A hairdresser form Nottinghamshire has travelled to Wrexham to pay homage to her long-lost relative – Hollywood superstar Russell Crowe.
Tarnia Rodgers, from New Houghton, near Mansfield, had the shock of her life when she made the exciting discovery that she is a long-lost second cousin to the Gladiator icon, recalling her exact words to be ‘Don’t be so ridiculous’.
After months of tracing her family history, she unearthed links to Canada and New Zealand, and now new connections in Wrexham thanks to research carried out by the owners the Pendine Park care organisation that’s celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Pendine proprietors Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, were investigating the history of one of their homes, Hillbury House, when they found the incredible link with the New Zealand-born Australian actor.
The house itself, a red brick Victorian villa, was originally built in 1864 for a wealthy local businessman, John Bury.
Fast forward nearly a century and it was bought by Russell Crowe’s great uncle, Frank Crowe, Tarnia’s grandfather Eric’s brother, who ran a successful fruit and veg company called Crofruit.
Russell’s great grandparents, Shropshire-born Fred and Kezia, from Wrexham, emigrated to Canada in June 1925 along with 12 of their 13 children.
His grandfather, John, stayed behind to run Crofruit. His older brother, Frank returned from Canada in 1927 to help John run the business.
“It seems that John decided to emigrate himself, to New Zealand where he married and had two children, David and Alex, Russell’s father. The family later moved to Australia when Russell was still a child.
Mario found Hillbury House’s link with the Crowe family when he was studying the deeds.
The document signed by Frank Crowe on May 31, 1954, reveals he paid £6,000 for the property.
The Crowes lived there until 1965 when they sold Hillbury for £12,500 to the Sisters of Nazareth who established a care home there.
After making the exciting discovery, Mario launched a search to find any long lost relatives of the Crowe family to help them mark a celebration of 60 years of care at Hillbury which became part of Pendine in 2003.
Tarnia’s partner Nigel Oliver stumbled upon the news story when telling a friend about her links to Hollywood, later making contact with Pendine to find out more information.
Her late father Glen Rodgers – who was born Roger Barry Crowe – and her mother Barbara ran a guest house. Roger used to be in the forces and served in Germany from the age of 20 and later became a singer in the pubs and clubs.
She was born in Nottingham, however the family relocated to Sunderland and she now lives in New Houghton with Nigel and her two sons, Cole and Owen.
Tarnia, 51, who has also traced her fascinating family history back to world famous cricketers Jeff and Martin Crowe, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out I was a second cousin to Russell Crowe.
“My client Ian had been helping me to trace my roots and when he told me about the link I said ‘Don’t be so ridiculous’. When I realised it was true I had to have a very large brandy!”
Tarnia – who was a huge Russell Crowe fan even before making the discovery of family links in 2021 – says her favourite film of all time is Gladiator.
She added: “Now I know about the link I can really see the resemblance in my sons and nephews. They definitely have a look of Russell about them!
“We love North Wales and visit often but this has been our first time in Wrexham. It has been lovely and we have received a fantastic welcome from everyone and it has been fascinating to see where my relatives lived.”
Asked if she had a message for her long-lost second cousin, Tarnia said: “I would say to him ‘Please can I come to your next film premiere’!”
Tarnia and Nigel, who have been together for 28 years plan to move to North Wales to enjoy their retirement together and are considering setting up home in Wrexham.
Mario, who along with wife Gill, operates nine care homes in Wrexham and Caernarfon, with 440 beds and more than 860 employees, said: “It is a great privilege and pleasure to welcome Tarnia and Nigel to show them around the property and help them to explore Tarnia’s links to the Crowe family.
“We put out the appeal following our research and can’t believe that someone got in touch so quickly. It’s a bit surreal but very exciting.
“Meeting Tarnia has been yet another opportunity to find out more about the history of Hillbury. Our residents and staff are fascinated by the story of yet another Hollywood link for Wrexham in addition to the celebrity owners of our resurgent football club.
“Russell Crowe and his family, and of course any other relatives, would always be welcome at Hillbury to find out more about their family’s roots.”
Residents and staff at Hillbury were thrilled to hear about the home’s connection with the movie legend, including manager Cindy Clutton.
Cindy started working at the home as a Saturday girl in 1982 and went to work there when it was called Nazareth House and run by the nuns.
She left to further her career in social care and worked for Wrexham Council before being recruited by Pendine 25 years ago to manage care services and Hillbury and she now also manages the Gwern Alyn home next door.
She said: “It has been lovely to welcome Tarnia and Nigel here and to find out even more about the house’s history.
“It would be really nice if Russell could come and visit – we’d be delighted if he came to Wrexham to retrace his family roots.
“He’d be more than welcome – we’d give him a cup of tea and a Welsh cake.”
