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.

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