Univ Archivist Robin Darwall-Smith with Will Young

British pop icon and actor Will Young recently appeared on the BBC show Who do you think you are? The episode, which first aired on 3 June on BBC One, saw Will trace his family genealogy and brought him to Univ.

Will grew up in Hungerford, Berkshire, with his parents, an older sister and a twin brother. He spent time with his maternal grandparents but knew very little about his father’s side, particularly his paternal grandfather, Digby Young, who died of barbiturate poisoning aged 50.

While talking to his aunt, Will heard that Digby had come to Oxford from Australia in order train as a doctor at Univ, Will began tracking down more information about his grandfather and visited the College, where he learnt more about his early life and studies from historian Simon Sleight.

Digby Young

At Univ, Will had the opportunity to read a number of archive documents which shed light on his father’s side of the family. Seated in the College Hall, Will learned that this three times great grandfather, Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, had been governor of the colony of South Australia between 1840 and 1850 before becoming governor of Tasmania.

Simon then showed Will the entry register for Univ which Digby Young had signed on joining the college. Will also read a 1937 newspaper article which detailed his grandfather’s success as swimming team captain.

Digby Young’s entry in the Admissions Register

Will learned that his grandfather had been awarded a fourth-class degree in Physiology before continuing his medical training at St Mary’s in London. While completing his studies both in Oxford and London, Digby had been a Volunteer Reserve Pilot in the Royal Air Force. In 1939, he joined the RAF full-time aged 23, just a month before the outbreak of World War II. Sadly, Digby was shot down at the start of the war and remained in a prisoner of war for five years.

Will himself lived and worked in Oxford when he was younger. He shared his surprise that he had spent time working at The Grand Café on High Street, just a few metres away from where his grandfather had lived and studied.

During the show, Will reflected on how moving it was to learn more about his grandfather and how seeing archival documents had enabled him to see his grandfather in a new light. Univ’s archivist Dr Robin Darwall-Smith, was on hand during the filming that took place within the College, providing Will and the BBC team with insight into the various documents on show and supporting the researcher with detailed explanations.

To watch the whole episode, please visit BBC iPlayer.

Published: 19 June 2025

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