Genealogist urges Kiwis to trace family history after Russell Crowe's shock revelation

As the holiday period comes to a close, genealogists say so too does the best time to discover your heritage.

Russell Crowe has taken to Twitter - having just found out he's a direct descendent of a polarising historical figure.

And you too could uncover a long-lost historical celebrity in your family tree.

Russell Crowe's got something new to crow about.

The film star's family lineage has long been the stuff of legend for Kiwi sports fans - he was the cousin of New Zealand cricket star Martin Crowe.

And now it appears he's a direct descendent of a historical figure known by some as the 'Old Fox'.

In a tweet that's since gone viral, Crowe revealed a dig into his family history uncovered he's a direct descendent of one 'Simon Fraser'.

In 1747 the Scotsman was the last person to be beheaded at the Tower of London.

Fraser was played by Clive Russell in the hit show Outlander.

He was renowned for feuding and changing allegiances in the early 1700s.

And as Crowe also pointed out, the moment of his beheading was notable - for another reason.

One of the bleachers set up so people could view the execution collapsed, killing 20 people. Fraser is said to have found this quite humorous.

It's an incredible claim to fame - one that has genealogists encouraging Kiwis to go on their own paths of discovery.

"We can always find something interesting in our history," said Fiona Brooker, chief memory officer and genealogist at Memories in Time.

Brooker helps people in Aotearoa do just that. She said there's no better time to start than now.

"A lot of us unfortunately don't get around to this idea of doing this until all the people that we should have been asking these questions of have sadly passed away," she said.

"And this time of the year is a great time to do it because obviously we are often sitting around tables together and having meals - and it's amazing what stories suddenly come out."

Who knows - you too could have an unknown ancestor already written in the history books. Because as Crowe knows all too well: "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

As the holiday period comes to a close, genealogists say so too does the best time to discover your heritage.

Russell Crowe has taken to Twitter - having just found out he's a direct descendent of a polarising historical figure.

And you too could uncover a long-lost historical celebrity in your family tree.

Russell Crowe's got something new to crow about.

The film star's family lineage has long been the stuff of legend for Kiwi sports fans - he was the cousin of New Zealand cricket star Martin Crowe.

And now it appears he's a direct descendent of a historical figure known by some as the 'Old Fox'.

In a tweet that's since gone viral, Crowe revealed a dig into his family history uncovered he's a direct descendent of one 'Simon Fraser'.

In 1747 the Scotsman was the last person to be beheaded at the Tower of London.

Fraser was played by Clive Russell in the hit show Outlander.

He was renowned for feuding and changing allegiances in the early 1700s.

And as Crowe also pointed out, the moment of his beheading was notable - for another reason.

One of the bleachers set up so people could view the execution collapsed, killing 20 people. Fraser is said to have found this quite humorous.

It's an incredible claim to fame - one that has genealogists encouraging Kiwis to go on their own paths of discovery.

"We can always find something interesting in our history," said Fiona Brooker, chief memory officer and genealogist at Memories in Time.

Brooker helps people in Aotearoa do just that. She said there's no better time to start than now.

"A lot of us unfortunately don't get around to this idea of doing this until all the people that we should have been asking these questions of have sadly passed away," she said.

"And this time of the year is a great time to do it because obviously we are often sitting around tables together and having meals - and it's amazing what stories suddenly come out."

Who knows - you too could have an unknown ancestor already written in the history books. Because as Crowe knows all too well: "What we do in life echoes in eternity."

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