WDYTYA S14

Alicat

Back again! Starts tonight at 9pm on BBC1 with Charles Dance.

Alicat

More here:

pinkypinky

Oooh thanks for the reminder.

I'll be on tomorrow for the traditional "it's not real genealogy" moan.

Alicat

Sure that's what we do every year! Why break from tradition!

Hermy

I know I was previously quite dismissive of WDYTYA but I have since watched several from the last series - Danny Dyer, Liz Bonin, Sophie Raworth, Greg Davies, Warwick Davis among them - and I have to admit some of the shows were actually rather good. I won't be watching every episode but here's hoping for some more good stories among them.

jos28

Ah fekc, just spotted this now and there's no BBC +1:(

Edit - It's repeated on Tuesday so I just set the Sky box

Waitsian

Wow, what an episode! The first half was kinda meh, but the second. I won't spoil it but that ending. Talk about hitting the genealogical mother lode! As well as being as teary-eyed as he was I was so envious. That would be a dream come true for me. If you haven't seen it yet you'll know what I mean when you do. Wow.

Hermy

Sounds good - roll on Tuesday!

shanew

I want to find a magic suitcase like the one his cousin had with the diary and collection of photos - keep you busy for days!!

The Acton story was incredibly sad...

pinkypinky

No moaning today: that was a really good episode, properly researched. I did want to know more about the Rowley side of the family.

There was something about Welsh kings on the first page of that autobiography.

Waitsian

Oh can I just add too - next time I'm in London I'm spending a whole day in that bookstore.

spurious

mod9maple wrote:

Oh can I just add too - next time I'm in London I'm spending a whole day in that bookstore.

Such a delight that it looked like it did and not the redeveloped minimalist horror beside it.

shanew

mod9maple wrote: »

Oh can I just add too - next time I'm in London I'm spending a whole day in that bookstore.

you can 'walk' around that shop on their website - Daunt Books, 83 Marylebone High St.

Alicat

Just managed to catch the episode today, what a great start to the series! It was so close to home for him so understandably emotional. That chest was the stuff of dreams! I keep asking my granny is she absolutely sure we don't have one of those somewhere! :pac:

cobham

I missed first episode and someone said it was repeated this Tuesday but I cant find it? perhaps Wimbledon is getting in the way:(

Alicat

It's technically tonight I think, after midnight?

shanew

00:25 Tuesday BBC1 NI

Today's Indo has the time for it as midnight.... and UPC program guide as 00:25.

cobham

I found full episode on YouTube

Jellybaby1

A very good episode all right, though I would quibble about.........ah I won't spoil it in case someone still has to watch it on their recorder. Dance was definitely quite emotional as anyone would be in the circumstances. Roll on next week.

pinkypinky

Nice to see a non-pantomime side of Craig Revel Horwood. Perhaps not the highs of Dance's episode (pardon the pun) but solid enough, 7.5/10.

Jellybaby1

Aww dang!! I had it on my recorder and now I can't find it. Think I deleted it by mistake. Is it on again this week anyone know, please say it is?

shanew

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Aww dang!! I had it on my recorder and now I can't find it. Think I deleted it by mistake. Is it on again this week anyone know, please say it is?

Tues. 18th July BBC 1 NI 00:00 to 01:00

Jellybaby1

Thank you Shane. Saved my life.

Hermy

That was interesting although it's worth noting in llight of the other thread that thepeerage.com, Wikipedia and lots of trees at Ancestry have Sir Malcolm's date of birth a year late! I didn't notice if the programme got it right.

pinkypinky

I have many comments. I knew very little about Clare Balding before this started.

"John Lavery - I think he's famous"

She's never heard of Royal Baking Powder? She's definitely a toff!

Hard to believe someone who is the great-granddaughter of an earl didn't know the stuff about that side of the family but I'm glad they didn't just go for the easy story there. She must have had some idea because she straight away suspected something scandalous about her g grandfather - wouldn't she just google him? I see from that venerable search engine that Clare's brother is an earl too. Also where is the painting that Whistler did for Bullock? Surely that's knocking around still.

The NY stuff was fascinating - and it did seem like she genuinely knew none of that side.

spurious

I thought the letter from the bereaved father to his bereaved son in law was beautiful.

We've lost so much with the loss of letter writing.

Jellybaby1

Enjoyed the Clare Balding episode very much. Even though she is a toff, she still comes across as a really nice person, and great fun too. Everyone who ever baked a cake has a tin of Royal Baking Powder in their cupboard. Clare Balding must have never baked a cake. She was educated, according to Wiki, at Downe House School, "The core subjects at Downe House are English, Mathematics and Science as well as Humanities, Classics and Social Sciences subjects and there are options such as Fine Arts, Foreign Languages and Business Studies." and "Archetypal traditional girls’ full boarding school turning out delightful, principled, courteous and able girls who go on to make a significant contribution to the world". Those gels were not expected to have to bake their own cakes! :eek: Not a bad series so far.

pinkypinky

Very different sort of episode tonight. Nice to see them focus on non-western genealogy - Adil's really a hodge-podge of different countries. Bet his DNA looks interesting.

Tangent: RTE is showing the latest American WDYTYA in the late afternoons at the moment. I've watched Ginnifer Goodwin (lots of crime in her ancestry and drugs), Alfre Woodward (slave ancestors - not your typical story though). Have Bryan Cranston recorded but not watched yet.

And if that wasn't enough: RTE is also showing S13 of the Beeb one right now.

pinkypinky

Heads-up team: tonight's episode is in Ireland.

Jellybaby1

Watched tonight's episode. Very very interesting. And Mr. Genealogy makes an appearance too! What a thrill!! However, it never fails to astound me, the lack of knowledge of Irish/English history that there is in Great Britain! Pity the Luas works took away from what would have been a great view of O'Connell Street.

Hermy

Some great contrasting stories in that episode.

Maybe it was because of the Irish content but I really felt the absence of the research in this episode as the records just appeared as if by magic.

Speaking of magic wouldn't it be great if Mr G. was waiting for you every time you visited the Registry of Deeds like the fez-wearing shopkeeper waiting patiently for Mr Benn.:)

pinkypinky

Totally agreed about the luas works, Jellybaby1!

Having to explain the 1798 rebellion though. Really lacking in knowledge.

It was so much fun to see people I know in real life. Great research.

Hermy

Hermy wrote: »

Maybe it was because of the Irish content but I really felt the absence of the research in this episode as the records just appeared as if by magic.

I could perhaps have worded that better.

I don't mean to suggest that there wasn't good research and lots of it but rather that because of the manner in which each new piece of information seems to just appear on command, the unwitting observer might think that this level of detail is easily achievable.

Of course anyone who has poured over old registers for hours on end looking for that all important clue knows only too well the work involved. And while it obviously wouldn't make for good televisual viewing I think not making some allusion to the work involved does genealogy a disservice.

jos28

Just caught up on last's night's episode. Didn't know much about Emma Willis and I thought she came across as a very down to earth person. Loved the bits in Birmingham (I was born there) and I'd be chuffed to find someone like Michael Kirwan in my history. I'd imagine there are a lot more references to him in various archives. Make a good topic for a research assignment. All in all a good episode.

Jellybaby1

Hermy wrote: »

Some great contrasting stories in that episode.

Maybe it was because of the Irish content but I really felt the absence of the research in this episode as the records just appeared as if by magic.

Speaking of magic wouldn't it be great if Mr G. was waiting for you every time you visited the Registry of Deeds like the fez-wearing shopkeeper waiting patiently for Mr Benn.:)

Thanks for that Hermy, now the Mr. Benn music is all I can hear inside my head! Mr. G would look very fetching in a fez!

Save

pinkypinky

Chris Noth on the US WDYTYA (on the RTE player) features Irish ancestry.

jos28

Did anyone watch Chris Noth, do you remember the military sources that the historian in Cavan used ? I've a military ancestor based in Castletownbere in the early 1800s and am having no luck finding anything on him. I was interested in the sources used on WDYTYA and wondering if similar records exist that might help me.

pinkypinky

They were records in the National Archives at Kew - not online. I don't think they specified the series.

It's still on the player: https://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/who-do-you-think-you-are-usa-1788/10760727/

jos28

Thanks Pinky, watched it again and it was the Regiment of Militia - Adjutants Roll that caught my eye. Might be worth trying to see if similar documents exist for West Cork. Cheers

tabbey

jos28 wrote: »

Thanks Pinky, watched it again and it was the Regiment of Militia - Adjutants Roll that caught my eye. Might be worth trying to see if similar documents exist for West Cork. Cheers

Although Cork county is traditionally divided into East and West ridings, the militia for some reason was North (HQ Fermoy) and South. covering West Cork.

Militia Muster Rolls are generally found in Kew, look up their Discovery website to locate the appropriate collection and file number.
Muster rolls are basically monthly pay returns, they show where the militia or part of it was stationed at any given time. The officers had to sign for their pay on these rolls, but other ranks were assumed to be illiterate.
Militias were moved around during times of war or unrest, and the privates might have been reluctant to deal firmly with miscreants in their home areas. My own militia ancestor served in various parts of Ireland, and also in England. We often hear of English soldiers oppressing Irish residents, but Irish militia did on occasion perform the same role in England.

If you have not been to Kew before, or your card has expired, bring two forms of ID.

Also, do not wear a clean white shirt when you delve into boxes of muster rolls, as you near the bottom of the box, it is like soot, as centuries old ink drops off the parchment

jos28

Thanks a million for that Tabbey, tons of information there and much appreciated.
Cheers

Jellybaby1

Lulu's episode was a very interesting story, but I was left wanting to know more about the rest of the children, and her great grandfather on the Protestant side, great-granny was impressive for the time. Pity about the Irish branch though, I cried along with her.

cobham

Yes I also had a lot of questions....
what became of the younger children after the death of the mother and what became of the father? Have all died by now? And no indication that the granny helped with the children and what of the grandfather? were they disowned? and what of grandparents/family on the father's side?
And what religion were the children raised?

I suppose a lot of things are not neatly recorded in records.

tabbey

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Lulu's episode was a very interesting story, but I was left wanting to know more about the rest of the children, and her great grandfather on the Protestant side, great-granny was impressive for the time. Pity about the Irish branch though, I cried along with her.

There is more about it on the Findmypast blog.

pinkypinky

I see the final episode - Ruby Wax - is airing this Wednesday after a significant gap.
Hopefully it'll be good: they usually keep a great discovery for the last episode.

I also noted that Eamon Holmes admitted he was rejected for the show in 2010 on the grounds that his ancestry was dull.

Has anyone here ever researched a famous person's ancestry?

Hermy

I wonder how many invites are sent out and how many celebs families are actually researched before the producers arrive at a shortlist for broadcast?

pinkypinky

I heard somewhere before that they start with 4 times the number of celebs to produce a series of 8-10 episodes.

Hermy

pinkypinky wrote: »

I see the final episode - Ruby Wax - is airing this Wednesday after a significant gap.

Did anyone watch it last night?
It was short on genealogy but a very compelling tale nonetheless.

Alicat

Hermy wrote: »

Did anyone watch it last night?
It was short on genealogy but a very compelling tale nonetheless.

Yes, very short on genealogy for our standards but I suppose to someone who knew absolutely nothing, it was probably huge for her. I sometimes forget how little some people know about their own family.

Very interesting though, and I can imagine almost a relief in a way for Ruby to finally see how mental illness had been a big part of the family history. It didn't just begin out of nowhere, and it wasn't because of anything she and her mother did necessarily.

pinkypinky

Agree with you both - having just finished it.

I also was amazed that she'd never looked at the back of the photos, when one of them actually had a name on it!

Waitsian

Alicat wrote: »

Just managed to catch the episode today, what a great start to the series! It was so close to home for him so understandably emotional. That chest was the stuff of dreams! I keep asking my granny is she absolutely sure we don't have one of those somewhere! :pac:

mod9maple wrote: »

Wow, what an episode! The first half was kinda meh, but the second. I won't spoil it but that ending. Talk about hitting the genealogical mother lode! As well as being as teary-eyed as he was I was so envious. That would be a dream come true for me. If you haven't seen it yet you'll know what I mean when you do. Wow.

I hope I don't get my knuckles wrapped for this (I don't think the thread is old enough for that) but I had to share. Remember that chest in the Charles Dance episode? Above are two reactions, including my own.

Well....guess what I got last night? From my oldest aunts collection of papers. She sadly passed away aged almost 90, and my cousins decided I was the man to take possession of a 'wee' box of treasures. Letters, obituaries, newspaper clippings, military records, photos, documents, mass cards, pay slips, state and church certs, postcards and much much more. I'm ecstatic. I've tonnes of new info and new leads.