General Chat

Josh remarked early in the programme that he hoped he wasn't going to discover a boring family..... far from it!

I wonder if researchers have a look at the background stories before the celebrty is invited on their journey back in time.

My problem with researching is that most of my ancestors were law abiding citizens, not wealthy enough to own property or leave Wills and basically just kept their head above water so didn't leave much of a paper trail.
This is not too bad if you are following an unusual surname in parish records or a distinctive occupation, but not so easy knowing which 'George Jones, a labourer' might be my relative.

I like the programme and find it interesting how they prove or disprove old family stories.

We thorughly enjoyed it. Josh's reactions were very funny.

Gwyn, I think they do look into the trees before they contact people. As some famous people come from very boring famillies.

ZZzz - I think it is called a Gateway Ancestor.. One that can lead you into the wealthy peoples family records.

Nameslessone. There is a family story on hubbies side that an ancestor was given hush money £300 in the 1850s to go away and have the illegitimate child, the father being the son of the head of the household, she moved to Essex opened a Milliners shop married a solicitor and died of alcoholism leaving a substantial amount of money, the only wrong thing there is that they got the wrong girl, it was the sister that the story was attached to, so right story wrong girl, my Mother in law was impressed with it all.

They do check out ancestry first. Some years back, I remember reading that Michael Parkinson had been invited to be one of the celebrities. He accepted but was later told that research hadn't shown anything unusual or interesting enough to make a programme. :-(

'Ordinary' records can go back as far as 1538, I suppose, though they are very scant.
Certainly I have some ancestors married in 1698, but although there are records with that name before that, I can't properly identify the people, and the records are in quite a poor condition. Gentry would have kept records long before that, private baptisms and all that.
Once you get back to gentry/royalty, they intermarried a lot, so if you can find that 'gateway' ancestor, the rest of it can be quite easy as the records are there to see.

I have a weighty document written by an American chap in 1896 that apparently takes my family back to the Plantagenet kings, however I have never found a complete line, there are several dubious/missing links. One of the ancestors is Sir Nigel Loring, one of the original Knights of the Garter. If I could prove the link, I could, for some fee, become a Friend/Ancestor of St Georges Chapel, Windsor, and have the priveledge of cleaning it, or serving in the shop, I think.
And once you get back to the Plantagenets, you link up with many European royalty too, as Josh does.

I am lucky as one of the direct lines of my Dad's family has wills and land documents dating back centuries- all stored in the university library and county hall. Some are in ecclesiastical Latin, but the loveliest to look at - of which I have a copy - is when land is being taken from them in the late 1600s! That irregular-shaped documents with four seals is in special storage and we had to request to see it. I have no idea what happened before that date but they must have fallen foul of someone! Not to worry, though, because there were still several farms in the family after that - just not on the scale of the land that was taken from them.

That particular branch of my paternal grandmother's family contains some well-known names from centuries ago - le Scrope, de la Pole (Earl of Suffolk was my direct ancestor's brother), the Welsh ap Gruffydd, de Norwich and an Archbishop who was executed - and more than one castle.

To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement. I was certainly dubious at first - and researched thoroughly, calling for help (mainly because I found it hard to believe), whereupon the wonderful AnnCardiff came up with the details which pretty much confirmed everything I had discovered, and more. I shall be forever grateful to her.

But for all that background, there is a prostitute down that particular family line!

The rest of my ancestors had not the same lineage in their backgrounds - but we had a lot of seafarers, carpenters, bookkeepers, a couple of innkeepers, watchmakers and finishers and two shoemakers.

My direct Essex and Norfolk ancestors were Ag Labs or husbandmen until they moved north whereupon they became miners. My lot certainly got around which is one of the reasons I am where I am - not in the city or county of my birth and not in the Isle of Man or Lancashire where my Mum's ancestors came from.

I am looking forward to the next few 'Who do you think you are' programmes, particularly that of Judi Dench. If Josh's is anything to go by, we're in for some great television, I think.

Great episode…a bit like my family tree ;-) ;-) :-D :-D

I think the way he reacted made it one of the more enjoyable episodes.

Don't like it when they get emotional and involved as if they knew the people.

The thing I liked about this week's show was that Josh got to see pictures of his ancestors from centuries ago. What I wouldn't give for a picture or photo of some of my ancestors. It's so much better when you can picture someone whilst thinking about them.

Kath. x

Having an MP works in getting back too! ,
There are many free Cornish records online, and, apart from a 'glitch' of about 2 years when I got stuck - well do you really expect William Polkinghorne 1,2 and 3 all to marry ladies with the surname Jory?

I have a Joanna Dinham - the original surname was Dinan - as that's where her gx3 grandfather came from, but one book describes 'Dinham' as an old cornish word for something.
I also have Landeryou's - there's a Landerneu in Brittany, but not one book links the two. I'm still tracing them. I mean, did a Cornish person called Landeryou go to Brittany and name the place after him, or did a Breton from Landerneau come here? Or does it really describe where someone lived - by a church?

I have a similar problem with my Hampshire Scragglefords, in the early 16th Century.
There are many Scraggs', and Scraggles', but only about 2 families of Scragglefords', and I can't get back any further, as there appears to be no earlier families.
They lived in Romsey, where there is a Scragg Hill - which one Romsey Historian told me, was named after the Scragglefords.
At the bottom of the hill is a Ford.
Could they be Scraggs', who lived by the ford at the bottom of the hill - Scragg-hill-ford? Or were they Scraggles who lived there - Scraggle's - ford?

It wasn't unusual for surnames to be the name of villages where people lived.
One of my 'Hornicotes' ended up with Tintagel - so he (and his son) changed their name to 'Tintagel'. The women kept the surname 'Hornicote', so I have a Sarah Hornicote, father, Gervais Tintagel - but they were wealthy, so it didn't cause too many problems for me.

According to the Parish records at Swefling, my Suffolk Cattermoles', began, in the 15th Century, as Kauckermoulles', and the spelling changed, even between christenings! (Kackermull, Kokermill, etc etc)

No-one on WDYTYA, so far, appears to have this problem!

Some wonderful surnames there Maggie :-D

Such a change from all my Davies in both Herefordshire and Wales and 3 completely unrelated families of Jones in 3 different locations !

It’s great to find surnames that mean something, I think.. My best so far is Arrowsmith (Mum’s line). No prizes for guessing what the first Arrowsmiths did! :-D

My Cattermole married a Baggott! :-S

An MP, who was also a posh pirate helped with the Cornish side!

Favourite possible names - need more research, but 'everyone else' online, from this Cornish side has them as ancestors,,are Joanna Nanscoyk and Alan Bloyou, who married in the 1270's.
For some reason, 'Nanscoyk' changed over the years :-D :-D :-D

I love researching the female line - their children are most kely to be their's - and I love the surnames!

It’s one of the reasons why I think royalty should come down the female line, Maggie. Who can be certain otherwise?

My Deacons may have come from Acquigny in Normandy, so De Acquigny.
The previously mentioned Sir Nigel Lorion, was apparently from Lorraine, on the German side of France.
The Strangeways family apparently came over with the Conqueror and were given lands on the side of the River Irk in Manchester, from there they spread to Northumberland, Yorkshire and Dorset. However I've never found a link to the Manchester family. Mine are from Northumberland.

Dame Judi Dench tonight! :-D

9pm BBC1

Looking forward to this one, the write up looks good. :-)

It was a very interesting one with Judi Dench this week.

How very coincidental though about the connections to Shakespear and Judi playing Hamlet.
But my grandmothers middle name was Cecelia and she went on to go to the Royal School of Music and teach piano. St Cecelia is the Patron Saint of Music...how weird is that?

But Joan, sorry but when i was in a "full" house, if i didnt do yorkies with any roast, including chicken, there would have been a war on! However i drew the line at having tomato ketchup on the dinner table on sunday...never!

Florence in the hebrides

My then brother in law would have lots of ketchup on every dinner, it took my sister a long time to get him out of that habit and he definitely did not do that when they came to our house for dinner.

Nudge for the forgetful like me <3