Who Do You Think You Are? - Nick Hewer

Hi, it's that time of week yet again - Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 continued with Nick Hewer's episode last night, and I hope I've put his name down right because I keep calling him Nigel Hewer or Nick Haver.

Anyway, last night's episode was part Irish, part English. Both sides were mixed up more than a little with the politics of their respective times and countries.

The Irish side focussed on Nick's grandfather, a businessman (no real surprise) who held public office in Belfast; the interesting part about this side of the family was the mixed marriages - something that some in Ireland/Northern Ireland have particular viewpoints on even to this day.

The English side focussed on his father's side of the family - who had long links to Wiltshire. The rant about one of his ancestor's in an old will did make me smile, I must admit. Mainly though, this side focussed on the Civil War and Commonwealth periods (a point in time which most people can only dream of tracing their families back to) and the inevitable rises and falls this brought to people on both sides of the conflict.

I have to say, most people will not be able to go along to a local museum and find their family history already written out for them - and if they do, it's best they check through the details. It would've been nice if the show made the point that it's not normally that easy, oh well. More soon!

Salute Your Piers

Sorry, for the bad pun in the title, but I just saw this on the BBC news website and wondered what other people thought. I think it's a good thing that people are thinking about these historic structures - always make me think of signs with old Victorian lettering and quaint attractions, but maybe other people don't feel the same way.

Food for thought anyway. Talk soon!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Gary Lineker

The new episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? seem to be creeping up on me faster and faster - probably just because I've been busy, busy, busy!

Gary Lineker's episode of Season 10 last night followed two very different ancestors. The most interesting was the poacher, who, while slightly comical in actions, does show the poverty that many rural workers faced in this time, and that poaching often came from desperation rather than malice.

I have to admit that my enjoyment of the episode was slightly hindered by just how much Match of the Day preparation was included. While it's a part of the show to show celebrities at the 'day job' I felt that it took more time out of the episode than was needed - it felt uncomfortably like padding in a show that I'm sure could have been stretched out more with fact and family story had it been necessary.

Overall though, still interesting as usual - and the forensic artist's impression of James Pratt alone makes the episode worth watching.

Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Lesley Sharp

Lesley Sharp's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 was similar to Minnie Driver's in that it showed that sometimes you have to deal with the more recent past before you can move on and look further back.

Lesley's feelings were understandably a little mixed, particularly regarding the father who never told her brother and sister that she even existed.

Looking further back amongst her father's ancestors however, she found a man who took in Barnardo's children, and the first son of his wife, with little qualm. The two men clearly jarred a little in her opinion, and her admiration for a man who would take in the children of others shone through - perhaps a little more like her adoptive father than her biological father within her own mind.

Regardless, again like Minnie Driver's episode, this episode showed that it's possible to untangle the web of recent history.

Lies, Darn Lies, and Official Documents

To be perfectly honest with you, sometimes it's what isn't in the records that makes all the difference. No father on the birth certificate usually means a child born out of wedlock, no marriage certificate might mean that they were never married (although sometimes it just means you have to work harder to find it,) and a wife with a husband who consistently lives elsewhere may mean marital difficulties.

Occasionally, the blatant and sometimes fraudulent lies on documents are so great that it takes a court to sort them out. I recently came across an Edwardian case of identity fraud in which a man impersonated a surgeon for many, many years - it was only through myself and a contact working through newspaper reports of court cases that the real story came to light.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Minnie Driver

Minnie Driver's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 was shown last night.


Courtesy of vlado/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Minnie, understandably, was interested in the history of her father's family and the grandparents she knew nothing about. Armed with a (very nice) black handbag stuffed with the documents she was accumulating as the show went on, she set out to find more.

Certainly, you can understand why the information about her father's war history meant so much to her, and likewise why her quest - much like Una Stubbs in the first episode - was to find a picture of her grandparents.

This episode largely though was a testament to the possibility of finding more about recent relatives and tracing living people - something which is not always the impossible hurdle it may seem. Minnie certainly seemed please to talk to the cousin she never knew that she had, and the actress summed up the whole story very well with talk of film-script-quality events and the tangled web that can sometimes be left behind for future generations to sift through.

Can't wait for another episode! Talk to you soon!

Scandal and Circumstance

As weird as it sounds, in the UK a man could not marry his late wife's sister until 1907, and couldn't marry his brother's widow until 1921. This was because church law saw these sisters-in-law as too close a relation to marry.

So what happened to a brother and sister-in-law who wished to marry before that? Well, in some cases they simply found another fiancée, in others they did marry but moved to an area where they wouldn't be recognised; some pretended that they were married, and some lived together in an informal arrangement - with the woman perhaps posing as a housekeeper or other servant.

The Victorians did not make it easy to tell an innocent situation from one more scandalous - but then, that was the point I suppose. Suicides, for example, were often recorded as accidents - and you have to be very careful if you find a 'seamstress' in the family, she could be someone who actually makes dresses, and not hiding her real occupation at all.

Yes, it can be confusing - but it also makes it all very interesting! Bye for now!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Nigel Havers

Hi, sorry I haven't posted since last week - life and all that!

Nigel Havers' very interesting episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Series 10 aired last night. Havers was extremely determined to not be totally posh, with mixed results - very few paupers and labourers in his family for as far as the eye can see.

That said, the scandal that comes with ancestors who have slightly fallen from grace can make a more interesting story anyway; there's something undoubtedly Dickensian about bankruptcy and debtor's prison in this period.

I have to say that my favourite moment was the newspaper report describing an 'affiliation' between one of Havers' ancestors and the servant girl - a common phrase in my experience. Having had to delve through the quaint Victorian language sometimes used in old newspapers to make things more respectable, I have huge sympathy for the momentary confusion caused - although, to be fair, the order for money to pay the midwife in this particular instance was a big glaring clue that there was a baby involved somewhere. I've had to deal with far less clear reporting - although I'm always glad to find the 'papers which simply come right out and call a spade a spade where scandal and illegitimate children are concerned.

I was also fascinated with the story of the Hamblion taxi cab firm, which held parallels with members of my own family who were in the same business - although, I'm happy to say, which ended in retirement rather than bankruptcy.

More soon!