Olivia Colman won Oscar for the Best Actress in a leading role for her movie ‘the Favourite’ at the 91st Academy Awards 2019.
A few months back the actress travelled to India to find her hidden roots that were laid in Bihar’s Kishanganj.
Shooting the episode of British Documentary series, ‘who do you think you are’, Colman travelled to India to search the connections she has with the country. The actress who lived in Norfolk was surprised to know that she has links to India.
During the episode, the actress discovered that her great-great-great-great grandfather from maternal side Richard Campbell Bazett, who worked in London and Kolkata for East India Company, has a son Charles, his wife Harriot happens to be great great great grandmother of Colman who was born in Kishanganj in 1807.
Olivia visited former British Club in Kishanganj where she found Harriot’s marriage certificate and she was also told that Harriot’s mother was not British and was probably a local lady.
Harriot’s grandmother paid for her to be taken from India to England after her father died.
Further, Olivia found that Harriot came back to Calcutta from England when she was 24-25 year old. She married William Trigg Garrett in 1832. Also, Oliva found that Harriot was not there in the official records after her husband’s death in 1833.
In 1838, Harriot married again to Bazett’s son Charles and returned to India after their wedding.
Olivia Colman says, “I thought there was nobody exotic in my family. I was so wrong! … I hadn’t got a clue that India played any part of my family. I was very surprised at how much I ended up caring about her [Harriot], someone I’d never heard of before. Then to find out that her mum was a local Kishanganj woman, that’s the most exciting bit.”
Olivia Colman wins her first Oscar