Who Do You Think You Are? - Amy Dowden

I had the opportunity, this week, to briefly appear on BBC’s Points of View to discuss this episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

You can see that on iPlayer here, with the WDYTYA? section starting around 8-10 minutes into the programme.

Who Do You Think You Are? — Zoe Ball

The first episode of the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? aired on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One, and featured presenter Zoe Ball, as well as a brief cameo by her father, the comedian Johnny Ball.

Zoe was expecting her family to be from the North-East — which many were. Others, however, were from as far away as Glasgow in Scotland, and Camborne in Cornwall.

Who Do You Think You Are? Series 23 Starts on Tuesday

A quick post today to let you all know that Who Do You Think You Are? series 23 starts next Tuesday!

The first episode will air on Tuesday, 26 May, at 21.00 BST on BBC One.

Hopefully it’ll be a good series! (You can see who the celebs are here.)

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 23 Celebs Revealed

Who Do You Think You Are? is set to return this year for its 23rd series.

Four episodes will air in the spring (…presumably May or June,) followed by a short gap, with the remaining four episodes airing in the summer.

This year’s celebrities are as follows:

• Toby Jones — actor

• Adeel Akhtar — actor

• Amy Dowden — Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer

• Harriet Walter — actor

• Joe Swash — actor and reality star

• Katarina Johnson-Thompson — Olympian heptathlete

• Ruth Madeley — actor

• Zoe Ball — presenter and DJ

(Source: Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine)

There looks to be an interesting mix of backgrounds and careers — although we seem to be leaning heavily on actors this series, with only three celebs (Amy Dowden, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Zoe Ball) not being actors.

Obviously, I’m especially looking forward to Amy Dowden’s episode as she’s likely to have a lot of Welsh ancestry — and while I specialise in British family history generally, I’m especially experienced in Welsh research (and will be taking the opportunity to nerd-out 😉.)

Ready to start your own family history journey?

I offer a range of professional genealogy services, check out my website for more details. 

Still Looking for that Special Gift?

 

Still racking your brains for that special gift? The kind that's extra-thoughtful and extra-personal?

My family history packages are a unique insight into the lives of your ancestors - and gift certificates for Christmas are still available.

One of the benefits of a gift certificate is that you can surprise your loved one without needing to know their family's details right away - I can discuss that with them after they get in touch with me to get their research started.

Your gift will be one-of-a-kind, bespoke, and truly unique.

I can provide postal certificates (UK only) if you get in touch before 15th December, and I can provide e-certificates up until 23rd December.

Drop me an e-mail at enquiries@familyhistorybycerys.co.uk, and we'll get things going!

And you can always check out the details of all my services at familyhistorybycerys.co.uk

Christmas Comes Earlier Every Year...

 

...or at least, this year.

Yes, my Christmas orders at Family History by Cerys are now open - and will be closing on 30TH SEPTEMBER 2025.

I know this is early, but it's to allow me enough time to get the research done and make the gift extra-special, while making sure that I can fit in everyone who wants to order.

To order, just drop me an e-mail at enquiries@familyhistorybycerys.co.uk and we can get things going!

Gift certificates will be available right up until Christmas (details in a future blogpost,) so even if it's too early for you to decide just now, you still won't miss out!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Diane Morgan

 

Last week's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? wrapped up the current series with actress and comedian Diane Morgan.

Diane is possibly most well-known for mocking TV history programmes by playing hapless historian Philomena Cunk - which is somewhat ironically fitting for this programme.

Diane's personality is what carries this episode forward - there was a genuine element of wondering what she would say next, with a gladness that we were coming along for the ride.

Her family's stories, though, are equally compelling. 

And it turned out that her father's ancestor, German Charlie was, (spoiler alert!) actually a German man known as Charlie - which Diane seemed more genuinely surprised at than I would have guessed.

There are also poignant moments relating to a lost love, killed on the battlefields of World War One.

The stand-out feature of the episode though, is Diane's Scottish ancestor Isabella - who had something of a reputation in her community.

It took a large amount of strength and obstinance, though, for a 19th Century woman to take a man to court over child support payments - often known as maintenance or affiliation

.

It's often surprising to people that there was a mechanism in place to provide child support for unmarried mothers - it somehow doesn't chime with our modern view of Victorian society. 

Making the father pay for the child, though, made it less likely that these children would become a 'burden' on the parish or poor law union (i.e. the state and the taxpayer) - which many saw as a win.

A lot of women were reluctant, however, to come forward and stand before a court - and often to have the details of their love lives cross-examined and then reported in the local press - due to the stigma attached to being an unmarried mother or 'ruined' woman.

To take several different men to court, then, as Isabella did, would have taken some serious gumption on her part!

All in all, this was a highly-entertaining episode to end the series with; let's hope we won't have to wait too long for the next one!

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