BBC journalist Laura Ancell’s search for long-lost Kiwi connection in podcast DNA Trail: The Promise

BBC journalist Laura Ancell pictured as a teenager with her father Billy. Photo / Laura Ancell

British journalist Laura Ancell’s dad, Billy, never knew his father – only that he was from New Zealand. When Billy died of cancer in 2006, Ancell and her mum promised to find his biological family. Here, she tells the Herald’s Bethany Reitsma how that search took them from the beaches of Brighton to the hills of the Manawatū in Aotearoa and even led her to challenge New Zealand law.

BBC journalist Laura Ancell, based in Hampshire, the UK, has been telling other people’s stories for 14 years. Now, she’s released a podcast revealing how turning her investigative skills to her own family history led her to New Zealand.

DNA Trail: The Promise follows Ancell and her mum Jayne’s journey to finding her dad Billy’s biological father, across eight episodes.

“It’s a very personal and brutally honest story about the promise that me and my mum made to my dad on his deathbed in 2006,” Ancell, 36, tells the Herald.

Billy Ancell learned in his 30s that his father, William Anderson, served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and had been stationed in Brighton during World War II, where he met Billy’s mum, Madeleine. It wasn’t until Anderson went home to New Zealand that Madeleine discovered she was pregnant with his child.

Billy managed to make contact with Anderson, who promised to send him a photo of himself - but he never did, nor did he reply to any of Billy’s letters.

Laura Ancell, far right, pictured with her dad Billy and mum Jayne. Photo / Laura Ancell

Billy died of cancer in 2006. Having promised him they would find his biological family, Ancell and her mum first visited New Zealand in 2011 as part of their search, which would take them to Levin, Palmerston North, Foxton, Auckland and Whanganui.

“I remember standing at the top of a big hill with Mum and us shouting up to the sky ‘we’ve found your family daddy'!” the journalist recalls.

“He was an incredible dad and I miss him terribly. He loved to play the flamenco guitar, he was so funny – a real joker and always unbelievably positive – even throughout his cancer diagnosis.”

Has making the podcast brought a sense of closure? It’s “complicated”.

“We still miss him every day, but knowing that we’ve fulfilled our promise to him has brought a sense of peace and connection that we didn’t have before.

BBC journalist Laura Ancell has released a podcast titled DNA Trail: The Promise. Photo / BBC

“Making the podcast has forced me to listen to his voice for the first time in almost 20 years. That was very emotional because I didn’t recognise it at first. I was only 17 when he passed away and I don’t think I really processed that grief until now.”

If Billy were alive, Ancell thinks he would be “truly shocked” at her discoveries.

“Ultimately, I think he’d be proud of me and Mum for uncovering the truth.”

DNA Trail: The Promise makes for a compelling listen, full of twists and turns, laughter and tears. It’s sure to resonate with Kiwis familiar with investigative journalist David Lomas’ Missing Pieces and David Lomas Investigates.

Ancell says New Zealanders will be able to identify with her story because “it’s about identity, whānau and belonging – things that resonate deeply in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Laura Ancell says if her dad were alive, he would be “truly shocked” at her discoveries. Photo / Laura Ancell

“So many people have family histories shaped by migration, separation and reconnection, so I hope my journey will feel familiar, even if the specifics are different.

“I hope the podcast sparks conversations about family history and encourages people to reach out, ask questions and embrace the connections that make them who they are.”

She hopes UK listeners with New Zealand ancestry will be inspired to take a closer look at their heritage.

“More than anything, I hope it inspires people to ask questions while they still can, document their family stories and embrace the idea that genealogy is about more than just names on a family tree — it’s about belonging.”

That search for belonging led Ancell to apply for New Zealand citizenship, only to be told that although her dad had a Kiwi father, he wouldn’t have been entitled to citizenship because his parents were unmarried. This meant Ancell couldn’t apply for citizenship by descent either.

Laura Ancell became a New Zealand citizen in 2023. Photo / Laura Ancell

She challenged that decision through the Human Rights Commission and was eventually invited to reapply under “exceptional circumstances”, becoming a citizen in 2023.

Ancell then started a petition for a law change to recognise the children of unmarried parents as having a right to New Zealand citizenship. She did this as a private individual, independent of her role with the BBC.

“I hope they [the Petitions Committee] will recognise the historical injustice that has prevented children of New Zealanders born out of wedlock before 1977 from claiming citizenship by descent,” she says.

“During WWII there were a number of war babies who this would affect and of course the marital status of the parents was entirely out of their control.

“If the decision is positive, it would acknowledge and hopefully change the arbitrary rules based on outdated social norms and how they still negatively affect generations today. It would mean others with a Kiwi parent, who have always had a legitimate connection to New Zealand, can finally be recognised as citizens and reconnect with their whakapapa and heritage.”

That heritage is something Ancell is “so proud of”.

“Even though I’ve spent much of my life in the UK, Aotearoa New Zealand has always been a part of my identity and reconnecting with my family through DNA has only strengthened that bond, making me feel even more connected to this beautiful country.”

You can listen to DNA Trail: The Promise on the BBC Sounds website or wherever you get your podcasts, with episodes released weekly.

Bethany Reitsma is an Auckland-based journalist covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2019. She specialises in telling Kiwis’ real-life stories, money-saving hacks and anything even remotely related to coffee.