6 Things You Didn’t Know about Hannah Waddingham’s Roots

Manx, Music, Military, Moxie and More

Hannah Waddingham on March 20, 2023 in the Oval Office of the White House (P20230320AS-2571, cropped) (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz). For more, check out these delightful photos of President Biden and First Lady Biden meeting with the cast of “Ted Lasso”.

What can’t Hannah Waddingham do? I’m late to the party discovering her talents in her portrayal of team owner, Rebecca Welton, in Ted Lasso, but oh, how I wish I had seen her in Spamalot, Into the Woods, or Wizard of Oz. And if I weren’t enchanted enough already, her turn as one of Eurovision 2023’s hosts — seemingly having the time of her life and casually dropping bons mots en français and even the occasional Ukrainian — sealed it.

So it was all but inevitable that I would take a genealogical dive to learn more about the family that has given us Ms. Waddingham, and it didn’t disappoint.

Londoner-Manx Mix

In broad strokes, her father’s family tree has been firmly planted in London for generations, while her mother’s is from the Isle of Man. Dashes of Devon, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, and Oxfordshire make an appearance, along with a smidge (1/32nd) of German (hello, Cologne!) and two other countries I’ll explore shortly, but London and Ellan Vannin get the bulk of the credit. It was her mother’s musical talent that brought her to London linking the two sides — and that leads to my next discovery.

Music Is in Her Blood

Hannah’s mother, Melodie, grew up singing, notching contest wins from the time her age had barely reached double digits. At 23, she became the first Manx singer to join the company of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. But she wasn’t the first gifted singer in the family. In fact, Hannah is at least a fourth generation musical performer on her Manx side.

When her mother’s parents married, the local newspaper proclaimed, “Wedding of Two Well Known Vocalists,” and noted that both hailed from musical families. The bride was also praised for her piano forte skills, while the groom’s sister provided the organ accompaniment for the event.

And though the gift of musicality is pronounced in her mother’s bloodline, it’s not absent from her father’s. One of her fourth great-grandfathers was a musician as were most of his sons. While I had difficulty pinning down anything more specific, he once listed himself as a professor suggesting that he taught, there’s a…