Who Do You Think You Are? — Katarina Johnson-Thompson

 

Last Thursday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? rounded off the series with athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s episode.

Katarina was keen to follow her father’s family in the Bahamas, where Katarina herself was born before moving to Liverpool as a small child.

We got a glimpse of Bahamian history — though perhaps if the episode had spent a little more time on this part of the family’s story, it would have made it even better — before following Katarina’s ancestors as they emigrated to Miami in Florida.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Harriet Walter

 

Harriet's ancestor, Marie Carandini;
National Library of Australia / Wikimedia Commons

Last Thursday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured actress Harriet Walter, whose family are undeniably posh.

Much of this episode featured on the exploits of an Italian ancestor — the son of a noble family, who had the grandest of educations, but was drawn to ballet and the stage.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Adeel Akhtar

 

Last Thursday’s Who Do You Think You Are? saw Adeel Akhtar exploring his Indo-African roots.

This episode was super-interesting, and covered a part of history that we don’t get to hear about very often, following the Indian community in the heart of Nairobi, Kenya.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Toby Jones

 

Last Thursday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured legendary British actor Toby Jones.

…And it seems that acting is not new to Toby’s family, with his mother being descended from several generations of actresses, and, indeed, being an actress herself.

Toby’s father was also an actor, but came from a more grounded background — working-class Stoke-on-Trent.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Ruth Madeley

Actress Ruth Madeley’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired last Thursday, bringing us back from our sports-related break.

Was it worth the wait? Yes!

This episode was amazing.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Joe Swash

 

Joe Swash’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? aired last Tuesday on BBC One — and it was such a good one!

Joe was keen to learn about the Italian side of his family — so that is exactly what this episode focussed on.

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. 

Who Do You Think You Are? - Aisling Bea, Fred Sirieix and Will Young

 

I have three episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? to catch up on with my little write-ups

 - sorry for the delay, but I've been busy the last couple of weeks, researching my wonderful customers' families.

Comedian and actress Aisling Bea's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was, unsurprisingly, focussed on Ireland.

Aisling wasn't surprised at all - though she had been hoping for some variety in her family's past, the result was one she had been expecting. Her family are and were, very Irish.

This was a solid Irish-centred episode, taking in the famine and the fight for independence.

Especially notable was the link to the Irish language as a form of resistance and cultural heritage, as well as the uncomfortable history of those who benefitted from the famine - including Aisling's relatives.

History is not always as straight-forward as good and bad, and what Aisling found was the story of a young widow doing her best for her family, against a background of disaster.

Much as Aisling's episode was definitely Irish, TV personality Fred Sirieix's episode was most definitely French.

It made for an interesting episode - we rarely get to see history from a French perspective here in the UK, and as one of our closest neighbours, we should perhaps know more about French history than we do.

We covered a lot of ground here - both wars, Bordeaux wines, and Parisian orphans were all on the roster, and Fred led us through them all.

The explorations of the wars were particularly interesting - we are, of course, familiar with the history from the British perspective, but the 'home front' was very different in France, and that difference is important for us here to understand.

Will Young's family history also included tales of World War Two - which has been something of a theme this series.

In fact I think that Will's grandfather, considered by many in the family to be a 'bit of a loser' was one of the few relatives Will thought he could be proud of, by the end of the episode!

Will's family were very, very, posh.

And very, very, involved in the British Empire. Including the slavery part - and it just kind of got worse from there.

It's not often that the celebrity is actively hoping for their ancestors to get their comeuppance... but Will had good reason to, in fairness.

Another reminder that history is what it is - much as we'd sometimes like to change 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? - 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.

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.

Who Do You Think You Are? - Mel C and Rose Ayling-Ellis

 

Obviously Melanie Chisholm, aka Mel C, and Who Do You Think You Are? were made for each other - 

- or at least made for the obvious references to the Spice Girls song of the same name. 😉

Mel C's family were definitely unique - and showed an individual spirit that helped them move beyond the expectations of their stations in life.

From money-lending in Liverpool - kind of a slightly-more above-board loan shark service - to moving into insurance in the early days of the industry, Mel's family certainly weren't content to simply sit still.

This episode covered a wide-range of stories, including the history of the Irish potato famine, which led Mel's ancestors to emigrate to Liverpool in hopes of a better life.

Rose Ayling-Ellis' episode, which aired last Thursday, carried on the themes of independence and survival.

Actress and presenter Rose recently broke new ground in becoming the first deaf person to ever present a live TV sports broadcast.

Rose's episode saw her discover that her great-great-grandfather, James Wellend, had lost a hand due to an accident at work on the railways, at the age of 19.

The accident was pretty horrific, involving a reminder of just how big trains are, and how big the wheel of a steam locomotive can be. Ouch. Just... ouch.

As well as learning about James and his trouble with supporting his growing family - eventually ending up with 17 (!) children - Rose learned about a publican ancestor, and the Italian roots of her family.

Rose - whose Eastenders character tended bar in the Queen Vic - was clearly thrilled by both elements of her family's story.

Rose's personality really shone through in this episode - and made it very much worth the watch.

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? - Paddy McGuinness

 

Last Thursday's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured comedian and presenter Paddy McGuinness.

At the beginning of this episode, Paddy knew extremely little about his family, being unsure of (or, in some cases, simply not knowing,) his grandparents' names - and, it seems, his uncle was also unaware of the names of his grandparents.

What seems even odder is there doesn't appear to be any specific reason behind the family not being talked about in subsequent generations - simply a quiet forgetting among the hardships of daily life.

As well as learning that his maternal grandfather was part of the vital workforce that constructed aircraft - including the spitfire - for World War Two, Paddy also followed the story of his paternal grandfather, who fought in the Boer War in South Africa.

William McGuinness, it seems, was far from the ideal soldier. As well as a lengthy prison sentence, with hard labour (which, under modern standards, would probably be considered torture,) for insubordination, William's military records describe his character as 'Bad.'

In my experience, that's quite impressive. No-one in the British army is 'Bad.'

The character assessments of the British armed forces rarely, if ever, call someone 'Bad,' in plain English. They prefer to be much more circumspect about the whole thing.

The main positive assessments are 'Excellent' and 'Very Good' (and sometimes there's more than one 'Very' stuck in, just for luck.) 

The negative reports are 'Good' (yes, 'Good' is bad,) and 'Fair' (which also sounds like it should be good, but like 'Good' is bad - I know, it's confusing.)

To actually have Bad on a record suggests that William was a consistent thorn in the sides of his superior officers - which may, from a modern perspective, not actually have been a bad thing at all, given the questionable conduct and rigid classism of many British army officers at the turn of the 20th Century. 

On the other hand, William may have committed crimes at every barracks and billet he ended up in - which would be bad, regardless of whether you're Edwardian or not. Or he may have been relatively poorly behaved and a thorn in the sides of the higher-ups. Without more information, we simply can't know for sure.

Other highlights from this episode were the (eventual) Ireland link and Paddy McGuinness' genuine attitude throughout.

It's clear that McGuinness is more than comfortable in front of a camera, and that makes the whole episode flow with more ease than it might otherwise have done, and gives the historical details and stories the presentation they deserve.

All in all, a 'Very Good' episode!

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? - Vicky McClure

 

Who Do You Think You Are? series 21 kicked off last Thursday with British actress Vicky McClure.

A lot of this episode focussed on relatively recent history - Vicky's grandparents and great-grandparents.

Often there are holes in our family stories that affect our understanding of even close family members, and Vicky was keen to know more about the things that made her grandmothers who they were.

First we turned to her paternal grandmother.

The mystery here was in her grandmother's parentage, and the circumstances which led to her being raised in a less-than-ideal environment by someone who wasn't her biological mother.

Poverty and infidelity created a circumstance where the way to save the marriage was to give up the child. And, as was pointed out repeatedly, the ability to vet the child's new parents at the time was almost non-existent. An impossible situation.

Afterwards, the episode shifted focus to Vicky's maternal family, and her PoW great-grandfather.

Life as a coal miner was sadly book-ended by his assignment to a Japanese PoW mine in Taiwan, where he would become the first of the prisoners to lose his life amidst the atrocious conditions.

As Vicky points out, little is known by the general public about this aspect of history.

Partly this is because it's a recent, horrible, part of history - it's uncomfortable and often disturbing to know what happened to these men, and Vicky understandably felt nervous.

I think this episode dealt well with this aspect of family history - the things that we find out aren't always pleasant, but that doesn't mean they're not important.

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