:30:19 > 0:30:23about how the abbot had been sentenced
0:30:23 > 0:30:26to be under house arrest for evidently being a spy.
0:30:26 > 0:30:32Marin helped mastermind the escape.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36They went all through Europe hiding in various churches
0:30:36 > 0:30:38and ending up in Rome.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42That's when Marin changed his name to Marino
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and basically my Italian heritage
0:30:45 > 0:30:47now begins in Rome.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52So let's go back a little bit.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54- His parents stayed here. - Yes.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59We have found the house of the family Torlonias
0:30:59 > 0:31:03just five kilometres from Augerolles.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05- Here? - In Marat.
0:31:05 > 0:31:06- Hah! - Yes.
0:31:06 > 0:31:07You did? You found THE house?
0:31:07 > 0:31:09- Yes. THE house. - OK!
0:31:09 > 0:31:11- THE house. - Wow.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Of the family Torlonias.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19So I think Dad would have been
0:31:19 > 0:31:22very excited about this.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25IMITATING FATHER: You went all the way out there? What did you do that for?
0:31:25 > 0:31:28SHE LAUGHS
0:31:28 > 0:31:29And then...but he'd love it.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33He'd love it. Maybe I'll get to tell him one day.
0:31:47 > 0:31:53We can hear the snow crunching under our feet.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00We're going to where Marin's parents lived.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04This is the house that he most likely lived
0:32:04 > 0:32:07with his parents and his siblings.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10This is it.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20This is the house that he lived in
0:32:20 > 0:32:24almost 300 years ago before he left for Italy.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30It's very simple, humble beginnings.
0:32:30 > 0:32:36But how enterprising... To start here and end up
0:32:36 > 0:32:40arguably one of the most powerful families
0:32:40 > 0:32:42in Rome.
0:32:44 > 0:32:45I like that this is where he started,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48and then when you look at the palace and the museum
0:32:48 > 0:32:51and how opulent Giovanni made that
0:32:51 > 0:32:56and how he went...I mean, basically, he came from this.
0:32:58 > 0:33:03They sort of invaded aristocracy, and they invaded nobility,
0:33:03 > 0:33:05and they claimed it.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08And you think that this is where it all began.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13This is where he left this, to find a new world.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15And he found it.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18This is one of my favourite parts of the journey.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22Just because it feels like this was where it all started.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25I'm shocked of the French origin of all of this.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Maybe it's a long shot,
0:33:27 > 0:33:29but why would I have decided to study French
0:33:29 > 0:33:32of all things, you know, at college?
0:33:32 > 0:33:35And so it's kind of exciting to see that
0:33:35 > 0:33:36there is a connection somewhere
0:33:36 > 0:33:39between me and that language and my ancestry.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46I mean, I feel linked to this family.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48And it's...it's a great feeling
0:33:48 > 0:33:51because I never knew any of it existed.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06The scroll I was given has been invaluable.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10I found out all I can about the Torlonias.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Now, I'm using it to explore another branch
0:34:12 > 0:34:14of my father's family that stretches back
0:34:14 > 0:34:16more than 400 years.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19All the way at the top of the other side of the scroll
0:34:19 > 0:34:23is an intriguing figure, Christine Marie.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27She has the title underneath her of Madame Royale.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29Um, sort of want to know
0:34:29 > 0:34:31how is she connected to all this.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33She's the only one that has the word "Royale"
0:34:33 > 0:34:36after her name, so...
0:34:36 > 0:34:39and not being satisfied without the least bit
0:34:39 > 0:34:44of royal blood in my veins, I must find out about her.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52OK, Christine Marie... Marie de France.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57OK, she was born in...at the Palais du Louvre.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59Palais du... The Louvre?
0:34:59 > 0:35:02She was born in the Louvre? Is that possible?!
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Can you be born in the Louvre?
0:35:04 > 0:35:08The Palais du Louvre in Paris,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10on the right bank of the Seine
0:35:10 > 0:35:12is a former royal palace.
0:35:12 > 0:35:14So she was born in the Louvre.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17That's wild! SHE LAUGHS
0:35:19 > 0:35:23So there is royal blood in there.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26We need to go to chez Marie.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29AKA the Louvre. SHE LAUGHS
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Brooke has come to the Louvre,
0:35:40 > 0:35:45today, one of the most famous museums in the world.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47- Hello, there. - Hi.- Let me find you a seat.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49Pleasure, thank you.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52She's meeting genealogist Charles Mosley,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55an expert in royal families.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57That's Christine, or Christine Marie up there.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Madame Royale.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Christine Marie, she was born in the Louvre.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04She was born in the Louvre.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07And there's a document here
0:36:07 > 0:36:10detailing her baptism.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16Her father was Henry IV, your ancestor.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Do you know who Henry IV was?
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Apart from the fact that he was the King of France.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22Not much more than that he was the king of France.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Well, he is the founder of the Bourbon dynasty,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27which everybody thinks of as the classic French dynasty
0:36:27 > 0:36:30because it remained the French dynasty
0:36:30 > 0:36:31until the revolution.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33And he was a great lover.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35He had many mistresses, many illegitimate children.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39But he also continued the line of the kings of France,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43which was very important in those days. And Henry IV and his successors
0:36:43 > 0:36:47were the greatest experts in building up the prestige
0:36:47 > 0:36:49of the monarchy, the French monarchy.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50Which is why France still retains
0:36:50 > 0:36:52its terrific prestige that it does today.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Where we're sitting now is a huge building
0:36:54 > 0:36:57overlooking a vast courtyard much bigger than
0:36:57 > 0:36:59anything we have in Britain.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02And it is the great palace in which Henry IV,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04your ancestor, lived.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Wow.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12This is Saint-Denis.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14It's where the remains of the kings of France
0:37:14 > 0:37:18are kept in sort of honourable retirement.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25- Look at that. Isn't that stupendous? - Beautiful!
0:37:30 > 0:37:32- Here we are. - OK.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34This chamber here contains the hearts
0:37:34 > 0:37:36of some of the kings of France.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39- Now let's try and open that gate. - Oh.- Do you want to push it,
0:37:39 > 0:37:41- or shall I? - Oh, OK. My knees are weak.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49- OK.- There you've got the hearts of various kings of France.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Your ancestor, Henry IV, he is in the middle row,
0:37:53 > 0:37:54on the far left.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58- Yes, indeed.- (Can I touch it?)
0:37:58 > 0:38:00Ooh, God.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Get in trouble. But I have to do it.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Yeah, I think you're right. No, no, no.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08- If anybody's entitled to...- Wooh! - I...well, I don't know.
0:38:08 > 0:38:09It's your property
0:38:09 > 0:38:13- more than anybody else's around here.- I've just touched Henry IV's heart.
0:38:13 > 0:38:18Do you feel better? More solemn? More wise? More...
0:38:18 > 0:38:21It's just extraordinary that this even exists,
0:38:21 > 0:38:26and the fact that there's a connection that I honestly have to it.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29It's...I do feel awestruck about it.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31It just keeps getting better. Like, I keep thinking,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33"Oh, this is the culmination of it," you know.
0:38:33 > 0:38:34It can't be better than this.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37What more could possibly be revealed to me? I...
0:38:37 > 0:38:40at this point, I've stopped even trying
0:38:40 > 0:38:42to figure it out, I can't imagine.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56Here's Henry IV, your ancestor,
0:38:56 > 0:38:58who I hope you're not yet bored with.
0:38:58 > 0:38:59Oh, no. SHE LAUGHS
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Um, but yet another depiction of him,
0:39:01 > 0:39:02perhaps the best of the lot
0:39:02 > 0:39:05in as much as it's three-dimensional.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09And now let us turn to his much more famous grandson,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11Louis XIV.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14He built this vast palace in which we are now, Versailles.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17This man, the most powerful king of his time,
0:39:17 > 0:39:20perhaps of all time, certainly the greatest,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22most glorious king in European history,
0:39:22 > 0:39:26is your first cousin, many generations removed.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30I...I... that's all too much.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32No matter where you turn, I'm connected somehow.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34- Exactly, you are connected. - I am connected.
0:39:34 > 0:39:35I DO feel connected. You made me feel...
0:39:35 > 0:39:38You're even more connected, as you'll find out in a minute.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43That is the Battle Of Taillebourg,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46won by Saint Louis, your direct ancestor.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49So you're looking at about 25 generations back from you.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53He is the French king from whom Henry IV descends.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57He is the father of all those kings of France.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59And on top of that, he's a saint.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Not that usual for a king to be a saint.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- It's extraordinary. - Yeah.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Yesterday, you were looking at
0:40:07 > 0:40:10the small remains of your ancestor.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Today you're seeing a pictorial representation.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16A representation that brings out the drama,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19the glory, and I suppose one has to say
0:40:19 > 0:40:20the glamour.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23- And the passion.- Oh, yes, absolutely.
0:40:23 > 0:40:24Wow.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28It's...that's fascinating to me, it's fascinating.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Here, we have Hugh.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41- And he is your direct ancestor also. - How?- Although he lived over 1,000 years ago.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Because he's an ancestor of Saint Louis, who we've discussed already.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Well, how do you feel, then?
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Um, now...now I'm awestruck.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53It's pretty impressive.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I mean, I've come across quite a few extraordinary genealogical links.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Never anything like this. A saint, a pope.
0:40:58 > 0:41:04You come from some good popes too. Paul III. He wasn't a bad pope.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08He wasn't good enough, of course, to, erm...how can I say? Keep his trousers on!
0:41:08 > 0:41:12But you have a saint in the family, and you have a great king,
0:41:12 > 0:41:14and you have a still greater king,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16and you've got Philip II, who's not a bad king,
0:41:16 > 0:41:21Charles V, a great emperor, Ferdinand, another emperor.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22You've got it all!
0:41:22 > 0:41:25- I've got it all. - Everything. - SHE LAUGHS
0:41:25 > 0:41:27I'm not sure what to do with it, but...
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- Well, guard it carefully.- Enjoy it, I will, I guard it.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32I will guard it with my heart. Thank you.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41This has been an amazing exploration
0:41:41 > 0:41:43of both sides of my family.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47Being able to sort of find your place
0:41:47 > 0:41:50in the grand scheme of things,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53there's something empowering about it.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58What's so funny about these two pictures,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00I always asked myself the question,
0:42:00 > 0:42:04who was I more like? Which side did I belong on?
0:42:04 > 0:42:08And I felt the need to define it.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11I used to feel that I was always sort of
0:42:11 > 0:42:14one foot in each door, sort of straddling this fence.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18And after this whole journey, I feel much more deeply connected
0:42:18 > 0:42:22with the European side as well as with the American side.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24It's been very freeing to me
0:42:24 > 0:42:29to realise that I don't have to solely come from one side.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37I'm just looking forward to imparting what I've learned
0:42:37 > 0:42:41and telling my children where we all came from.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44And even if they don't fully understand it now,
0:42:44 > 0:42:48this'll be a huge piece of their puzzle.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53I do feel part of something bigger,
0:42:53 > 0:42:54and now the desire that I have
0:42:54 > 0:42:57to share it with my daughters is even stronger.
0:43:10 > 0:43:15Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:43:15 > 0:43:18E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk