WDYTYA? - Michelle Keegan

Michelle Keegan's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was a tale of survivors.

One of her main family lines originated in Gibraltar - which, if you don't know, is a British dependency off the coast of Spain.

Gibraltar was largely evacuated in WW2, due to both its strategic importance, and it's vulnerable position in the heart of Europe.

The civilian refugees - people who, though largely Spanish-speaking, considered themselves Brits - were sent to many locations, including the UK mainland.

These British citizens found themselves in the odd position of being treated as foreigners on the British mainland - strangers in their own country.




Another Gibraltarian ancestor had emigrated from Genoa in Italy, alone, at the age of just 13.

He worked his way to a moderately successful - if slightly on the edge of the law - business at the port.




A separate line of Michelle's family hail from her own native Manchester, where Michelle found that one of her ancestors was a suffragist.

I think that a little more could have been made of the differences between suffragists and suffragettes, since this seemed a bit rushed-in at the end, but I guess it can be hard to decide what to include sometimes!






The BBC are doing one of their patented random gaps between WDYTYA? episodes, so I have no idea when the next one's on!

New WDYTYA? Series (+ Info on My Privacy Policy)

The 15th series of Who Do You Think You Are? starts this week with Michelle Keegan, actress from BBC series Our Girl.

Other celebrities featured in series 15 are:

• Olivia Colman, actress
• Boy George, musician
• Shirley Ballas, Strictly Come Dancing judge
• Lee Mack, comedian
• Marvin Humes, former JLS member and TV presenter
• Robert Rinder, TV's Judge Rinder
• Jonnie Peacock, Paralympian

Here in Wales, the series is premiering at 23.05 (11.05pm) on Wednesday (6th June,) on BBC1 Wales.

In Scotland, it premiers at 21.00 (9pm) on Thursday (7th June) on BBC1 Scotland.

And everywhere else, it premiers at 21.00 (9pm) on Wednesday (6th June,) on your local BBC1.

I'm hoping to write summaries for the episodes again - so look out for that!










Also worth a look for fans of history is Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley, on tonight on BBC1 at 20.30 (8.30pm)

On a business note, you may've heard about the new GDPR EU regulations.

I take your privacy and the collection of your data seriously, and you can see my privacy policy here.

Christmas Order Details

Christmas is coming!

I know it may not feel like it now, but the truth is that December 25^th is less than three months away!

And what do you want to give this year, as a special present?

What about something which is:

• Special
• Personalised
• Unique
• Thoughtful
• Heartfelt

I still have room for Christmas orders of Family History research packages.

But the absolute last date for Christmas 2017 orders is 31st October 2017.

The earlier you order, the more time I will have to make it special and uncover more about your (or the gift recipient's) family's past.

It's also advisable that if you want a common surname researched (Jones, Smith, Williams, etc.) you order early!

It takes time to unravel the details of numerous individual William Jones'!

While I have other services available, I recommend either my branch or double-branch packages – which make a beautiful and unique gift.

So check out my services on familyhistorybycerys.co.uk, and then get in touch via the e-mail address on the site!

Don't be worried if you're not sure how to start - just drop me an e-mail, and I can discuss your research with you!

WDYTYA? - Ruby Wax

After an impromptu (and unexplained) break, Who Do You Think You Are? was back last night with the final episode of the series, featuring Ruby Wax.

Ruby's parents were Jewish Austrians, who fled Vienna in the 1930s.

Unfortunately, the story of persecution and hardship was pretty continuous throughout the episode. Ruby's family struggled through some of the worst times in history, and perhaps it went a little way to explain her parents and their problems to her.

Ruby's parents travelled, as refugees, to the USA. They were lucky in being able to get visas, as the US (and many other countries) were less than friendly to those fleeing the persecution.

Their marriage, and Ruby's childhood by extension, was deeply unhappy. We can only speculate that her parent's lives were altered, and damaged, to a great extent by their experiences of persecution, torture, and fear. If you put people through hell, they aren't always going to be ok afterwards.

Ruby also found answers about mental health problems within her family.

She seemed to have found the process quite beneficial, joking that she didn't need to spend so much money on therapy when she could've just done genealogy!

This was a striking episode, rounding off the series similarly to how it began (with Charles Dance's amazing family revelations.)

Hopefully it won't be too long before we get another series!

WDYTYA? - Lisa Hammond

Lisa Hammond's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured a lot of interesting stories!

The stories included were Hollywood-worthy, moving from World War Two, to the East End of London, to Seventeenth Century Wales!

The most poignant of these stories was perhaps the most recent of them - the story of Lisa's grandfather, Harry, who was a Prisoner of War.

Interesting too was the details of Harry's return to the UK, at a time when mental health care for the military services was starting to develop.

Most of Lisa's family were from London, which she was happy about, given that she considers herself a true Londoner.

Given that, it was really funny to see her reactions to finding rural Welsh family - and even more amusing to see her reaction to cows!

A really interesting episode, with only one episode now left in the series.

WDYTYA? - Noel Clarke

Firstly, Noel Clarke's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? wasn't the penultimate of this series - sorry to my Facebook followers! Oops! - the penultimate is actually next week.

Anyway, Noel Clarke's episode of WDYTYA? was a tour of Caribbean islands, including Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada. 

This was actually a really interesting episode - covering history that we often don't get to hear about while still being human and relatable.

Unfortunately, the spectre of slavery is rarely avoidable when it comes to the Caribbean.

It's hard to believe that people were ever treated like this. It's sad but true, and at least this story had some hope in the form of Noel's 4x great-grandfather, Glasgow Bedou, who was born into slavery but lived to own his own land, as well as his freedom.

Overall, a really important and truly interesting episode.

WDYTYA? - Fearne Cotton

Fearne Cotton's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featured two ancestors involved in the medical profession.

From both her maternal and paternal families, these were men who struggled through poverty to follow their desire to help those in need.

In the case of her paternal great-grandfather, this was something that led not only to work in medicine - but also to a prison cell.

Conscientious Objectors in WW1 were imprisoned and punished severely for their beliefs. For many, the stigma never left them.

Still, the coal miner from Abertillery stuck to his principles.

And he made it through. He trained as a chemist, and lived out his life in that profession.





On her mother's side, Fearne traced the life of another chemist, an Irishman who later became a doctor.

Although, 'became' indicates that he trained as a doctor... in his case, it was more like, 'decided he was a doctor, so now he was a doctor, ok?'

Still, he was apparently a skilled one!