JACOB Rees-Mogg is a former Conservative MP and aristocrat who has a long and complicated family tree.
The controversial politician announced that he would be taking TV viewers behind the scenes of his life on the reality TV series Meet the Rees-Moggs.
Jacob is married to Helena Anne Beatrice Wentworth Fitzwilliam de ChairGetty Images
Jacob’s life in politics
Jacob Rees-Mogg was born in Hammersmith, London, on May 24, 1969.
He is a descendant of the Rees-Mogg family of Cholwell, Cameley and was raised in Ston Easton Park, a country house in Somerset.
Jacob’s nanny Veronica Cook played a big role in his upbringing and she continues to have a close relationship to the family today.
The aristocrat opened a Coutts bank account at the age of 13 and became interested in stock markets at a young age.
He attended Oxford University, where he achieved an upper second-class honours degree in History, and became president of the Oxford University Conservative Association.
Cherwell, a student paper, described him as running a “campaign for world domination and social adequacy”.
Jacob began working in investment management and started his own fund named Somerset Capital.
Jacob unsuccessfully ran to be a Conservative MP in both the 1997 and 2001 general elections.
He finally won a seat in 2010 and became a prominent figure in the Brexit movement.
Jacob lost his seat to Dan Norris in the 2024 UK General election, which saw the Labour Party win a sweeping majority after 14 years of the Conservatives being in power.
The Lord William Rees-Mogg
Jacob is the son of Lord William Rees-Mogg, a British aristocrat who was born in 1928.
William worked as the Editor of The Times from 1967 until 1981, while serving as the High Sheriff of Somerset in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, he was the Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and the Vice-Chairman of the BBC’s Board of Governors.
William married Gilliam Shakespeare Morris, the daughter of a lorry driver, in 1962.
They had five children together including Jacob and his sister Annunziata.
Their first child Emma Beatrice Rees-Mogg was born in 1962 and writes novels under the name Emma Craigie.
Their next daughter, Charlotte Louise Mogg, was born in 1964 and their first son Thomas Fletcher Rees-Mogg was born in 1966.
Jacob’s sister Annunziata is also in politicsAFP
Jacob’s sister Annunziata
Jacob has a sister named Annunziata Mary Rees-Mogg who was born on March 25, 1979.
Annunziata joined the Conservatives at the age of five and said that she was canvassing for the political party at the age of eight.
She opposed the Hunting Act 2004 which outlawed the hunting of mammals with dogs and has been openly sceptical about the European Union.
Annunziata left the Conservatives for the Brexit Party and won a seat for them on April 12, 2019.
She later returned to her childhood party in January 2020.
The politician has three children with Matthew Glanville whom she married in Italy in November 2010.
Helena’s mum is the heiress of the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam
Jacob’s heiress wife
Jacob married Helena Anne Beatrice Wentworth Fitzwilliam de Chair in 2007.
His wife is the only daughter of Conservative MP Somerset de Chair and Lady Juliet Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, the heiress to the wealthy 8th Earl Fitzwilliam.
She is also the half-sister of Lord Nicholas Hervey and the aunt of Olympic hurdler Lawrence Clarke, whose full name is Sir Charles Lawrence Somerset Clarke.
Helena’s niece is Theodora Roosevelt Clarke, a Tory MP who lost her seat in the 2024 election.
Theodora resigned from her Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to Kenya role in July 2022, in protest at Boris Johnson’s leadership.
Johnson resigned as Prime Minister that same month.
Jacob has six children in totalGetty – Pool
Jacob and Helena’s children
Jacob and Helena have six children together who have made headlines because of their long names.
Many of his children’s names have their origin in Christianity, as religion plays a big role in Jacob’s life.
His opposition to abortion is rooted in his beliefs, as is his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Jacob has also said that he opposes using contraception because of his beliefs.
His first son, Peter Theodore Alphege, was born in 2007 and takes the name Alphege from a saint and the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
The couple had their first daughter, Mary Anne Charlotte Emma, in 2008.
Jacon and Helena’s third child, Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan, was born in 2010 and shared the name Wentworth with Helena’s ancestor Charles Watson-Wentworth.
Charles was the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham.
Thomas’ third name Somerset was Helena’s father’s name and Dunstan is another reference to another Saint and Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anselm Charles Fitzwilliam was born in 2012 and shares his first name with yet another Archbishop of Canterbury.
The couple’s fourth son, Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius, was born in February 2016 and was named after Alfred the Great.
He takes Wulfric from the Rees-Mogg’s second multimillion pound home Gournay Court, where the saint Wulfric was born.
Leyson is a reference to Jacob’s grandfather’s first cousin who died at 25-years-old in 1915.
Their youngest child is Sixtus Dominic Boniface Christopher, whose first name is a reference to Pope Sixtus II.
Jacob has worked in Liz Truss’ and Boris Johnson’s cabinetsAFP
Meet the Rees-Moggs
Viewers will get a view into the Rees-Moggs’ life on Discovery+’s Meet the Rees-Moggs.
In the trailer for the series, Jacob made a shocking admission.
He said: “This is probably a sin – I quite enjoy winding people up.”
Viewers can stream the series on December 2, 2024.
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