WDYTYA? series 18 - Ed Balls

 

The last episode of this series of Who Do You Think You Are? featured ex-politician and now-documentary-maker Ed Balls.

Ed was quick to find the potential political, moral, and social angles of his ancestor's stories - which in many places wasn't exactly difficult.

After discovering that stories of a Scottish ancestor seem founded only on her surname - a common pitfall in family history - Ed found that the family's story of a surgeon in the Royal Navy, at least, was accurate.

…Well, mostly.

Some of the finer details - like serving on HMS Victory some years after Trafalgar, not during - had clearly gotten mixed-up in the two centuries that followed.

Again, this is fairly common - two hundred years is a long time to keep any straight, after all!

Ed clearly struggled when it came to the other parts of his surgeon ancestor, William Dunbar's, life, though.

Back on dry land, William Dunbar worked as surgeon to a workhouse embroiled in abuse and cruelty scandals. 

It's not clear from the available information how much responsibility lay with Dunbar, and how much with the master of the workhouse, but both were ultimately cleared of the manslaughter of inmates of the workhouse.

Then came the scandal that brought Dunbar's time at the workhouse to an end - the married Dunbar tried to kiss the workhouse's school mistress.

The workhouse's school mistress also happened to be the 16-year-old daughter of the master of the workhouse.

Ed was understandably appalled, although in the 1840s her age would probably (in the opinion of most people,) have taken a backseat to the fact that he was married, and she was the boss' daughter.

The other main family story followed in this episode was that of Ed's agricultural labourer ancestor, who became involved in campaigns of unrest against local farmers in Norfolk.

Whether Ed's ancestor was a rioter or a protester probably depends on the perspective. The destruction of farm machinery gave way to arson, so there was a very definite escalation in the methods being used.

Still, it was also a fascinating look at the petty crimes - including sheep-stealing - which carried the death penalty in this country at the time.

And that's the last of this series! A decent one, all in all.

A reminder that while it may be too late for Christmas orders, Christmas gift certificates are still available! You can find more details here.

WDYTYA? series 18 - Joe Sugg

 

Social media star and TV presenter Joe Sugg was the featured celebrity for Tuesday's episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, with his sister Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella, appearing in brief cameos.

Joe's episode spanned a range of stories from his family's history - telegram operators from Jersey and prominent goldsmiths being among them.

Much of Joe's episode, though, centred on his Huguenot (French Protestant) refugee ancestors.

Huguenots were persecuted by the Catholic majority and governance in France in waves of conflict and persecution from the late 1500s through to the late 1700s.

To avoid having their children forcibly taken from them in the night - as so many in their town had suffered - Joe's family made a desperate decision to send the children to Jersey, which was then and is now a dependency of Britain. Protestants trying to leave France was in itself illegal at this time.

Having smuggled all of the children out, their parents later came to join them, and started their new lives on Jersey.

Joe was surprised to find wealth and status in the family in the form of the Austen and Wapshare lines.

William Sandford Wapshare, a clergyman of Salisbury cathedral, married Cooth Anna Austen in 1813.

Though the episode didn't mention it, a quick search shows that William and Cooth's marriage was written about in one of Jane Austen's letters; whether there was any family connection is unclear, but Jane appeared to know the Wapshare family - probably through the clerical connection, as Jane's father was a member of the clergy - even if the Austen surname itself was coincidence.

Going further back in time, Joe learned about John Austen, a prominent London goldsmith.

John actually became a leading member of the Goldsmiths' Company - the livery company that served as a guild for the goldsmiths of London.

The description of John's estate - with diamonds and jewels which today would be worth millions - was a slightly dazzling snapshot into the level of wealth and precious materials he was dealing with day-in and day-out.

A good episode, with Ed Balls up next week to finish the series.

A reminder that while it may be too late for Christmas orders, Christmas gift certificates are still available! You can find more details here.

WDYTYA? Series 18 - Pixie Lott

 

Tuesday's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured singer Pixie Lott.

Pixie seemed to approach the whole thing with a level of eager naivety that was quite refreshing!

Originally believing her family came from Italy, the exploration of that particular part of her family soon revealed the truth.

Pixie's family had, indeed, been part of an Italian church in London. But they were Irish. They worshipped at that church because it was their nearest Catholic church. 

Which shows how things can become muddled, years later, in the telling. 

It's also entirely possible, if not likely, that Pixie's relatives had picked up some words of Italian during their time worshipping with their Italian congregation - which may have further muddied the details passed down in the family.

The reality of the lives of Pixie's ancestors, as it was for so many Irish immigrants in the 19th Century, was extreme poverty.

Pixie learned that they ended up in and out of the workhouse, and was understandably upset to learn the policies regarding families in most workhouses - children separated from parents, boys separated from girls, and sometimes younger children separated from older children.

Children could also be sent to different workhouses, or to foster homes, without their parents being consulted, and sometimes not even notified.

Workhouses may have been the start of our welfare system, but the Victorian view of poverty and the poor often lacked humanity.

We jumped around quite a bit with this episode, also touching on the World War One POW status of one of Pixie's ancestors on the Lott side of her family.

Many people forget that there were POWs in the First World War, as well as the Second, and what many of these, mostly men, suffered was deeply traumatic and incredibly horrible.

We ended on a much brighter note though, with Pixie finding several of her military forebears also had musical ability, being members of the military band.

A reminder that while it may be too late for Christmas orders, Christmas gift certificates are still available! You can find more details here.

WDYTYA? Series 18 - Joe Lycett

 

Comedian and TV presenter Joe Lycett was the featured celebrity of last Tuesday's Who Do You Think You Are? episode.

Joe presents the Great British Sewing Bee - which might be part of the reason for the eclectic range of bright and cheerful clothing he wore throughout this episode; it was very on-brand!

Most of Joe's episode was focussed on one particular ancestor, Robert Wilkins.

Though there were brief forays into another ancestor's connection to 'the Buffs' - The Royal Antediluvian Order of the Buffaloes - which were fairly entertaining, if only to see Joe Lycett being entirely unsure how to react to any of this.

Robert Wilkins' life was akin to something out of a novel.

A child chimney-sweep, turned Royal Marine, turned officially labelled 'lunatic', who then went on to run a country pub.

If someone wrote his life as a novel, they would be criticised for the lack of believability - history really can be stranger than fiction!

Overall, this was a good episode.

As well as Joe Lycett's general unpredictability and entertainment value, we also got to hear a compelling story, complete with details of social history surrounding Britain's involvement with and aggression towards China in the 19th Century, and the willingness of some wealthy people to continue to use child labour up their chimneys past the point where it was made illegal.

A reminder that while it may be too late for Christmas orders, Christmas gift certificates are still available! You can find more details here.

Christmas Gift Certificates Available!

 

It may be too late to place Christmas orders, but you can still get that special gift of family history for your loved ones, with personalised gift certificates.

Just get in touch by 6pm GMT on 24th December 2021 for e-mailed, printable, certificates (or by 6pm GMT on 17th December 2021 for certificates by post (UK only.))

My Branch (£250 + £15 P&P) and Double-Branch (£450 + £15 P&P) packages make for beautiful gifts, printed in paperback-book format as standard.

The Branch package follows one surname (one family line) of your choosing, whereas the Double-Branch follows two.

Larger projects can be arranged - just drop me an e-mail at the e-mail address on my order information page, and we can discuss options.

So, that's 6pm on 24th December 2021 for gift certificates by e-mail, or 6pm on 17th December 2021 for certificates by post.

WDYTYA? Series 18 - Alex Scott

Last Tuesday's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured Alex Scott - ex-footballer and TV presenter.

Alex is a biracial Black woman, with interesting and strong characters on all sides of her family.

Her episode focussed on both her maternal and paternal lines of ancestry - i.e. her mother's and her father's sides of her family.

Alex was surprised to learn that on her mother's side of the family, she had Russian (Lithuanian) Jewish ancestors, who lived in London's East End.

The exploration of the threat of fascism and police brutality against Jewish immigrants in the 1930s was, as she herself points out, something that should be more prominent in the nation's memory.

This is something that happened in living memory, and forgetting the amount of support Hitler and the Nazis had in this country is something that we cannot afford to do.

Alex also explored her Jamaican family from her father's side of the family, being especially interested in the family of her beloved grandmother.

Much of this part of the family was a story of hardships and survival.

But there was also some uncomfortable history to contend with.

One of Alex's ancestors was a person of colour - in these circumstances, a light-skinned Black person, possibly with white ancestry - who owned slaves.

This can be hard to fathom, but the embedding of slavery within societies was deep and complex, and free people of colour - especially those with some white ancestry, or of a certain social status - often owned slaves.

It can be difficult to reconcile the events of the past with our morality in the present. 

Alex was clearly struggling with the revelations, and it's something many British and Commonwealth Black people have to contend with - the complex feelings attached to being descended from both slaves and slave owners.

Still, Alex faced her family's history as it was - knowing the past can be a powerful thing, no matter the ups and downs.

A reminder that the very last date to get in touch for Christmas orders from Family History By Cerys is 1st November 2021. More details here. 

Get in touch by 6pm GMT to avoid disappointment

WDYTYA? series 18 - Dame Judi Dench

 

Last Tuesday's episode of Who Do You Think Are? (WDYTYA?) series 18 featured actress Dame Judi Dench.

Judi Dench's episode moved from talking about her father's First World War experiences to discussing her mother's illustrious ancestors, both of which were interesting stories, and the movement from one to the other not feeling as awkward as these things often do.

The affecting story of her father's service in World War One is a reminder that, despite ending over a hundred years ago, it has only very recently passed from living memory.

Finding out what her father had been through was clearly very emotional for Judi, which is totally understandable.

Sometimes the most hard-hitting things we find when researching family history are about the people we personally knew and loved.

When the episode moved on to Dench's maternal family, it became clear that not only was she the descendant of Irish nobility, but also of Danish nobility.

What made me laugh was that she seemed quite annoyed no-one had known this before - how dare nobody remember back several centuries?!

It all got a bit Hamlet there for a while - Denmark and Elsinore and lords and ladies of the court.

The coincidence of Hamlet being Judi Dench's debut (as Ophelia) just goes to show that history can be a funny thing sometimes - and repeat itself in the strangest of ways!

A reminder that the very last date to get in touch for Christmas orders from Family History By Cerys is 1st November 2021. More details here. 

Don't miss out!

WDYTYA? Series 18 - Josh Widdicombe

 

Josh Widdicombe's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? started the series off with a bang - a story of riches and royalty and scandal.

The producers clearly had a lot to pack into this episode - starting with a banking dynasty, and ending with Hollywood-worthy tales of royalty. In fact, many aspects of Josh's family's tale have been turned into Hollywood films - The Other Boleyn Girl springs to mind.

In all that, though, some things were lost which, though unpleasant, are as much a part of Josh's family story as any of the more glamourous aspects.

In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, some of the goods traded in by the Baring brothers - who founded Barings bank - were listed as coffee, sugar, etc.

This rang a not-so-comfortable bell to me, given the time period in which the Baring brothers were operating. 

A quick and cursory search of University College London's excellent British Slavery database shows what I suspected - members of the Baring family were significant beneficiaries of the massive compensation scheme that paid slave-owners for the 'inconvenience' of losing their slaves after the abolition.

I realise that there was a lot to pack in to a relatively short episode - in fact, the show-runners could probably do several series just on Josh Widdicombe's family and not run out of material.

But, given that we were being told how successful and respected the Baring family were, a simple sentence of acknowledgement of their part in the slave trade would not have gone amiss. 

I can't believe that any researchers on the flagship genealogy TV programme in the UK would have missed recognising the slavery connection entirely, which means that the decision was made at some point - maybe even in post-production - to focus elsewhere.

Still, despite that notable omission, this was an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable episode - not least because of Josh Widdicombe's reactions.

There was plenty of ammo for a comedian to react to - from the little-known occupation of groom of the stool (a much sought-after job of... accompanying the King to the toilet,) to the scandals of the Tudor court.

And it was fascinating - much of Josh's family history personalises pivotal moments of British history: the Civil War, the reign of Elizabeth I, the tumultuous court of Henry VIII.

It was certainly well worth the watch! Hopefully the rest of this series will prove just as absorbing.

A reminder that the very last date to get in touch for Christmas orders from Family History By Cerys is 1st November 2021. More details here.

Get In Touch Now For Christmas Orders!

 

Time flies - especially when you're a genealogist.

So, to give me enough time to do the research for that special Christmas gift you've been thinking of, I need you to get in touch with me by 6pm (GMT) on Monday 1st November 2021.

The earlier the better - because the more chance I'll have to work on that extra-special present - but 6pm on 1st Nov is the very last time I can take new enquiries for Christmas orders. 

Make sure you don't miss out!

After the 1st Nov, gift certificates, tailored to your needs, will still be available, so don't hesitate to get in touch.

My Branch (£250 + £15 P&P) and Double-Branch (£450 + £15 P&P) packages make for beautiful gifts, printed in paperback-book format as standard.

The Branch package follows one surname (one family line) of your choosing, whereas the Double-Branch follows two.

Larger projects can be arranged - just drop me an e-mail at the e-mail address on my order information page, and we can discuss options.

Christmas is made for family and those we love, so a gift of family history is the perfect present!

Remember, if you want to order a package for Christmas, you need to get in touch with me by 6pm on Monday November 1st 2021.

I hope to hear from you soon!

Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 18

 

The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA?) starts next Tuesday, at 9pm on BBC1, except here in Wales where, because we have 'Wonders of the Celtic Deep' (which is about seals) at 9pm, we get to watch WDYTYA? at 10.35pm instead.

(I would be annoyed, but seals are adorable.)

As always, the episodes will be available on iPlayer anyway.

Of course, a new series means new celebrities, so here's the most recent batch:

• comedian Josh Widdicombe
• actress Dame Judi Dench
• politician Ed Balls
• footballer and presenter Alex Scott
• comedian and presenter Joe Lycett
• singer Pixie Lott
• YouTuber and presenter Joe Sugg

I'll probably be back here in the week after each episode airs to give you some of my thoughts on each one 

The Pitfalls of Using Online Family Trees In Your Own Research

 

Online family trees are plentiful, and the chances are you'll find people who seem to match your ancestors.

But other people's trees aren't fool-proof, and you can find yourself going down inaccurate roads of research for a long time before you realise that something is not right.

Other people's trees can be exceptionally useful to take your research on - giving you an idea of directions in which you can take your research, and, where sources are linked, even giving you proof or documentation on some occasions.

BUT

...there are some things you should keep in mind when using other people's trees to guide your own research:

Online family trees are mostly works-in-progress

People add to their trees as they're researching - and people use them in different ways. Some people may be making up potential family units, or saving several different options for the same event, in order to review it later.

So the presentation of a complete family unit - i.e. who married who and what kids they had - may be someone's theory, nothing more and nothing less. That doesn't mean it's 'wrong,' - but neither does it mean it's accurate.

With common names, like Jones, or Williams, or Smith, people may be creating possible profiles for their ancestors, in order to compare the known information about each. 

This is a common research technique in genealogy, and some people find online family trees - such as those found on Ancestry, FamilySearch, Genes Reunited, MyHeritage, etc. - the perfect place to work through their theories.

It's important, then, that you keep in mind that you may be interpreting someone's theory as your own fact.

Even the best of us makes mistakes

When it comes to the John Jones' of this world, we're only ever working to the best of our knowledge - yes, even us professionals. 

There can be individuals, sometimes even those with less common names, with practically identical life details - down to the date and place of birth, sometimes. When this happens, even the most experienced genealogist can misidentify which documents and events relate to which of these paper-identical people.

And of course, for ancestors with less documentation and information available, you can only work to what you know. As you find out more, you may find that previous assumptions made on the balance of probability aren't as correct as you thought they were!

Which means that, given the huge number of online family trees, the likelihood is that there are many, many, mistakes out there on the Internet. Honest mistakes happen, and taking someone else's tree as gospel can sometimes mean that you're copy-and-pasting someone else's mistakes.

Some people get carried away

It's not uncommon to find biblical and mythical figures on online family trees - and while this can be an interesting thought experiment, it's not exactly provable!

Other people are extremely keen to be related to royalty, or to someone famous, to the extent that people will take leaps of logic in order to reach this wished-for destination.

In honesty, if you have long-standing European ancestry, you are almost certainly descended from some sort of royalty - but sadly, it's likely you'll never be able to prove the direct ancestral line.

It may not even be a match

The mistake may, unfortunately, not be on the part of the owner of the online family tree - you may have incorrectly 'matched' your ancestors with the individuals on the other party's tree.

Again, even the best and most experienced of researchers make mistakes, so be sure to double-check details when and where you can.

So what can you do to avoid these pitfalls?

The simple answer is to use other people's online family trees as a guide, not as definitive proof

• Where sources are listed, check them and see what information they actually provide.
• Use all 'facts' given by trees as possibilities, rather than certainties
• If you have a particular question, try to get in touch with the owner of the tree, and ask them where their information came from, or if their information can answer your question. Please be aware though that the owners of such trees have no obligations to respond, and the account may even be inactive.
• Don't be afraid to change your research - if something is 'wrong,' then find the right thing!

Hope this was helpful! - Cerys

History on TV

 

Hi everyone!

Happy St. David's Day!

I hope you're all keeping safe and well.

I thought I'd write a quick post to let you know about some interesting-looking history-based TV programmes coming up over the next few days.

The first is The Story of Welsh Art, which starts at 9pm tonight (1st March 2021) on BBC Two Wales, and BBC Four for everyone else. It'll also be available on iPlayer.

Tomorrow, at 9pm on BBC Two, we have Stacey Dooley presenting the first episode in her new series, DNA Family Secrets.

I'm not an expert in DNA genealogy and don't pretend to be - I just hope that this series is clear on where DNA is useful and where it's not. 

It can be an extremely useful tool, especially when it comes to finding close family, like biological parents or siblings... It can also be vastly misunderstood, however, particularly when it comes to the borders between cultural, national, and ethnic heritage.

Still, it should be interesting viewing!