Malcolm Turnbull’s famous family connections

MALCOLM Turnbull has carved out a name for himself after becoming Australia’s 29th Prime Minster but he’s not the first person in his family to make headlines, with genetic links to a former radical political leader and an international television star.
Mr Turnbull’s great, great uncle was one of the most radical leaders of the English Labour Party in the 1920s, George Lansbury. Mr Lansbury was a British politician and social reformer who led the UK Labour Party from 1932-1935.
Ancestry content director Ben Mercer said the family connection was significant considering both Mr Turnbull’s and Mr Lansbury’s political differences.
“(Mr Turnbull’s) uncle sat very, very firmly in the Labour Party in the UK,” he said.
“He was seen to be a people’s champion because after World War I he was very active defending the rights of workers and was imprisoned over the defence of them with protests in the UK.
“Given (Mr Turnbull) has been praised as one of the most ‘left’ liberal leaders, it’s interesting to discover that his family roots date back to one of the most radical leaders in the 1920s who led the Labour movement.”
George’s uncle, Thomas Lansbury, was Malcolm’s great grandfather.
“It’s quite a close connection, a direct line,” Mr Mercer said.
George’s nephew, Arthur Thomas Lansbury, came to Australia in 1884 and married Ellen Selena Smith in Newcastle in 1887.
“They had three children in Australia, and then returned to England,” Mr Mercer said.
“Their middle child Oscar Vincent Stephen Lansbury returned to Australia with his wife May (nee Morle) in 1928 — one year later they had Coral Magnolia Lansbury, Malcolm’s mother.”
But it’s not just Mr Turnbull’s political lineage that makes for an interesting connection.
He’s also a distant relative of legendary British actor Angela Lansbury, of Murder, She Wrote fame.
According to Mr Mercer, Ms Lansbury was a distant connection on Mr Turnbull’s mother’s side of the family.
The Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winning actor has starred in a string of TV series and movies, including Driving Miss Daisy, throughout her career which spans seven decades.
She is now aged 89.
Mr Turnbull told news.com.au that he met Ms Lansbury for the first time on a trip to the US as part of the G’day USA celebrations early this year.
He watched Ms Lansbury’s show Blithe Spirit in San Francisco and “took the time to visit her, have dinner and see the show”.