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00:04I was born in Reading in a little maternity hospital and as the story goes my mum was
00:11cooking Sunday lunch, felt a little twinge, walked round the corner, had me and went home in time to
00:20serve crumble with baby Kate in her arms which really sums up my mum. She was a brilliant
00:24multitasker and an amazing cook and just could do it all. Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet was
00:32born in 1975, the second of four children. My parents never had any money and it was always
00:40a real struggle but we were very very happy. I think I'm about nine here and this photograph
00:48is taken in a van and I remember this distinctly because my dad who was an actor he always had
00:54to
00:54get whatever odd job he could and he got a job for the National Trust and he only took the
01:00job
01:00because one of the things that came with it was a 16-seater bus and he thought oh brilliant because
01:07we didn't have a car and this was a way of basically transporting his large family for free.
01:17On my dad's side all I really ever knew was there's some other pubs lots of pubs lots of booze
01:27clearly
01:28lots of actors but much more than that I don't really know. This photograph here again it's a
01:33family photo my mum absolutely loved children and so that sense of family has carried on in all of us.
01:40My mum Sally died nearly two years ago she had ovarian cancer and oh god it's only because it's
01:48coming up to two years. She was an amazing lady she should still be alive she was she was here
01:55now
01:55she would say come on shoulders back sit up straight don't swear yeah we all miss her terribly terribly
02:03she was very much the center of the family. My mum didn't talk about her family history very much
02:09actually I do remember when we were younger there was some rumor about some Scandinavian thing and
02:16people would say when we were younger god you look like a group of Scandinavian people we do look
02:23Scandinavian god that'd be good. It's something that I've always wanted to know I mean I think everyone
02:31does but I think particularly since my mum died I just would love to know more about where I come
02:36from on both sides
03:15my uncle Mark has given me a letter to get me started my uncle Mark is my mum's youngest brother
03:23okay let's see what Mark has given me dear Kate I've enclosed a picture of my parents Archibald Bridges
03:37and Linda Plum so that's Linda Plum that's my that's my grandmother right there that's Archibald
03:44God she looks like my mum wow cool dress the other photo is of all of us kids your mum
03:50is on the right
03:51I'm sitting on my mum Linda's lap so this is my grandmother here and that's my mum Sally
03:59Linda Plum may sound about as English as it's possible to be but that may not be the case
04:05while I never met mum's parents they died before I was born I did once meet her great aunt Lily
04:12I've never heard of Lily Lily came to the house when I was little and I vividly remember her standing
04:17by the living room window she seemed very well to do I know she'd come down from London to visit
04:24but what I remember most was that I was told she was Swedish I knew it so she stuck in
04:32my mind
04:33I do wonder where Lily and her family originally came from
04:37oh my god
04:42certified copy of an entry of death okay 29th of July 1964 Lily otherwise Lillian
04:52Helcrest female 84 years old widow myocardial fibrosis something I can't read all that
05:03causing the body to be buried Swedish church Harcourt Street W1 so Lillian Helcrest is buried in this
05:15Swedish church in London I've not heard of this woman at all
05:28I'm feeling very excited this morning here I am at the Swedish church which actually funnily enough I've walked past
05:34several times in my life
05:35never had any significance to me whatsoever but now it does I'm going in
05:42the Swedish church in Marylebone was built in 1911 to provide a place of worship for London's Swedish community
05:53Kate's here to meet historian Dr. Anne Kirshen
05:57I've been given a lead which is I was given the death certificate of my great great great aunt Lily
06:04and apparently she's buried in the Swedish church let me stop you there because sitting in this church
06:10it's obvious you couldn't have been buried here in the middle of Marlebone no um she was buried at
06:17Brookwood Cemetery which is near Woking and there was Swedish ground okay so people obviously of Swedish origin would be
06:26buried there
06:27so Lillian's date of death 29th of July 64 at the age of 84
06:32while I was checking the records at Brookwood I came across another relative
06:37right
06:40and that was the grave of Alfred Lidman who was in fact your great great grandfather
06:49Alfred Lidman so let me hang on let me piece this together so they were brother and sister
06:55yeah wow and I've got something here this is what's called an attestation
07:02it's a church record that priests kept about members of their congregation now that's the translation
07:12Taylor Taylor Alfred Johansson Lidman
07:18born 1857 April 21st in the Encelof Parish Halland he was wed in the English church
07:27May 1884 has three children right okay so that's basically telling you that he'd moved from the place of
07:37Holland Holland in southern Sweden to London my goodness me he was a hundred percent Swedish this is just brilliant
07:47and we know from that that he was a tailor that was his craft
07:53how fabulous I really admire that courage to go and seek your life
08:05Kate's two times great-grandfather Alfred Lidman married in London in 1884. London was then the largest city in the
08:14world
08:16its wealth buoyed by trade from Queen Victoria's vast empire
08:21at the time there were over 50 000 tailors working in the capital many of them immigrants like Alfred
08:31now we know from the 1891 census where Alfred was living in London in London yes what's the red and
08:40the
08:40yellow and what are these bits on this map there was a social scientist called Charles Booth both created
08:46this map to show wealth and poverty by color red was middle class and pink was doing very well
08:54Alfred was living just along here in great Paltney street he was working in the west end and he was
09:03probably making bespoke garments for Savile Row so he was a Savile Row tailor yep and what I've got here
09:10exemplifies the kind of garments that Alfred would have been making up is this wonderful
09:16image of a Bond Street bow gosh how decadent
09:23but your great great grandfather had a proper job had a proper job well more than a proper job
09:31Alfred Lidman was successful he was he made the journey and I wonder what brought him to England
09:44I like this man I like this man a lot I would love to take this family line further back
09:51where do the Lidmans come from what made him leave maybe because he had to I'm quite impatient come on
09:58let's go let's go now let's go
10:11Kate has traveled to Holland in southern Sweden the region which her great great grandfather Alfred came
10:18from I have been to Sweden before only once when I was about six years old and it was nothing
10:25to do
10:25with family my parents have some friends who live here and I think I remember swimming in this lake and
10:30taking my feet off and swimming there you go I think I learned to swim in Sweden not funny just
10:36remembered that
10:42Kate's visiting a country estate in Sperlingsholm she's here to meet genealogist Ted Roswell
10:55I'm Ted hi I'm Kate nice to meet you nice to welcome this wonderful place thank you so much what
11:03do you think
11:04it's an incredible large house it's a it's a palace actually a small palace a small palace built in 1820
11:15by a very well-to-do uh count Henning Wrangel I have here a document it's a birth record from
11:231826
11:25and the item I want you to focus on is this one right here can you see what his name
11:31is
11:32Johan Christian yes and he was born at Sperlingsholm Sperlingsholm and that's right where we are now
11:40he was born here on this estate here and of course you can probably not read the Swedish text
11:45funnily enough no I can't but I have a translation for you here okay Johan Christian
11:52son of stable groom at Sperlingsholm Anders Johnson and his wife Anna Christina Eric's daughter
12:02so who is this Johan Christian do you think I've got a feeling because Alfred my great great
12:08grandfather Alfred Johansson uh Lidman because of the Johansson is this man his father that is his
12:16father okay so this is my great great great grandfather yes and he he he was born here because
12:25his father worked here and of course Johan Christian was known as Anderson because of our name system
12:33where you took your father's first name and added son or daughter to it yeah so if you had lived
12:40here
12:40back then what would your name have been Kate Rogers daughter yeah correct Kate Rogers daughter
12:47right sounds quite right
12:54Kate has discovered that her three times great-grandfather Johan Anderson was born on the
13:00Sperlingsholm estate in 1826. Johan was one of five children born to stable groom Anders Johnson
13:10and his wife Anna Erichsdottir
13:17Ted is taking Kate to Sperling's home stables
13:23the stable block where Anders worked was replaced in the late 1800s
13:29but the new stables were built on a similar scale to the original
13:36oh
13:36Hey
13:38hey
13:38hey
13:39so here are your trusty horses
13:42hello
13:44I'm not very good with the horses actually
13:45Well, this is where he worked, your great-great-great-great-grandfather.
13:51But it wasn't really a steady job.
13:54He didn't actually get paid, not in money anyway.
13:58They had their own currency here at the estate.
14:03What?
14:03Yes, the owner of the estate wanted the money to stay there.
14:08So he had a store, an estate store.
14:12And so he paid the workers in tokens.
14:16For which the workers could buy food, milk and grain, potatoes and whatnot, from the store.
14:24And I actually have a couple of those tokens here.
14:28Oh, goodness me.
14:29Look at this.
14:31Can you read that thing up there?
14:34Henning Rangel, 1826.
14:37And that's precisely the year that your great-great-great-grandfather was born.
14:41Yes.
14:42Johann Christian was born that year.
14:45So chances are that his father may have had this in his hand back then.
14:51Oh, my goodness me.
14:52And this is for one day's work, which you could then trade in for.
14:58I mean, that's amazing.
14:59But it's also kind of, it's amazing to see something like that.
15:02Because, of course, I never would have thought something like this would exist.
15:04But also it's kind of terrible.
15:07Because for a man with a family, he must have felt like there was never any way out of his
15:14arrangement.
15:15Yeah.
15:15So no sense of, no possibility to save and move away and have a different life.
15:22But it gets worse.
15:23Oh, no.
15:24Oh, no.
15:24I don't want it to get worse.
15:25This is a death record from 1831.
15:30And I want you to focus on this item right here.
15:34Do you think you can read that?
15:38Drangen.
15:39Yeah.
15:39That means the farmhand.
15:40Drangen.
15:41Anders Jansson.
15:43What does that say now?
15:44Son.
15:45Son.
15:47Gustav.
15:48Gustav.
15:49He was the youngest, wasn't he?
15:51And he was three months old.
15:54Oh, no.
15:55He didn't die.
15:56He died.
15:56Oh!
15:57On the 18th of September, 1831, of, and this is a Swedish word, twinsut, it's malnutrition.
16:07We had really hard times in the 1830s.
16:12Starvation, really.
16:13We had crop failure year after year.
16:15And that caused, of course, malnutrition.
16:19You can compare this, what happened in 1830, to the Irish potato famine.
16:24Back then, it was really hard for people to stay alive.
16:30In the 19th century, Sweden suffered famine after famine.
16:35And in winter, the situation became even more perilous.
16:40As temperatures plummeted well below freezing, many ports and roads were covered in snow and ice.
16:47Much of the country was cut off.
16:50So poor families, like Kate's four times great-grandfather Anders, struggled to survive.
16:58And here comes an even worse turn of events.
17:04This is a letter from 1832.
17:08And I have a translation for you here.
17:13To the circuit judge, Mr Holmutz, the county governor's office hereby instructs the chief executive
17:19to investigate the arrests of Bengt Svensson and Anders Jönsson from Wrangelsrow,
17:27who committed the burglary of three to four barrels of potatoes from farmers Per Jönsson and Bengt Larsson.
17:34So Anders stole.
17:36Yeah, and why did they steal?
17:37Because he was starving, and so were his children.
17:40His child, the youngest child had died, and so he needed food for his family.
17:44And this is after Gustav has died.
17:46Yes, Gustav died in 1831 in September.
17:481831, this is...
17:50February 1832.
17:51This is only five months later.
17:52In the midst of winter, desperate for money for his children.
17:56Good on you, Anders.
17:57I would have stolen the potatoes as well.
18:00But that didn't go too well.
18:03So he was sent to prison in Halmstad Castle.
18:08Oh no, for stealing potatoes!
18:10Yes.
18:10No!
18:13Oh no, this is horrible.
18:16And that...
18:17How long was he in prison for?
18:19Do we know?
18:19Well, we could find out possibly.
18:22He was sent to this castle at Halmstad.
18:25It's not very far from here.
18:26And that castle is still standing.
18:28And you could probably see where he was...
18:32Where he was held.
18:33Where he was held, yeah.
18:35Okay, I'm going to.
18:46I didn't expect any of this.
18:48It's very sad.
18:49His little boy died.
18:51And his wife must have been in pieces and...
18:55Grieving for this little boy with four other children to look after.
19:01I'm not surprised he stole the flipping potatoes.
19:19Kate has come to Halmstad Castle.
19:23Built in 1621 as a royal palace,
19:27it's now a private government residence.
19:31Well, hello there.
19:34Hello, I'm Kate.
19:35Hello, I'm Yuan.
19:36Hi.
19:36Welcome to Halmstad Castle.
19:38The castle's prison block, where Anders was held,
19:42has been demolished.
19:44But historian Johann Darnberg
19:46has found something that remains
19:48from the time Anders was here.
19:54So please, step inside.
19:56Very old door.
19:57Very old door.
19:58Yes.
19:59Okay.
20:06When the prison was torn down in the late 19th century,
20:10they found something on the wall
20:12and they kept it and put it here instead.
20:17Some prisoner made this drawing with a knife
20:21and painted it.
20:22And this is most absolutely from that period
20:26when Anders Jönsson was here in the prison.
20:29Wow.
20:29And I believe Anders took care of horses, didn't he?
20:32Yeah, he did.
20:33Yeah, he did.
20:34Yes, he did.
20:36I mean, it is possible that he could have either had some part in this
20:41or he certainly may have seen it.
20:46It's very beautiful, isn't it, really?
20:48It's so sad to me that he came from working with horses
20:53and then to be arrested for stealing food,
20:59for trying to do the right thing for his children.
21:19And I would like to hand you something here.
21:21It's the account for the trial of Anders.
21:26It's a lot of words.
21:28It is a lot of words in very swirly, swirly writing.
21:31And to help you again with some translation
21:36from this central part,
21:38we have something about Anders Jönsson himself.
21:41Anders Jönsson,
21:45who has a weak body constitution
21:48and more round than oblong face,
21:52a pointed nose and dark hair,
21:55stated that he is 42 years old
21:58and has never been suspected of any crime.
22:01Oh, my God, he was only a year younger than me.
22:03And he has a weak body constitution.
22:05Well, I'm not flipping surprised.
22:07He was starving.
22:12Okay.
22:13Okay.
22:13Okay.
22:14He wasn't just a plain old thief.
22:16He was a good person.
22:17This was a one-off.
22:18He was desperate.
22:19Not really a one-off.
22:21Not a one-off?
22:22Not really a one-off.
22:23Oh, my goodness.
22:24But quite connected.
22:26Nils Persson from Biscopstorp reported that thieves...
22:32Oh, no.
22:34...stole three beehives
22:35and that the plaintiff found two pots of honey
22:38in the homes of the accused.
22:41The accused voluntarily admitted
22:44that these same beehives were stolen by them
22:47and the honeybees were slaughtered.
22:49I didn't know you could slaughter bees.
22:51It came to a surprise to me as well.
22:53But opening a beehive,
22:55perhaps that's the natural development.
22:58Wouldn't they just buzz off?
22:59Yes.
23:01So, Anders stole...
23:05..stole some beehives to make honey?
23:08Yeah.
23:12Clever boy.
23:16I guess you'd like to see something from the verdict?
23:19Yes, I definitely want this verdict now
23:21because I'm worried about it.
23:23The court finds it fair to judge the two accused,
23:26Bengt Svensson and Anders Jönsson
23:29to 35 pairs of whipping each.
23:33Oh, no.
23:3535 pairs of whipping each.
23:38So is that a whip with two lashes on it?
23:40No, it's not.
23:41It's more like a stiff, flexible switch on a rod.
23:46But it's 70 strokes.
23:51That just makes me feel sick.
23:59We believe that Anders never got his punishment.
24:03Really?
24:03Yes.
24:05Because we have this documentation as well.
24:10Okay, where is he now?
24:12Let me see if I can see.
24:14Okay.
24:15You find him down here.
24:19And I have the translation for that as well.
24:21Wait a minute.
24:22He died.
24:23This is a record of his death.
24:25This is a record of the death.
24:28What does this say?
24:31That says this.
24:34Buried April the 3rd.
24:36Arrested man, Anders Jönsson.
24:3843 years old.
24:39Died of nerve fever.
24:41So he most likely had typhus in prison.
24:45Oh.
24:47And he's on the next page across from his little boy.
24:54So his son, Gustav, is here at three months old.
25:03And then on the next page, there he is.
25:18Oh, God, I'm angry now.
25:23Now I feel so angry now.
25:27It's just not fair.
25:30It's just not fair.
25:32And this poor wife, Anna.
25:35And then she was left breathing for the...
25:37Oh, my God, no.
25:38No, no, no.
25:40No.
25:42In the space of six months, she lost her husband and her baby.
25:49Poor Anna.
25:52And was left with four children.
25:56Johanna, Elna, Jöns and Johan, who would have been my great-great-great-grandfather.
26:04How on earth would she have survived this?
26:10Sigh.
26:14When I think of those children, I absolutely can't stand it.
26:19Johan, Christian, would have been five, nearly six years old,
26:24which is exactly the same age as Bear, my youngest.
26:29Exactly the same.
26:30Oh, I can't stand it.
26:32And the thought of Bear being without his dad.
26:36Oh, my God, I can't stand it.
26:41But I wonder what happened to Johan, Christian, after losing his dad.
26:47Oh, please, it has to have been something good.
26:55To find out more about Johan's life after his father died in prison,
27:01Kate is meeting historian Elizabeth Engberg.
27:07So, I've got a document about Johan to show you.
27:13It's a marriage record.
27:16Okay.
27:16I think you should start reading here on that line.
27:20Well, obviously, I can't read Swedish.
27:25Something, something, Johan, Christian, Andersen.
27:28I've got a translation for you, so you can read it in English.
27:31Yes, how fabulous.
27:32Okay.
27:33Stick to that.
27:34Okay, 23rd of May, 1847.
27:36Anna, Johan's daughter, is who he married.
27:42This is so fantastic.
27:46Okay, now we can feel a little bit better about things.
27:51So, what does, so this, what does this mean?
27:53The Botsman, it means that Johan, Christian,
27:56he was a soldier in the Swedish Navy.
27:58The Swedish Navy was for a very long time
28:01upheld by a traditional system.
28:03Every parish was divided into smaller areas
28:06where the landowners were responsible
28:08of supporting a soldier.
28:10He had a small salary.
28:12Hooray!
28:13Okay, so he was not paid in tokens.
28:17No.
28:17He was paid in money.
28:19But most importantly, he was given a craft,
28:22a small cottage where he could live with his family,
28:26where he could grow his potatoes,
28:29or maybe some turnips, or maybe have a cow.
28:32That's fantastic.
28:34And then, what does this word mean here?
28:37Gökung.
28:38Gökung.
28:39Gökung.
28:40It's a young cuckoo.
28:42That's a nickname.
28:43Swedish names are very common.
28:45So, when they went into the army,
28:47they took this kind of nicknames,
28:49very distinctive names.
28:51Gökung.
28:52Young cuckoo.
28:54Wow.
28:55Wow.
28:56If you want to, we could have a look
28:58at a small croft tomorrow,
29:01like the one that Johan and Anna
29:03and their family lived in.
29:04Yes, I would love to do that.
29:14Elizabeth is taking Kate
29:15to the village of Warburg,
29:17north of Halmstadt.
29:19They're here to see an original soldier's cottage,
29:22or croft,
29:24which has been preserved
29:25as it was in the 1840s.
29:39Oh, wow!
29:41Oh, my goodness me.
29:46I'm not very tall,
29:48and even I'm struggling.
29:49I'm only five foot five.
29:52Oh, it's absolutely magical.
29:56So, would they have all been in here?
29:58Yes, this is the only space.
29:59This is the only space.
30:01This is the only room.
30:01The room over here
30:02is an extension
30:03that was added
30:04in the early 20th century.
30:07If you go over here.
30:08Yes.
30:08I'm going to show you.
30:10Have you seen this hole?
30:12I did just see that, yes.
30:14Do you know what it is?
30:15No, I don't.
30:17They used to put straw in there
30:20and put babies
30:21to keep them warm.
30:23To keep them warm.
30:24Oh, gosh, how fantastic.
30:27And they would have been warm.
30:29They would have been very warm
30:30next to the back of the chimney breast.
30:35Johan Andersson joined the Swedish Navy
30:37when he was just 18.
30:40He spent half his time at sea
30:42during the warm summer months
30:43and winters at home with his wife,
30:45Anna, at their croft.
30:49Johan and Anna got three children.
30:52Three.
30:53The firstborn was a daughter.
30:55And I'm going to show you here
30:57the first document
30:58so we can say more about
30:59what happened to her.
31:01And this is from 1850.
31:03And we'll find her here.
31:08Okay, so...
31:10The girl Anna, Britta,
31:13Johans daughter.
31:14Can you see what kind of record this is?
31:16It's not a birth record.
31:18No, what is it?
31:20It's actually a death record.
31:22Oh, God, not another death!
31:24Anna, Britta, their firstborn,
31:26she died very young,
31:27only 17 days.
31:29Oh, God, I can't stand it!
31:32They were doing so well.
31:34They were doing so well.
31:38Their second child was a boy, Edward.
31:42Can you see what kind of record it is?
31:44It is another death record, isn't it?
31:45Yes, unfortunately.
31:46From 1853.
31:54Edward Johansson.
31:55What does that say?
31:57It says,
31:58What's that?
31:59It was one of the most feared diseases
32:02in the 19th century.
32:03Smallpox.
32:04Oh, smallpox.
32:05He died in smallpox.
32:07And he was seven months old.
32:10Oh, my God,
32:11this sadness is terrible.
32:14She must have become just terrified
32:16of losing more.
32:22How does a woman like that carry on?
32:26Somehow she did.
32:28And she got another boy in 1857.
32:31And that was Alfred Johansson.
32:34And he was my great-great-grandfather.
32:40Can you tell me anything nice now?
32:43Not quite.
32:44Oh, God.
32:45I'm sorry.
32:46No.
32:47Oh, my God.
32:47Life continues to be hard for this family.
32:50Oh, my God.
32:51I wish I could do that, but...
32:53Okay.
32:54This isn't a death record, though.
32:56You might recognize it as a military record.
32:59Nope.
32:59I don't recognize it as anything,
33:01but it doesn't say death.
33:02And look here.
33:05It's all been crossed out.
33:07It's been crossed out.
33:08This is a military record from 1859.
33:13These things have been crossed out
33:15because Johan was discharged from the army.
33:19Why?
33:24Johan Christian, by order of the commander,
33:27on the 29th of March, 1859,
33:30was flogged 40 times
33:33for embezzling several of the crown's belongings.
33:37What?
33:39No.
33:41No, no, no.
33:44No, don't do that.
33:46Don't be embezzling.
33:48What kind of thing do you think that he was embezzling?
33:51It's difficult to say,
33:53but there are certainly explanations
33:55for why he did what he did.
33:57Right.
33:58The desperation.
33:59Yeah.
34:00They suffered, like everyone else,
34:02from the famine and from the bad times.
34:04So it was a difficult situation.
34:08Very difficult situation.
34:10We should look here.
34:13He has changed career.
34:15He's registered as a tailor in the sources.
34:17He became a tailor,
34:18which he then taught his son, Alfred.
34:21Exactly.
34:22So he carried on.
34:25Your great-great-grandfather went to London?
34:27Yes, because I know what then happened to Alfred.
34:30Alfred became actually a somewhat successful tailor
34:34tailor on Savile Row and lived in a very decent part of London
34:40in a nice house.
34:42So things can change.
34:45Things can change.
34:59It is really a story of survival,
35:02survival of people who fought and carried on
35:05in the face of incredible tragedy.
35:09I know, I really know where I came from.
35:15And that, to me, is the most wonderful thing
35:19to have come out of this story.
35:27My sister Beth actually had a really wonderful idea.
35:31She said, oh, what was the date that Anders died?
35:34And I said, well, he was buried on the 3rd of April.
35:35She said, right.
35:36So we're going to have, on the 3rd of April,
35:38we're going to call it Anders Day.
35:39I'm getting emotional now.
35:42Just have a day.
35:43Oh, sorry.
35:47And just have a day of being thankful for everything
35:51that we have, because it was so hard for him.
35:57And in spite of that, his children lived on
36:00and lived to tell, actually, a great tale.
36:20Ladies and gentlemen, service will surely be arriving
36:22to Redding, Redding, our first home.
36:28Having investigated her mother's side of the family,
36:31Kate is heading to Redding, the town where she was born,
36:35to start her research into her father, Roger's, side of the family.
36:54That is the house I grew up in and where I lived
36:57until I was 16 years old.
36:59Look, it's a sliver of a house.
37:03Family of six were in there.
37:05My parents didn't own it.
37:06It was a rental home.
37:07The top two windows there that you can see,
37:09that was my mum and dad's room.
37:10And my room that I shared with my sister Anna,
37:13which was tiny, was just behind that.
37:16The windows would rattle, because, as you can see,
37:19double-decker buses go up and down the street.
37:21And the whole of the front of the house would just vibrate.
37:24And you could feel the windows going...
37:30I ain't posh, mate.
37:31No, I'm not posh at all.
37:41Kate's father, Roger, still lives in Redding.
37:51Hey!
37:52All right?
37:53Hello, Daddy.
37:54How are you, Daddy?
37:54Good.
37:56How you doing?
37:57Good, I'm good.
37:58Come through.
37:58Good, good, good.
38:04There's some things I really need to show you,
38:06because I think they're great.
38:10That's me.
38:11And actually, it's my dad, and obviously my mum.
38:14Oh, look how sweet you are, Daddy.
38:16Oh, I must have been about nine, maybe.
38:20And look at little Blanche with a little straw hat.
38:22Yeah.
38:22Oh, and those beautiful, perfect curls.
38:25Sweet little lady.
38:26This one out, she was beautiful.
38:29Oh, wow, I've never seen that.
38:32Is that really Nanny Blanche?
38:36Absolutely gorgeous.
38:38There's something really quite an old movie star about it.
38:41Yes.
38:43There we have.
38:44My grandfather.
38:45George Robert Sims.
38:47Yeah.
38:47And that's their marriage certificate, and my grandmother.
38:50Oh, no.
38:50So this would have been my great-grandmother, Florence Edith Bick.
38:55And that's just not a surprise at all,
38:57that he was a barman and she was a barmaid.
38:59Pubs everywhere.
39:00I knew it.
39:02Both mum and I have worked in pubs at separate times.
39:05I think most people have, haven't they, Dad?
39:08But this is lovely here.
39:10Florence Edith Bick, father's name and surname Thomas Bick.
39:14Rank or profession of father, independent means.
39:18What does...
39:18Well...
39:19What do you think that means?
39:20He must have had money.
39:22Do you think?
39:22Or he was a burglar.
39:24I don't know what it meant in those days.
39:25Interesting.
39:27Independent means.
39:28I'm very curious about that.
39:30Brilliant.
39:31Good-o.
39:34Kate has discovered that her great-great-grandfather was Thomas Bick,
39:38a man of independent means.
39:41But what did that mean?
39:47To see if she can find out more, Kate is meeting genealogist Emma Jolly.
39:54Hello.
39:55Hi.
39:55You're nice to meet me.
39:55Hi.
39:56You're nice to meet you, too.
39:58OK.
39:59So, I'm here to ask you about my great-great-grandfather, Thomas Bick.
40:05And I'm curious about this part here.
40:07He was a man of independent means.
40:10Can we take a look at this family tree here?
40:12Oh, I love a family tree!
40:14Any clues on there?
40:15OK.
40:15So, Thomas Bick, and he was a soldier and horseman, it says.
40:21So, it's probable that being a soldier, his independent means are...
40:25in military pension.
40:26Living off his army pension.
40:28OK.
40:29And he was married to Marianne Colquhoun?
40:33Col...
40:34Colquhoun.
40:35Colquhoun.
40:35Amazing spelling.
40:37C-O-L-Q-U-H-O-U-N.
40:40So, that's an Irish surname.
40:42And we've got more information on Marianne, we've got her ancestors on this tree.
40:53What?!
40:55Marianne Colquhoun was one of...
40:59One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven siblings.
41:07So, Marianne Colquhoun was my great-great-grandmother, and she was one of eleven children.
41:13And here are her parents, William Colquhoun and Eliza O'Brien.
41:21William was a soldier, and his father was also called William Colquhoun, and he was a soldier.
41:27Lots and lots of soldiers.
41:29So, military.
41:30Yeah, a strong military theme.
41:33So, we haven't been able to find out any more about William Sr.
41:36The records just don't survive for him, unfortunately.
41:38But we have got more on William Jr., who is in the Grenadier Guards, the guards that barred
41:45Buckingham Palace.
41:46Well, I hope he was good at his job, because he had eleven children to support, and a young
41:51wife.
41:52A lot of mouths to feed.
41:56How fantastic.
42:14Wellington Barracks is home to the Household Division, the prestigious army regiments that
42:21Buckingham Palace. Kate's three times great-grandfather, William Colquhoun,
42:27served with one of them, the Grenadier Guards. They must be boiling. Their heads
42:33must be like furnaces under those things. Oh, here we go, here we go, okay. And the
42:41brass band played.
42:47The regimental band are leading troops out for the traditional changing of the guard.
43:01It's just amazing. I'm really thrilled to have seen that.
43:08I would very much like to know what William had to do with all of this.
43:12Did he play an instrument, maybe? It'd be cool if he did. I can barely play a recorder.
43:23Kate's here to see military historian Eamon O'Keefe.
43:27Hi Kate. Hello. Great to meet you, Eamon. Welcome to Wellington Barracks.
43:32Thank you very much. It's amazing buildings. Oh it is, yeah.
43:39So I've managed to track down William's service record and here's a page
43:43listing the regiments and ranks he held. Okay, slanty writing. Yes.
43:51What year is this? 1810. Grenadier Guards. Drummer. So he was a drummer.
44:01And you'll notice something else. Do you see what it says here? Can you read that?
44:06Under something? Under age. He was 11 years old and enlisted in the British Army as a drummer.
44:12What? Mm-hmm. How was that even allowed? Well his father, remember, was a soldier.
44:20Yes, was a soldier. And it was very common at the time for soldier sons to enlist at a
44:24very young age. Wow. In this period the army was the largest employer of musical
44:30professionals by a country mile and gave ordinary men and boys the opportunity to
44:34learn musical skills. And in William's case he would have also learned to read and
44:38write at the regimental school. I see. In the early 19th century, when there was
44:44no easy way to get an education, boys as young as seven enlisted in the British Army.
44:50Drummers like William were paid more than ordinary privates. And their training
44:55offered them greater opportunities for social advancement.
45:01After almost 20 years of being a rank and file drummer in a very elite regiment, he's
45:06then transferred to the 30th foot and then takes charge of the drummers there as the
45:10drum major. Drum major? Drum major. So here is an image from 1792 of the changing of the
45:18guard. But I saw that today. Yes. I saw this figure to this gentleman today. Drum major.
45:24So drum majors were highly visible. They led their regiment marching on the parade square.
45:29People looked to the drum major with the dramatic flourishes of his cane. He'd toss it up in the
45:33air. The crowd would go wild. He really was a larger than life figure. And so he was a performer.
45:38There's no two ways about it. Well, it's great entertainment. I mean, I can't believe how
45:42entertained I was outside. This is really wonderful. Making something of his life. Hard work and
45:52diligence and commitment. And a musical talent. I just love that.
46:02Eamonn is taking Kate to the guard's chapel to teach her one of William's drumming routines.
46:09Now, see if it's a better fit. Here we go. At dawn, the Revali would be played to wake all
46:16the soldiers
46:17up. And it would sound like this.
46:24And on and on and on.
46:26Now, you know I can't do this. No, you don't. But we'll practice a few very basic rhythms.
46:31Try to hold the stick slightly higher up. Higher up. Yep. Just for better control. And try
46:35to hit in the center of the drum. And this is what they told the drummers historically with
46:39Daddy, Mammy. Daddy, Mammy. Daddy, Mammy. Daddy, Mammy. Now, I want you to try to bounce two with
46:50your left, two with your right, two with your left, two with your right. Start off very slowly.
46:53Okay. Nope.
46:58Daddy, Mammy. Daddy, Mammy. Try to speak up a little bit. Follow me.
47:11We're in.
47:25Oh, well, that's fabulous. Oops. But there was another aspect to a drummer's duty, Kate.
47:39Oh, no. No, I don't like it. Drummers like William were tasked with administering corporal
47:46punishment, flogging the barebacks of drunks, thieves, and deserters with a whip known as
47:54the cat or nine tails. I don't believe this. I don't believe this is hideous because my ancestors
48:03on the other side of my family were subjected to such punishments for stealing potatoes.
48:12This is horrific. Oh, I want to unhear this now. I don't like it.
48:24William would have first performed this duty as a drummer in the Grenadier Guards, and then
48:30as a drum major in the 30th foot, he would have supervised the punishment the entire regiment
48:36was looking on. And it was a traumatizing spectacle for all involved. This doesn't mean that William
48:44himself was a monster. This was an accepted part of military discipline. Within the army,
48:51it really was flog or be flogged. I'm sure this wasn't something that they took any pleasure in.
49:00Well, we actually have another page from his service record here. And I'll direct you...
49:05I'm so glad you've taken that horrible thing out of my hand.
49:07...to the lines about his conduct and character.
49:10Okay. The officers are of opinion that this general conduct has been that of a good and efficient soldier.
49:20Trustworthy and sober.
49:22So William, from everything we know, was an exemplary soldier.
49:27And good at whipping people.
49:31But William doesn't spend his entire career in the army. In 1839, because of chronic rheumatism,
49:38he can no longer do his duty.
49:40So at that point, he wouldn't, still wouldn't have been very old. About 31, 41, 42?
49:44And the question is, I suppose, what do you do next?
49:47What do you do next when you're only 40 and you've got 11 children?
49:51What even is this? Enumeration book for public institutions.
49:57County of Devon?
49:58Yep.
49:59This is part of the 1851 census, or...
50:05Convict prisons?
50:07That's right.
50:08What?
50:10Now, he wasn't actually a prisoner.
50:13Oh, thank God!
50:16Now, let's see if you can find any Colquhouns.
50:19Oh, my God. Okay.
50:20William Colquhoun.
50:23Position in the institution...
50:26Principal?
50:28Principal warden.
50:30Principal warder.
50:31So he was a prison warder at Dartmoor.
50:33He was a prison warder at Dartmoor?
50:35Prison.
50:35Yes. The iconic Dartmoor prison.
50:41Oh, my goodness.
50:44Oh, my gosh.
50:46All right, so he's in Devon.
50:49Okay.
50:50And his family...
50:50Where are his family?
50:51Living in Westminster.
50:52Okay, so his family are in Westminster.
50:55He's not abandoning his family.
50:57He's taken on a job that really was common amongst soldiers to do,
51:02serving as a prison warder in order to support them back in London.
51:12MUSIC PLAYS
51:18Kate is heading to Dartmoor in Devon
51:20to find out more about William's career as a prison warder.
51:30Seeing the horrific Cat of Nine Tails yesterday
51:33made me feel very conflicted about him as a person.
51:36About the kind of man that he perhaps was,
51:39just simply because he'd been exposed to
51:43such an extraordinary level of violence.
51:46This was a horrendous thing that he had to do.
51:52He clearly wasn't a bad man,
51:54but he had to do bad things.
51:58MUSIC PLAYS
52:05Dartmoor, a former military prison,
52:08opened to civilians in 1850.
52:11At the time, attitudes to prisoners were under review.
52:15Hello.
52:16The traditional policy of transporting felons to the colonies
52:20was being wound down.
52:24MUSIC PLAYS
52:25Raising the question of how to treat prisoners back at home.
52:30Kate is here to meet historian Dr Rosalind Crone.
52:34Hello.
52:35Hi, I'm Kate.
52:35Hi, Kate. I'm Rosalind.
52:36Nice to meet you.
52:37Nice to meet you too.
52:38What were his duties?
52:40Tell me more about his position,
52:41cos I just know nothing.
52:42In terms of what he did every day,
52:44it's mainly about supervising convicts.
52:47Especially with his military background,
52:48they probably would have liked him out on the moors
52:50and supervising the agricultural work
52:53that was going on at this particular prison.
52:55OK.
52:56So he's in quite a position of responsibility.
52:58You also work long hours
53:01and pretty much every day of the week,
53:03you get a half day off.
53:05So you don't have much time to spend with your family.
53:07It's not an easy life here.
53:09Not by any stretch of the imagination.
53:11MUSIC PLAYS
53:13It's a new type of prison.
53:15Dartmoor had quite a reformist agenda
53:18in some ways ahead of its time.
53:20It was not just about punishment.
53:22Right.
53:22But also some reformatory techniques were used
53:25to try to make them better men
53:27and then release back into British society.
53:30Gosh.
53:31Which you just wouldn't expect.
53:33No.
53:33You wouldn't expect that at all, actually.
53:35No, it includes things like teaching men,
53:38trades like shoemaking
53:39and also the education programme.
53:42It was not just about basic reading, writing
53:45and arithmetic,
53:46but they took subjects like history and geography.
53:48Wow.
53:49That's really wonderful, isn't it?
53:51That is really wonderful.
53:53I wouldn't have thought that at all.
53:56So it's a really nice,
53:57it's a really pleasant surprise.
53:59I was fearing very much the worst.
54:04Kate's three times great-grandfather,
54:06William Colquhoun,
54:07was one of the first officers to serve at Dartmoor.
54:11While William oversaw traditional hard labour punishments,
54:15such as breaking stones,
54:18a warder's duties were becoming far more wide-ranging.
54:21From supervising convicts' gardening
54:24to their maths lessons.
54:27Policies that would transform life in the prison.
54:32Now we've found this newspaper article
54:35that mentions your ancestor.
54:37The Daily News,
54:40October 2nd, 1851.
54:43A visit to the experimental prison at Dartmoor.
54:47Having a desire to see something of the great work
54:50that is going on in the Dartmoor prison,
54:52we presented ourselves to the warder of the gate.
54:55The governor is sent for principal warder William Colquhoun.
54:59My gosh.
55:01And told him to show us over the whole of the prison
55:05and answer all questions fully that we might ask him.
55:08We found our guide and intelligent officer.
55:11Hang on, so this is him?
55:12That's right, yeah.
55:13It's your intelligent officer.
55:15Is William your ancestor?
55:17Oh God, wow.
55:19That's a whole article, basically,
55:21about my great-great-great-grandfather.
55:31Gosh.
55:33How extraordinary to sort of read
55:36a description, really, of him.
55:41I'm very happy to see this.
55:44I'm very, very happy to see this.
55:51William clearly took great pleasure in what they were doing at Dartmoor at that time,
55:55which I was very impressed by.
56:00I didn't come from very much.
56:03And it is nice to think that he did make something of himself.
56:07And so I feel really proud of that.
56:15William is buried in Ford Park Cemetery in Plymouth.
56:19He has no headstone and lies in common ground.
56:25I have my great-great-great-great-grandfather William Colquhoun's death certificate.
56:31And he died in 1856 at the age of 56.
56:37And it seems he died of, basically, his lungs packed up.
56:41He had asthma.
56:42And he's buried somewhere in this very, very beautiful cemetery.
56:50I naturally feel a connection with him and with all of the ancestors that I've learnt about.
56:57It makes me feel as though I fit somewhere more, knowing all of this.
57:04It's completely overwhelming, actually.
57:11I strive to remain grounded and to pass that on to my kids.
57:16But maybe because I come from such beginnings,
57:21that's actually in my DNA.
57:23I finally feel...
57:26I'm
57:26I'm
57:29I'm
57:31I'm
57:45I'm