Sarah Jessica Parker is shocked by her bewitching family history

Jun 13 2010 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

WHILE we wait for new British episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?, we can keep our genealogy hands in with the American version of the show.

Cleverly timed to coincide with the release of Sex And The City 2, it features Sarah Jessica Parker.

The actress, who has become synonymous with the character of Carrie Bradshaw, shoes and a walk-in-wardrobe, delves into her family history and discovers some fascinating skeletons in her ancestral closet.

She knew she had Jewish roots and that her family came from Germany, and she always assumed her ancestors were recent immigrants to the United States.

But she is surprised to discover her family goes back quite a long way in American history – and that members were present at key events, like the Californian gold rush, which led an ancestor to a tragic end.

SJP is particularly taken aback to be told that one of her relatives was accused of witchcraft at the Salem Witch Trials.

She says: “I really cannot express how shocked I was to know that I have kin who were accused. I felt nauseous, it was physically upsetting.

“Taking part in the programme has changed everything about how I thought I was. I went in thinking I wasn’t connected to anything historical. I was terribly wrong, thrillingly.”

Who Do You Think You Are?, BBC1, Sunday, 9.15pm