Who Do You Think You Are? S20E05 - Chris and Xand van Tulleken

Doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken are identical twins, medical doctors and science broadcasters. They grew up in London, surrounded by old paintings and documents commemorating a host of characters from their Dutch ancestry. But despite the wealth of the family archive, the twins know very little about their Dutch family history, except how to pronounce their surname correctly and rumours of a connection to Dutch nobility.

A chat with mum and dad provides some intriguing clues, a coat of arms that no-one can translate, a silver shovel that hints at an Indonesian connection and a document about a Dutch sea captain with links to the British Navy. Keen to find out the family stories behind all these familiar but mysterious artefacts, Chris and Xand start with sea captain Jan Tulleken and head to Chatham Docks.

They soon uncover the eventful seafaring career of their four-times great-grandfather Jan Tulleken, a staunch royalist who joined the Dutch navy at 13 and, as war engulfed the Netherlands, was exiled in England alongside his leader, the prince of Orange.

Chris and Xand follow the trail of Jan back to the Netherlands, where they discover how Jan was tasked to protect Dutch trade routes against Algerian pirates – a mission that ended in failure. Undaunted by his tarnished reputation, Jan applied for noble status. Excited to finally get to the bottom of their noble roots, a trip to The Hague's Supreme Council of Nobility brings Chris and Xand firmly back down to earth.

By following Jan's line further back, the twins uncover a letter that reveals an Ambrosius Tulleken, Jan's father and the twins' five-times great-grandfather, who died in Demerara (now Guyana,) which at the time was a Dutch colony. Following this lead reveals a troubling story.

The twins also believe there is a family connection with Indonesia and taking the silver shovel to an expert reveals the story of their three-times great-grandfather Hendrik de Bruijn, a Dutch engineer working on canals in Indonesia who married Maria de la Brethoniere, the daughter of a French coffee baron and an Indonesian woman. Chris and Xand have confirmed their Indonesian heritage and as they learn more about their three-times great-grandparents, the twins are moved to read a document that recounts Hendrik's profound grief after his wife's death, suggesting that this was a marriage of deep love.

For Chris and Xand, it's a journey that has changed them forever, as they've found answers about their name and their heritage that were previously unknown and entirely unexpected.