Who Do You Think You Are? - Layton Williams

 

Actor Layton Williams' episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired last Monday, rather than Tuesday, due to BBC scheduling conflicts.

Layton's episode was a lot of fun - and worth the watch just for the energy and personality he brings to everything.

The episode looked at both Layton's British family and his Jamaican roots, starting with the British side.

On his British side, Layton carried on the theme of Ross Kemp's episode last week by following the World War Two experiences of his great-great-grandfather.

He learned that the family moving to Bury (where Layton was born,) was as a direct result of his ancestor's war work.

(The name 'cat nana' to describe Layton's beloved great-grandmother in this part of the episode is extremely cute!)

Beyond the war, the episode looked at Layton's links to London and an ancestor with musical links.

Moving on to Jamaica, Layton follows his father's line into the dark history of slavery.

Although the link is not 100 per cent certain due to the lack of record-keeping in some periods of Jamaica's history, there is a high likelihood that the show was able to trace the enslaved people in Layton's ancestry.

One of his likely female ancestors in Jamaica was recorded as having been born in Africa, meaning that she would have been transported against her will to Jamaica aboard a slave ship.

The history is poignant, and important, and Layton's positivity shines through without dulling the truth of an inhuman situation.

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Ross Kemp

 

Actor and TV presenter Ross Kemp's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired last Tuesday.

Much, though not all, of Ross' episode was focussed on his great-grandfather, 'Pop,' (short for 'Popeye,' because he was a sailor,) and his war-time service in the Merchant Navy.

The Merchant Navy is a civilian force of trade vessels - one which did vital work during both world wars in terms of supply chains and troop movements.

Ross was especially keen to find out why his mother seemed to have a memory of Pop returning from sea in a US army uniform

 - something that I'm not going to spoil here, and which you'll have to watch the episode to get to the bottom of.

Other stand-out moments of the episode include the story of a previously unknown great-great-uncle who had a problem with alcohol that led to other problems.

...Not least the problems between himself and his parents and siblings, who were threatened by his often violent and unpredictable behaviour.

This was a solid episode on the approach to this series' half-way point, and certainly worth the watch if you have an interest in the history of seafaring and World War Two.

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Mishal Husain

 

Journalist and broadcaster Mishal Husain's surprising and interesting episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA?) aired last Tuesday.

Mishal started her journey where she expected to - in India and Pakistan, in the days of the British Empire. 

From there she followed the 'Anglo'-Indian (or, in this case, Irish-Indian,) part of her family, and a hard-working doctor named Thomas Quinn.

Thomas managed to break the barriers placed in the way of mixed-race people in British India, eventually becoming the private doctor to a maharaja.

Following her European ancestry, Mishal learned of her family's life in a Danish-Indian trading port, as well as in French-Indian settlements.

The big twist (and if you haven't seen it - you might want to stop reading here!) - came when she learned that one of her white ancestors was not European... but American.

Travelling to the USA, and clearly more than a little surprised by the turn of events, Mishal ended up in the prestigious halls of Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and beyond that to the founding of the United States as a whole.

This was an extremely interesting episode - not only in its own right, but also as an example of how interconnected we all are, across many different countries, whether or not we know it.

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.

Who Do You Think You Are? Series 22 - Andrew Garfield

 

You can be forgiven for not knowing that the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? is up and running - I didn't, and ended up watching Andrew Garfield's episode on iPlayer when I realised I'd missed it.

I'm glad I was able to catch-up because this was a solid episode to open the series.

Actor Andrew Garfield followed his father's family on both sides of the Atlantic, with a search that encompassed Poland, Britain, and the US.

The episode highlighted some of the more tragic aspects of researching Jewish family history - the Holocaust, the ghettoes, and pogroms - as well as featuring some of the glamour of old Hollywood.

The mix between the glamour and the tragedy clashed a little - but I think in less skilled presenting hands, it would have been more jarring.

Andrew Garfield did a lot of the work to bridge the tonal gaps and connect the family's story, bringing perspective to the family's lives in America, and the poetic justice of a cousin who worked with the famous Monuments Men in World War Two to reclaim art stolen by the Nazis.

The beating heart of this episode was undoubtedly Garfield's trip to Treblinka, where masses of memorial stones represented ghettoes - each standing in for thousands of people murdered at the camp.

Family stories such as this provide some small piece of justice to the Holocaust's victims, by preserving the names and stories of those who were murdered senselessly by the Nazi regime.

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Gemma Collins

 

Series 21 of Who Do You Think You Are? brought down the curtain with reality TV star Gemma Collins.

This was a solid episode, but after Olly Murs' cracker the episode before, it felt a little anti-climactic.

Still, it probably didn't feel that way to Gemma - and that's what matters!

Gemma's episode featured some difficult discussions surrounding foster care and mental health.

Mostly these were done well - explaining that our modern understanding of schizophrenia is a lot different to the understanding of the condition in the 1950s. 

Sadly, a lot of 'normal' teenage behaviour, i.e. rebelliousness, skipping school, back-talking, - especially pertaining to teenage girls - was caught up in the pathology of the day. This lead to a lot of people becoming institutionalised with no medical need.

I think the episode missed, though, that along with those who were unfairly and wrongly entangled in the system, were people who were genuinely unwell.

Was Gemma's biological grandmother one of them? It's not clear - we don't have her medical notes, and the only first-hand accounts we have are from people who were children at the time, and unaware of their aunt being a patient at mental health hospitals.

It's impossible to tell whether or not Gemma's grandmother was treated fairly or unfairly without having more information - but that ambiguity wasn't really, in my opinion, made clear enough to Gemma. 

She seemed to come away with the conclusion that her grandmother had been one of those who were institutionalised for normal, frowned-upon, behaviour - which is entirely possible.

The circumstantial evidence of her teenage pregnancy and the known attitudes of some of the medical leaders at the institutions she was a patient at, strengthen that possibility.

But it's also entirely possible that her grandmother was extremely unwell. Because that also would have resulted in her becoming a patient at those same hospitals.

We sadly can't know - with the information presented - what the reality of the case might be, and it would have been better, in my opinion, to make that more clear.

Other parts of the episode included the criminality and poverty of London at the turn of the 20th Century, and Gemma's roots in Essex.

The latter was probably one of the less surprising features, but the remoteness and uniqueness of the Essex island Gemma's family came from was interesting enough.

Again, this was a solid episode, but probably would have been better off in a different place in the running order.

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.

Christmas 2024 Orders Are OPEN!

 

Yes - as early as it seems, it's time to talk about Christmas!

Because those extra-special gifts take time, and in order to get one of my packages ready for the big day itself, I need you to get in touch by 6pm GMT on 25th October 2024.

This is the Very, Very, Last date I can accept Christmas orders this year - to allow me time to both create your package, and post it.

Earlier really is better, as it gives me more time to complete the research, and make your unique gift extra-special.

But, for those of you who would rather wait, I can arrange e-mail gift certificates right up until 1pm GMT on 23rd December.

- This also has the advantage of letting the recipient give me the information needed to start my research, which is handy if you're unsure on details.

The last date for postal gift certificates is 10am GMT on Tuesday 17th December 2023 - this means I can get them printed & posted by the last post date. I am not responsible for any postal delays.

My branch or double-branch packages really do make beautiful and thoughtful gifts, with the finished research coming in a lovely paperback book form (with other printing options available.)

For full details of my packages and services, see my website, familyhistorybycerys.co.uk

Those dates again, then:

• Final order enquiries: 6pm GMT, 25th October 2024

• Postal gift certificates: 10am GMT, 17th December 2024

• E-mail gift certificates: 1pm GMT, 23rd December 2024

And if you have any other family history research enquiries, don't hesitate to get in touch and get your family history journey started!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Olly Murs

 

Legendary Olympian Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill came to the Who Do You Think You Are? treatment eagerly, and that energy really infused itself in her episode.

First up we looked at the English side of her family, and the mystery of a mother (Jessica's great-great-grandmother) who left one day with a suitcase, and never came home.

Things in this story were complex - every time Jessica discovered an element of the story, it turned everything she had learned up to that point on its head.

(I love stories like this - it shows that there's always more going on than meets the eye!)

So, I won't go into too much detail because this really is one that needs to be seen as it unfolds to be truly appreciated, but it covers several difficult topics in a frank and non-judgemental way, and made the episode well worth the watch for this section alone.

The other half of Jessica's episode also dealt with some difficult topics, as she made her way to Jamaica with her father to investigate her side of the family.

The sad inevitably of finding enslaved people in her family tree didn't take the sting away for Jessica, but this story was, ultimately, one of hope and survival. It finished the episode well.

Singer Olly Murs' episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was truly fascinating.

Olly's grandfather originally came from Latvia, a country which I admit I know extremely little about - but more than I did, thanks to this episode!

What followed was a couldn't-make-it-up story that encompassed the circus, extra-marital affairs, war, and the horrors of the USSR.

At the moment, this is the stand-out episode of the series to me.

It's a story that's full of colourful and vivid details, as well as the tragedies of 20th Century history and the lives that got caught up in its wake.

..And that's before you even consider the circus stuff!

Ready to start your own family history journey? I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details.