Warwick Davis Who Do You Think You Are?


Warwick Davis

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-Who's going to win today?

-Guys, don't forget...

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Actor Warwick Davis lives in East Anglia,

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-with his wife and two children.

-Look at the nice new karts.

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Having a strong family around you is hugely important.

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I am really lucky to have my wife Sam and my kids,

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Annabel and Harrison,

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as my solid rock foundations.

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Look at you. He's a little Lego figure.

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And I strongly believe that I wouldn't be the person that I am without them.

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-Come on then, who wants to be beaten?

-Go and have fun. Be careful, guys.

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-Let's go.

-Drive careful.

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Warwick owes his big break as an actor at the age of 11

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to his grandmother.

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She heard a radio commercial,

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and it was basically Lucasfilm who make Star Wars looking for

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short people to appear in Return Of The Jedi.

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The fact that I was short gave me a lucky break

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and I've took advantage of that.

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So here I am, 35 years later,

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still running with that opportunity and I have my grandmother

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to thank for it.

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I don't think there will be any other performers in my family history.

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I'm not expecting that at all.

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I'd like people in my history to be a little bit maverick,

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a little bit...

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..ducking and diving, wheeling and dealing perhaps.

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Cos I don't tend to follow the rules.

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I'd be excited to discover stories of people overcoming a challenge

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and making something of their lives.

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There's a couple of bends there where you're just clinging on for dear life.

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And I won't be embarrassed by whatever I discover.

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Yeah, bring it on. Let's have an adventure.

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-ANNOUNCER:

-Platform 10 for the 10.43 Southern...

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I'm going to see my mum today.

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I'm hoping that she might know a little bit about some of the people

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in our family.

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Fingers crossed she'll have a nugget of information

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that will set me on my way.

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Warwick's parents separated when he was a teenager.

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His mum Sue now lives in Sussex.

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-Hello.

-Hello.

-How are you?

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Fine, thank you. Lovely to see you.

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-And you.

-Come in, come in.

-Thank you.

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I'm kind of on a journey at the minute,

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trying to figure out where I come from, basically.

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-Mm-hmm.

-I know you're my mum, but...

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It's all about beyond that, further back than that.

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-We never really talked about it, did we?

-No, I know. As a family,

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I think we should have spoken a lot more about it, but my mother,

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she never really told me anything.

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So, have you ever done any research into our family history?

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Well, I have done a little here,

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which helps you see the line that we go back.

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-There is me and Kim.

-There's you and Kim, coming up to me and Dad.

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That's a relief.

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And then we come up here to my parents.

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Winifred, which was your nana.

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-Oh, yeah.

-And Waller Edward.

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Great names, Winifred and Waller.

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Fabulous. We don't have names like that any more, do we?

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And that is your great-grandfather, and his name was McGregor.

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And then of course it goes up to your great-great-granddad...

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-Frederick Durban.

-..who was Frederick Durban.

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Wow.

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And we also found out that McGregor

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was a postman, and also the great-grandad, Frederick Durban,

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he was a postman.

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-Really?

-Mmm.

-I wondered why I had a strange affinity for our postman.

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-I always like to chat to him for some reason.

-Do you? Well, there you go.

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It's in your genes.

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So, Frederick Durban is my great-great-grandfather.

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That's right.

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-I need to find out more about him, I think.

-Mmm.

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Warwick has ordered up the birth certificate for his

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great-great-grandfather, Frederick Durban.

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Right. This should be the birth certificate

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of my great-great-grandfather,

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Frederick Durban.

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He was born on July 19th, 1841.

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Frederick Durban King.

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His father was called Frederick John Durban, which is a bit confusing,

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cos they've both got the same name.

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So, we've got Frederick Snr, Frederick Jr.

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His mum was Sarah King.

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So it looks like Frederick Jr's mum and dad weren't married.

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Because they've both got different surnames.

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So that makes Frederick Durban King an illegitimate child.

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But, I mean, that is horrible to label, isn't it?

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I mean, it is still their son, whatever happens, so...

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Don't mind that.

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To find out more about the family,

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Warwick is looking up Frederick Snr on the census from 1841.

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Let's see what we get.

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So we've got here, Fred Durban.

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So Frederick Snr, age 35.

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Another letter carrier.

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In the parish or township of Croydon.

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The next person listed is...

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It doesn't match Sarah there, it is another Durban.

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So...

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Sophia Durban.

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Who's that? Ooh.

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That could have been his wife.

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So the list continues below.

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There's loads of kids.

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Look at them all, there's a huge list here.

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Mmm. So, he was married...

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..and he had a child with Sarah while he was married,

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by the look of it here.

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Ooh. I don't know what to take away from this,

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other than a lot more questions.

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What I've discovered is potentially quite...

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..an awkward situation.

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I want to make sure I've got my facts right here.

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But it is kind of intriguing, isn't it?

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I didn't think this early on I would discover something quite so

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exciting as this.

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Warwick has come to Croydon, where, according to the census,

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Frederick Snr was living in 1841.

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He is meeting historian Fern Riddell.

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Hello.

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Fern, I'm a bit confused about the family situation.

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So can you figure out what is going on?

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Is it, as it seems to be,

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a bit naughty?

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Well, I have some records for you that might shed a bit of light

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-on this.

-Cool.

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So I have census records.

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We are now in 1861.

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-And on here, we have Frederick Durban.

-Yeah.

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And he is here with Sophia, his wife, and one of their daughters.

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Very good. Very good.

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But, for the same census in 1861,

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we also have Fred Snr living with another S Durban...

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..wife.

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-Well, I never.

-And the entry below is a very ornate F.

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-That's Frederick Jr...

-Yeah.

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..they've called him here. So this is Sarah then perhaps?

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Yeah.

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In Deptford, this one is.

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-Yep.

-So he had two houses, or he was registered at two houses,

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according to the census of the same year, yes?

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Mm-hmm.

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Wow. He's pretty light on his feet then, isn't he?

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SHE CHUCKLES

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Goodness me.

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That is excellent, isn't it?

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I mean, it's... It is excellent, it's fun.

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What a crafty thing.

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Yeah. He must have been stressed out, honestly.

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I mean, one wife is bad enough, but trying to...

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I mean, she has got the name Durban.

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-Mm-hmm.

-Do you think that was, like, put on here for effect,

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because he couldn't have married both women, surely?

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No, he's not up to that sort of mischief, is he, as well?

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Well, a few years before this census,

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we have a marriage certificate...

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..in 1856.

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-Right.

-And down here...

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Look at that. Frederick John Durban, Sarah King.

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-They did get married then.

-Yeah.

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Well, I never.

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What is the name of that, when you do that?

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-Bigamy, isn't it?

-Yeah.

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So he's definitely married Sarah while he is still married to Sophia.

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Was there a...? What was the punishment for that in those days?

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It's punishable by going to prison, or a fine.

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It is very... You don't do it, it's against the law.

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Bigamy is something we do see in the Victorian period.

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Because divorce wasn't really an option, relationships broke down,

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and if you wanted to move forward and you fell in love with someone else,

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you didn't really have a lot of options.

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You either had to wait for your first partner to die,

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or you married secretly and bigamously,

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and hoped that no-one would find out.

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See, we don't know, from this document, whether...

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..they had come to some sort of arrangement between themselves,

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like, "We can't get divorced, love, you know what it's like in these times."

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Yeah.

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"I'm going to go and live with Sarah, but... Census, I'll put it on...

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"It'll all be fine, I'll look good as well."

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-That could have happened, couldn't it?

-It could have.

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It's like a farce, a little bit, isn't it?

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Trying to live these two lives at the same time, goes out one door,

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comes in another.

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It's fantastic. And the fact that he was a postman, it's just...

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You couldn't have written this better.

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I don't think.

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It's fabulous.

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Warwick's confirmed that his great-great-great-grandfather,

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Frederick Snr, had two families.

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One in Croydon with Sophia, and one in Deptford with Sarah,

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the mother of Warwick's great-great-grandfather,

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Frederick Jr.

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Frederick Snr, he's a bit of a rascal, isn't he, really?

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But, you know, you don't know the circumstances.

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We know some of the story,

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but we really don't know what was going on in his personal life

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with his own wife at the time, the stress of having six children

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running around.

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I was surprised that he did also marry Sarah.

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But imagine if he hadn't met her.

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I wouldn't be here. And that is what this is all about,

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at the end of the day, isn't it?

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How I became me, and I'm here today,

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and it is all due to the fact that he one day met Sarah and indeed

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had a child with her, my great-great-grandfather.

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I hope it ended happily, really.

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But I don't see how it can, because somebody is going to lose,

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aren't they, in those situations?

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Either Sophia or Sarah is going to lose.

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To find out how Frederick Snr managed to lead a double life,

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Warwick is meeting local historian Carol Roberts.

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Let's have a look at his life in Croydon.

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This is dated January 1841, and it is what is called a rate book.

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Right, and 1841 was the year that Frederick Jr was born.

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Yes, that's true.

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This is a list of those who were due to pay the rates in Croydon.

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Which is the sort of tax...

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-Yes.

-So, there's Frederick there.

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And follow this across here...

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Right. That is the rateable value.

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£28.10.

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Now, this is the next year, this is the rate bok of January 1842.

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This is George Street, we're no longer in the High Street,

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so he has moved around the corner to George Street in Croydon.

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Better?

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Let's have a look. That figure there...

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£13.10.

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-Yes.

-This is half the price.

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-Exactly.

-He's gone down-market here.

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Or maybe he had to reduce his outgoings because he is indeed

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supporting another family in Deptford,

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perhaps paying rent over there as well.

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I can't imagine he could carry this on for long

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without something breaking.

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Do you know any more about that part of the story?

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Cos I want to figure out how it all ends for him.

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I'm hoping it all ends well.

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Well, in 1870, his wife Sophia dies.

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Oh.

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And then, six months after that, something else happens.

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So this is a marriage certificate between Frederick John Durban

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and Sarah King. Wasn't he already married to her?

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Haven't I seen that somewhere?

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-That's right.

-What's going on?

-There was a marriage in 1856.

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I see, so she is...

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Even though they were already married...

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..they did it again...

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..legally this time, because his wife had passed away,

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Sophia, at this point.

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-This was about six months after Sophia died.

-He didn't hang about, did he?

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-He didn't.

-He thought, "I'll get this sorted before I get found out."

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There was always the chance that someone else could have discovered this, even after the fact.

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Yes, they were taking a chance, and the marriage in

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Deptford was actually by bans, which meant that the bans were read out

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-in church...

-Yes.

-..three consecutive Sundays before

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they actually married.

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So if anyone from Croydon had been in Deptford, in church...

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-They could have shouted out.

-"Hang on a minute, that's..."

-Mmm.

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And something that intrigues me,

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and whether you'll be able to answer this, I don't know,

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was whether these two families...

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..knew of each other. Was this an arrangement,

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or was it very sort of cloak and dagger?

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Yes. Well, we have no actual evidence,

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but you might like to have a look at this document.

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-So this is a will...

-That's right.

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..of Frederick John Durban.

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It's quite hard to read, even though it is beautiful.

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We have a transcript if it helps.

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Thank you very much.

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"Frederick John Durban do will and bequeath to my daughter

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"Sophia Elizabeth Rose, five pounds."

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-Would she have been delighted?

-It was worth having.

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A fiver? I wouldn't have been delighted, but let's move on.

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It acknowledges her, doesn't it, as his daughter.

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Oh, OK. All right.

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And then to Charles, his son, five pounds as well.

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Yeah.

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What I noticed...

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That Frederick Jr is not mentioned on here.

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Is that right?

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Have a look down the names.

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John Durban. Oh, and, "My son Frederick Durban, five pounds."

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So he's acknowledged all of his children in one will here.

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Taking what I know of Frederick Snr,

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I don't think he would have left that

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as a surprise for the family once he'd passed on.

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It would have been nice to paint a picture

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that they all lived together.

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Warwick has come to Queen's Road Cemetery in Croydon to find where

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Frederick Snr is buried.

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So would this be the curve here?

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Maybe this way.

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What happens if it's this one?

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You'd never be able to tell.

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It could be this.

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No. No.

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Sorry, Frederick, I don't think I'm going to exactly find where you are,

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but I know you're round here somewhere.

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Without those chance moments, that time that...

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..Frederick met Sarah...

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Without that one encounter,

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which I would absolutely love to have known what that was,

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how did they meet? Did he knock on her door one day with some post

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and say, "Oh, hello," and she was just...

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You know. What happened?

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You know, did they meet in a pub?

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But without that moment, that chance meeting,

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I wouldn't be standing here now, talking about them...

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as a person. You know, it's incredible, isn't it?

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You know, it's a shame I couldn't have met Frederick Snr,

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because I feel he was the kind of guy I could have got on with.

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He wasn't a scallywag.

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Cos there was a point in this story I was thinking,

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"Hang on a minute, maybe we've got a bit of a naughty one on our hands here,"

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but he's come out of this, you know, as a decent human being, and...

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Yeah, I would have liked to have bought him a pint.

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Warwick now wants to find out more about his father Ashley's

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side of the family.

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He is on his way to visit him at his home in Herefordshire.

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I'm not sure what I'm expecting to find as I start to look back

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on my father's side of the family.

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My first thoughts are it's not going to be anything particularly exciting

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or dramatic, although, that said,

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look at the Durbans on my mum's side of the family.

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I mean, that was quite the saga.

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So who knows?

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-Hello.

-How are you?

-How's it going?

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-Here at last, eh?

-Nice to see you.

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Lovely to see you.

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Yes. Come on in.

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There's not a lot I know about your side of the family beyond nana

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and your dad.

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Cos you never really talked about it yourself, particularly,

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who was before your dad, your grandparents.

0:19:440:19:46

No, we would never sit down and ask him about his family, so, you know,

0:19:460:19:50

I'm interested to find out.

0:19:500:19:52

-And, your dad...

-Yes.

0:19:520:19:53

If you were to kind of imagine a city gent...

0:19:530:19:57

He was pinstriped suit and rolled umbrella.

0:19:570:20:00

-Really? The umbrella as well?

-Yeah, that was him.

-Perfect. Bowler hat?

0:20:000:20:03

Oh, definitely, yes.

0:20:030:20:05

-Wow.

-He had a bowler hat.

0:20:050:20:07

I've found a couple of photos.

0:20:070:20:09

As you can see, you can see

0:20:090:20:12

the hairstyle there, can't you?

0:20:120:20:14

Chiselled features as well.

0:20:140:20:16

Yes.

0:20:160:20:17

-You didn't inherit that, did you?

-No.

0:20:180:20:21

I'm older than him there, though.

0:20:210:20:23

Would he have been working in London at that point?

0:20:230:20:25

Yes. He worked in the City, as a broker, as I was too.

0:20:250:20:30

A handsome man.

0:20:300:20:31

-Absolutely.

-And there he is...

0:20:310:20:33

..with the lady that started it all for you.

0:20:340:20:36

My nan. Wow, she looks different.

0:20:380:20:41

I can't even recognise her.

0:20:410:20:43

Seriously. It looks like a completely different person.

0:20:430:20:46

Well, how about that picture there?

0:20:460:20:48

Wow.

0:20:500:20:51

You see, I can see her in that a little bit more, that picture.

0:20:530:20:57

You can see there's a glint in her eye there,

0:20:570:20:58

-cos she used to have quite a sense of humour as well.

-Yes.

0:20:580:21:01

-A wicked sense of humour, actually.

-Yeah.

0:21:010:21:03

This is the certificate of marriage from my mum and dad.

0:21:050:21:08

And I can see Nana's first name here.

0:21:080:21:12

-Edith.

-Edith Louise.

0:21:120:21:13

And then Dennis John Manning was a waiter, Nana's father.

0:21:150:21:19

Yes. Apparently he was an Irish waiter.

0:21:190:21:23

I knew that there might be some Irish.

0:21:230:21:25

See, I thought the Davis bit was Irish.

0:21:250:21:27

But it's not that bit, it's Nana's side,

0:21:270:21:30

-the Manning side.

-Yes.

0:21:300:21:32

-But do you know any more?

-No, I know nothing about him,

0:21:320:21:34

because Mum never really mentioned him,

0:21:340:21:37

never had a conversation about him.

0:21:370:21:40

Did he go back to Ireland?

0:21:400:21:41

Did he disappear? I don't know.

0:21:410:21:43

So I think that is what I have got to do, try and discover

0:21:450:21:48

more about Dennis.

0:21:480:21:50

That would be into the unknown.

0:21:500:21:51

Great.

0:21:530:21:54

Warwick wants to get to the bottom of why his grandmother Edith

0:21:560:21:59

didn't appear to know her father, Dennis John Manning.

0:21:590:22:02

After chatting to my dad yesterday, I don't feel

0:22:060:22:08

particularly enlightened about his side of the family.

0:22:080:22:11

His grandfather, Dennis Manning...

0:22:110:22:13

..there wasn't really anything to say.

0:22:150:22:18

Which is interesting. Cos I was thinking that...

0:22:180:22:20

..my nan, Edith, was born in 1911,

0:22:210:22:25

so the war wasn't far away, and perhaps Dennis, her father,

0:22:250:22:29

was involved somehow in the war,

0:22:290:22:30

and that is why we don't know much about him at this point.

0:22:300:22:34

But, yeah, I'm determined to uncover the mystery of what happened

0:22:340:22:36

to Dennis.

0:22:360:22:38

Warwick is meeting genealogist Olivia Robinson.

0:22:380:22:42

This is the marriage certificate

0:22:440:22:48

for Dennis and your great-grandmother.

0:22:480:22:52

So there we have Dennis John Manning and Lucy Louise Topping,

0:22:520:22:57

getting married in 1903.

0:22:570:23:00

In Lambeth.

0:23:010:23:02

Bachelor and spinster.

0:23:040:23:05

Just checking that, because on the other side of the family,

0:23:050:23:08

there was some shenanigans.

0:23:080:23:09

-It is worth checking.

-Yes.

0:23:090:23:11

And Lucy was actually living at this address here.

0:23:110:23:14

It used to be a pub called the Cock and Bottle.

0:23:140:23:17

-China Walk in Lambeth.

-Yeah. Which is about...

0:23:170:23:20

-The Cock and Bottle.

-..500 yards in that direction.

0:23:200:23:22

Is that rhyming slang for something else?

0:23:220:23:24

I'm sure you could find something for that.

0:23:240:23:26

So it is not far from here?

0:23:260:23:27

Not far at all. I don't know if you can tell,

0:23:270:23:29

make out, Dennis's occupation at the time of his marriage.

0:23:290:23:33

Let's see. Rank or profession -

0:23:330:23:35

licensed victualler manager.

0:23:350:23:37

Yeah, so he is a manager of a pub, and her address is a pub,

0:23:370:23:42

so she may well have been living in rooms behind the pub or...

0:23:420:23:46

-She could have been the barmaid.

-She could have been the barmaid, exactly.

0:23:460:23:49

What I'll show you next perhaps takes us a little bit further

0:23:490:23:52

on in his life.

0:23:520:23:54

So we've got a birth certificate for Dennis John Robert,

0:23:560:24:02

and his father is Dennis John Manning.

0:24:020:24:04

So who's that then?

0:24:060:24:07

I guess if we can call this one Baby Dennis, perhaps.

0:24:070:24:10

We'll go with Baby Dennis then.

0:24:110:24:13

OK, when married - 11th of April 1903,

0:24:130:24:16

and Baby Dennis was born 30th of July 1903.

0:24:160:24:22

They didn't hang about, did they?

0:24:220:24:24

-Yes.

-So this is April...

0:24:240:24:26

-Yes, I know!

-They were married in April, and they got...

0:24:260:24:28

And it's amazing. It's a very, very quick gestation.

0:24:280:24:31

So, Dennis was unexpected, probably.

0:24:310:24:33

And they thought, "We've got to get married to make this proper."

0:24:330:24:37

It was actually a relatively common occurrence...

0:24:370:24:40

-Was it?

-..for women to be...

0:24:400:24:41

..pregnant at the altar, as it were.

0:24:420:24:45

Somewhere between one in four,

0:24:450:24:47

one in five brides, was already expecting

0:24:470:24:51

at the time of their marriage.

0:24:510:24:52

A lot of rather large wedding dresses...

0:24:520:24:54

In my own life and marriage, a similar thing happened,

0:24:540:24:58

our son was born very shortly after we got married.

0:24:580:25:01

That's extraordinary. What a link.

0:25:010:25:03

-Indeed.

-So if we take it on a little bit further now.

0:25:030:25:06

So I've got a death certificate.

0:25:090:25:12

Dennis John Robert Manning.

0:25:140:25:15

Oh, so this is Baby Dennis who died when he was eight months old.

0:25:150:25:19

Of acute tubercular meningitis.

0:25:210:25:24

Eight months old. That must have been really hard for their parents.

0:25:250:25:29

-And it says here that his mum was present at the death.

-Yeah.

0:25:310:25:35

I mean...

0:25:400:25:42

For me, I mean, this is...

0:25:420:25:44

We... My wife and I had a baby boy who died

0:25:440:25:48

when he was 11 days old, and...

0:25:480:25:50

So we can understand how this is...

0:25:500:25:54

-How it would have been for these...

-Yeah.

0:25:550:25:57

These parents here. But, I mean,

0:25:570:25:59

knowing a child for eight months as well is probably even more

0:25:590:26:02

difficult, because you get to know their character, their personality,

0:26:020:26:07

and then... Yeah, that must have been hard.

0:26:070:26:09

Around about one in seven children

0:26:090:26:12

would have died before they were one, at this time.

0:26:120:26:16

Which is not to deny the trauma that the parents

0:26:160:26:19

would have gone through, but in some ways,

0:26:190:26:22

the community around them, the fact that it was a bit more common,

0:26:220:26:24

it may have been easier for the family to have talked about it,

0:26:240:26:29

to have had a support network, so...

0:26:290:26:31

Yeah, there might have been other people who had had a similar

0:26:310:26:33

-experience not too far away.

-Yeah.

0:26:330:26:35

But it is worth saying here that Dennis, the father,

0:26:350:26:38

and Lucy go on to have 11 children in total.

0:26:380:26:42

They lose this child and they lose one other child,

0:26:440:26:47

but nine of their children survive into adulthood.

0:26:470:26:50

-Nine?

-Yes. Including Edith.

0:26:500:26:53

-My nan.

-Mm-hmm.

-So now I know that Dennis had 11 children,

0:26:530:26:58

nine survived and my nan was one of those,

0:26:580:27:01

but I still don't know what happened to Dennis.

0:27:010:27:04

Hopefully, this will give you a clue as to where you may want

0:27:040:27:08

to look next.

0:27:080:27:10

Right. This is a birth certificate of Brian Austin.

0:27:110:27:16

Another one of my nan's brothers.

0:27:160:27:18

-And Dennis, his father at this time, he was a munitions worker.

-Yeah.

0:27:180:27:22

So that's to do with the war effort then.

0:27:230:27:25

-Yeah.

-So making ammunition.

0:27:250:27:28

Where would he have been doing this?

0:27:280:27:29

For somebody living in south London,

0:27:290:27:32

it's most likely that he would have been involved at Woolwich,

0:27:320:27:36

at the Woolwich Arsenal.

0:27:360:27:37

-Yeah.

-Oh, yes, I have heard of that.

0:27:370:27:39

-Yes.

-I thought it was a football team.

0:27:390:27:42

Yeah.

0:27:420:27:44

I guess, to find out more, that's where I need to go.

0:27:440:27:47

Thanks to Olivia, I feel I know a little bit more about Dennis.

0:27:570:28:02

And I also feel a certain affinity towards the man because...

0:28:030:28:07

..like me, he lost a baby son when they were very young.

0:28:090:28:13

And so I do feel a connection with him now in that way.

0:28:140:28:18

But I'm on my way to Woolwich Arsenal, which is

0:28:180:28:21

where he was working, helping with the war effort.

0:28:210:28:25

And it begs the question,

0:28:250:28:28

did this...

0:28:280:28:30

contribute to his disappearance?

0:28:300:28:31

By the time Dennis was working at the arsenal in Woolwich,

0:28:350:28:38

it had been manufacturing weapons for over 200 years.

0:28:380:28:41

During the First World War,

0:28:430:28:45

it expanded its operations massively to meet the demand

0:28:450:28:49

from the Western Front for guns and shells.

0:28:490:28:51

At its peak, 80,000 men and women were employed here,

0:28:560:29:01

including Dennis, who, at 42,

0:29:010:29:04

was too old to be conscripted to fight in the war.

0:29:040:29:06

I want to get a sense of what life might have been like working here

0:29:080:29:12

-for someone like Dennis.

-It was stressful.

0:29:120:29:14

It was hard work.

0:29:140:29:16

And, in 1915, he would probably be working with cordite or lyddite,

0:29:160:29:21

which were the explosives they used then.

0:29:210:29:23

TNT comes along later.

0:29:230:29:26

They are all quite dangerous.

0:29:260:29:28

TNT is very poisonous.

0:29:280:29:30

And these chemicals made you feel ill.

0:29:300:29:34

They made you giddy and tired.

0:29:340:29:35

They gave you headaches, particularly cordite.

0:29:350:29:38

It gave people very severe headaches.

0:29:380:29:40

My goodness. That's horrendous.

0:29:400:29:41

And we've got an image here of people working with explosives.

0:29:410:29:46

They've got the basic of protective clothing on here,

0:29:480:29:51

they've got gloves on and there is a face mask here as well.

0:29:510:29:54

But, I mean, there's still exposed skin around their wrists

0:29:550:29:57

-and their face and neck.

-Yes.

0:29:570:30:00

And it is thought that TNT is absorbed through the skin,

0:30:000:30:04

whereas cordite poisons you through breathing.

0:30:040:30:08

But you notice that some of them don't have masks.

0:30:080:30:11

No. It's mainly the chaps, they are not wearing masks at all, are they?

0:30:110:30:16

Sleeves rolled up.

0:30:160:30:17

Not only did munition workers like Dennis risk being poisoned,

0:30:180:30:23

they also faced another constant threat -

0:30:230:30:26

that the chemicals might explode at any time.

0:30:260:30:28

On top of these hazardous conditions, they worked long shifts,

0:30:310:30:35

often with no days off,

0:30:350:30:38

in the drive to keep Britain's war machine supplied.

0:30:380:30:41

So I'm imagining my great-grandfather having to come

0:30:450:30:49

and work here every day, the stress of the long hours...

0:30:490:30:53

..and the conditions here, and the danger as well,

0:30:550:30:58

but what could have happened to him beyond his work here?

0:30:580:31:02

I mean, the trail is very difficult to follow, and my grandmother...

0:31:020:31:07

She had very little recollection of him, and my dad knew nothing of him,

0:31:070:31:11

so he wasn't a figure that featured in their lives.

0:31:110:31:14

We know that he didn't die here.

0:31:140:31:16

We know that he died somewhere else,

0:31:160:31:18

and we've got a copy of his death certificate

0:31:180:31:22

for you to have a look at.

0:31:220:31:23

So...

0:31:260:31:27

This is dated 1918.

0:31:280:31:31

Dennis John Manning.

0:31:310:31:32

And the cause of death...

0:31:320:31:34

General paralysis.

0:31:360:31:39

Perhaps the way to look further into this is to look at where he died.

0:31:390:31:43

Croydon...

0:31:440:31:45

..mental hospital, does that say?

0:31:470:31:49

Yes, I think it does.

0:31:500:31:52

Oh.

0:31:520:31:54

Because I'm trying to think, you know, how would you end up...

0:31:540:31:57

..in a mental hospital, you know, was there stress involved here?

0:31:590:32:03

Was it to do with working here and the conditions that

0:32:030:32:06

he was working under?

0:32:060:32:08

What happened?

0:32:090:32:10

Warwick has come to Bethlem Museum of the Mind,

0:32:220:32:25

where the records from Croydon Mental Hospital are kept.

0:32:250:32:29

He is meeting psychiatrist Rob Howard.

0:32:290:32:32

So, Rob, here is my great-grandfather's death certificate,

0:32:350:32:40

and on here it is documented that he died at Croydon Mental Hospital.

0:32:400:32:44

So what I am wondering is,

0:32:460:32:49

did the work he was doing at Woolwich Arsenal, you know,

0:32:490:32:53

the stress and the difficult conditions there,

0:32:530:32:55

basically drive him mad?

0:32:550:32:57

OK. So, let's have a look at the records.

0:32:570:33:00

If we go to the entry...

0:33:000:33:02

This is an amazing book.

0:33:020:33:03

Every single patient who came into Croydon Mental Hospital

0:33:030:33:07

would have had an entry.

0:33:070:33:09

-So here we are.

-There he is, Dennis John Manning.

0:33:100:33:13

-And...

-Let's have a look at the date he was admitted.

0:33:140:33:16

29th of June, is that 1914...?

0:33:160:33:19

-'17.

-1917.

0:33:190:33:22

"Facts indicating insanity observed by myself at time of examination.

0:33:220:33:27

"Can hear ventriloquists talking in the ward,

0:33:270:33:31

"sees imaginary people walking about, memory defective,

0:33:310:33:37

"talks incoherently,

0:33:370:33:39

"no idea of time or place, very resistive at times."

0:33:390:33:44

You can understand exactly why he was brought to a mental health hospital...

0:33:440:33:47

-Absolutely.

-..with those symptoms. But read on,

0:33:470:33:50

cos here's something here about what your great-grandmother reported.

0:33:500:33:53

"His wife, Lucy Manning, 118 Burlington Road, Thornton Heath,

0:33:530:33:58

"says he has been failing mentally for the past two years,

0:33:580:34:03

"he has been violent and has threatened her,

0:34:030:34:06

"and she had to run away from him.

0:34:060:34:07

"Says men are in the house with her...

0:34:090:34:11

"..attacked her violently, and she had to call in the police."

0:34:130:34:18

So it sounds like she had a terrible time, dealing with him, having to call the police.

0:34:180:34:22

-It's a terrible situation all round, isn't it?

-Mmm.

0:34:220:34:26

And so, bringing him to hospital was obviously the thing to do.

0:34:260:34:29

It was a place of safety for him, it was safety for her.

0:34:290:34:31

But then, this is her husband, let's not forget, somebody she loved,

0:34:310:34:35

somebody she had children with, and then to have to basically report him

0:34:350:34:41

mentally ill, and knowing that that would mean he would be taken away,

0:34:410:34:46

you know, in spite of the fact that he was violent and threatening,

0:34:460:34:49

but a difficult decision for her at the same time.

0:34:490:34:51

But here she actually gives what she thinks has caused

0:34:510:34:55

his mental health difficulties.

0:34:550:34:57

"I consider long hours of work and smell arising from such work

0:34:570:35:03

"which made his head ache."

0:35:030:35:06

Now, that's interesting.

0:35:060:35:07

-Cordite.

-Mm-hmm. So it is clear what she thinks has caused the problem.

0:35:070:35:10

But cordite isn't the cause of general paralysis.

0:35:100:35:14

Goodness me.

0:35:140:35:15

He now admits that he was, for some time, before he was 21,

0:35:150:35:19

suffering from syphilis.

0:35:190:35:21

For which he was treated at the Lock Hospital in London.

0:35:220:35:25

Right. So I know what that is.

0:35:270:35:29

And that...

0:35:310:35:33

That virus, could that then cause other things?

0:35:330:35:36

So, yeah. Syphilis is a complicated infection.

0:35:360:35:40

Unfortunately, in a proportion of cases,

0:35:400:35:42

the germ stays in your body and manifests later, and it results,

0:35:420:35:47

I'm afraid, in these horrible central nervous system

0:35:470:35:50

manifestations, as well as affecting the heart and the great blood vessels.

0:35:500:35:54

So, general paralysis, general paralysis of the insane,

0:35:540:35:59

as it was fully called, was actually a manifestation of syphilis.

0:35:590:36:03

So then this concludes that his mental illness

0:36:030:36:08

and his ultimate death had no connection with the work

0:36:080:36:13

he was doing at Woolwich Arsenal.

0:36:130:36:16

I think that's right. But there's something else very interesting

0:36:160:36:19

in his records, it tells us something about his character.

0:36:190:36:22

Just read from here, Warwick.

0:36:220:36:23

"He thought, after that, he had better not marry for some time.

0:36:230:36:29

"As a matter of fact, he did not marry until he was 31."

0:36:290:36:32

So he waited at least ten years after he had been infected,

0:36:320:36:35

-before he got married.

-Wow.

0:36:350:36:38

Which would have been unusual at that period,

0:36:380:36:40

but no doubt that was motivated by his not wishing to pass on...

0:36:400:36:44

He was doing the right thing there,

0:36:440:36:45

-wasn't he?

-Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

0:36:450:36:48

Well, it's certainly not the...

0:36:480:36:50

Not the reason I thought he was going to be here.

0:36:510:36:54

I was convinced it was going to be connected to his work at...

0:36:540:36:57

..Woolwich Arsenal and the chemicals or the stress

0:36:580:37:01

that workers were under.

0:37:010:37:04

And it's interesting that your great-grandmother thought that.

0:37:040:37:07

But, I mean, it's good to see he was being very responsible about it,

0:37:070:37:11

-you know...

-I think that's right.

0:37:110:37:12

-He comes out well, doesn't he, really?

-Yeah.

0:37:120:37:15

Or his reputation does - it didn't end well for him, though, did it?

0:37:150:37:18

-No.

-I mean, it's...

0:37:180:37:20

It couldn't have been a more tragic...

0:37:200:37:22

..story, or ending to the story.

0:37:230:37:26

-I think that's right.

-It's...

0:37:260:37:27

You know, what a way to go, honestly.

0:37:280:37:31

Dennis died when he was 46, which is my age.

0:37:370:37:40

And I feel relatively young, so...

0:37:420:37:45

It's no time to go, is it?

0:37:450:37:47

My nan, Edith, was only six years old when he died a tragic death.

0:37:490:37:54

And I think this gives us the answer as to why

0:37:540:37:57

she didn't know her father.

0:37:570:37:59

I think there would have been a certain amount of shame

0:38:010:38:04

associated with a relative being in an asylum,

0:38:040:38:08

so it probably wouldn't really have been talked about.

0:38:080:38:11

Which is really sad.

0:38:110:38:12

And it's sad that I can't tell my nan, because she is no longer here.

0:38:140:38:18

Having solved the mystery of what happened to his grandmother Edith's

0:38:240:38:27

father, Dennis John Manning,

0:38:270:38:30

Warwick has one more thing he wants to discover about the Mannings.

0:38:300:38:33

His father told him that Dennis was Irish.

0:38:350:38:38

To find out if he really does have any Irish ancestry,

0:38:380:38:41

Warwick is meeting historian Graham Davis.

0:38:410:38:44

So Graham, can the Mannings be traced back to Ireland?

0:38:460:38:49

Well, we know that your great-great-great-grandparents,

0:38:490:38:54

Owen and Margaret,

0:38:540:38:55

lived, in 1851, in this little street, Maidstone Street,

0:38:550:39:02

off the main thoroughfare there, in London,

0:39:020:39:05

on the fringes of London actually, as it was then, and we can...

0:39:050:39:09

..look at the census of 1851, the same year,

0:39:100:39:13

to see the family recorded in that house in Maidstone Street.

0:39:130:39:18

So I'm seeing Manning here, Owen Manning, living at number 22,

0:39:180:39:23

the head of the household.

0:39:230:39:25

And he was a labourer.

0:39:260:39:28

And, where born?

0:39:300:39:32

Ireland.

0:39:320:39:33

So there is Irish ancestry.

0:39:350:39:37

Definitely. And if you look at his wife Margaret.

0:39:370:39:41

There she is, there's Margaret - wife. And she's from...

0:39:410:39:44

County Longford.

0:39:450:39:47

That's in Leinster province.

0:39:470:39:49

So I'm slightly intrigued as to why Owen and Margaret came over

0:39:490:39:53

to this country. Is this another famine story? Where they...?

0:39:530:39:56

No, no. If you look at the dates,

0:39:560:39:59

your great-great-great-grandparents must have come across in the 1820s,

0:39:590:40:05

long before the famine, which starts in 1845 through to '52.

0:40:050:40:09

So if they were planning a family at this point, they might have thought,

0:40:090:40:13

"Actually, let's move now and then we'll be in a better position

0:40:130:40:17

-"to support..."

-Yes. London wages were better.

0:40:170:40:19

There were more opportunities.

0:40:190:40:21

And also, not only could they earn more money,

0:40:210:40:24

there were opportunities for the children and they

0:40:240:40:28

could get schooling, which they couldn't do in Ireland.

0:40:280:40:31

So with this in mind...

0:40:310:40:32

..how much Irishness is in me now?

0:40:340:40:37

-Well, that's difficult to know.

-A little tiny bit.

-A little bit.

0:40:370:40:40

-A little finger perhaps.

-I think a little bit.

0:40:400:40:42

And another little sort of Irish connection is that I have played

0:40:420:40:47

leprechauns in seven different films in my career.

0:40:470:40:50

-Really?

-Yes. I've got a very dodgy Irish accent but I'm not

0:40:500:40:53

going to do it for you now.

0:40:530:40:55

Warwick has confirmed he does have Irish roots,

0:40:550:40:58

thanks to his great-great-great-grandparents,

0:40:580:41:01

Owen and Margaret Manning.

0:41:010:41:02

And he has already discovered the sad fate of their grandson,

0:41:040:41:07

Dennis John Manning, who died of syphilis.

0:41:070:41:10

But he knows nothing about the man who links them,

0:41:100:41:13

his great-great-grandfather, also called Dennis.

0:41:130:41:17

Now, the person I'm most interested in finding out more about is my

0:41:190:41:23

great-great-grandfather, Dennis here, who at this point was 17,

0:41:230:41:27

a labourer like his father.

0:41:270:41:29

-Yes.

-What happened next?

0:41:290:41:31

Well, we do have the census of 1881.

0:41:310:41:35

30 years on.

0:41:350:41:36

And here you will find Dennis again.

0:41:360:41:40

Right, this is Dennis, the head of the household here, who is now 48.

0:41:400:41:46

-Mm-hmm.

-He is a musician.

0:41:460:41:48

-Yes.

-Wow.

0:41:480:41:50

-That's cool.

-Yes.

0:41:500:41:53

Musician stands out, doesn't it?

0:41:530:41:54

-It does.

-I mean, could you make a living being a musician?

0:41:540:41:56

Well, we do have some information about what he's up to, Dennis.

0:41:560:42:01

Now, this is from the Northampton Mercury.

0:42:010:42:04

12th of June 1858.

0:42:050:42:08

Entertainment.

0:42:080:42:09

"Pell's American Opera Troupe gave an entertainment at the Town Hall

0:42:090:42:13

"on Wednesday week. The troupe consists of Messrs GW Pell,

0:42:130:42:18

"the original Bones, D Manning, that's Dennis, violinist.

0:42:180:42:23

"HW Page, solo banjoist."

0:42:230:42:26

Etc, etc, etc.

0:42:260:42:27

"The performances on the violin and banjo were good."

0:42:270:42:30

So he got a good review there.

0:42:300:42:32

-Yeah.

-"And elicited applause.

0:42:320:42:34

"The assembly was not large."

0:42:350:42:37

-No.

-Not a great crowd, but they applauded loudly.

0:42:370:42:40

-But they did well. Yes.

-That's good.

0:42:400:42:42

So we now know that Dennis is a violinist.

0:42:420:42:45

Mmm. So he was playing with Pell's American Opera Troupe.

0:42:450:42:49

But there is a banjo involved here as well,

0:42:490:42:52

so it must have been quite an unusual sort of opera.

0:42:520:42:54

Perhaps a... A trip to Northampton.

0:42:540:42:58

Of course, the Northampton Mercury.

0:42:580:43:00

-Yeah.

-Absolutely.

0:43:000:43:01

You know, when I started out on this journey,

0:43:050:43:07

I was convinced I wasn't going to find any other performers,

0:43:070:43:11

but lo and behold there is one.

0:43:110:43:13

I'm excited to find out more, actually,

0:43:140:43:16

and just kind of learn what sort of music he was playing

0:43:160:43:20

and how accomplished he became.

0:43:200:43:22

Warwick's come to the Guild Hall in Northampton to meet Rachel Cowgill,

0:43:290:43:33

who has been looking into the musical career

0:43:330:43:36

of his great-great-grandfather, Dennis Manning.

0:43:360:43:38

So, Rachel, I have here a review of Pell's American Opera Troupe...

0:43:430:43:47

-Yep.

-..of which my great-great-grandfather,

0:43:470:43:49

Dennis Manning, was a member, in fact violinist.

0:43:490:43:52

So I'm intrigued, who were Pell's American Opera Troupe,

0:43:520:43:55

and what sort of music did they play?

0:43:550:43:58

Well, they were a group of American musicians that were touring the UK, 1858-59.

0:43:580:44:04

Pell was an impresario, he recruited musicians in America,

0:44:040:44:08

brought them with him, but also, we think en route,

0:44:080:44:11

picked up one or two talented musicians to join the ensemble.

0:44:110:44:14

So they might have needed a violinist,

0:44:140:44:16

and my great-great-grandfather fitted the bill.

0:44:160:44:19

Presumably they met up with him at some point and were really impressed, sufficiently to invite

0:44:190:44:23

him to join what was actually quite a small ensemble, a small group.

0:44:230:44:26

Right. I mean, what type of music was it?

0:44:260:44:28

I mean, did they play opera or...?

0:44:280:44:31

They did include opera in their performances,

0:44:310:44:33

but it tended to be a sort of parody, sort of slightly mocking,

0:44:330:44:36

but at the same time, with this type of performance,

0:44:360:44:39

they blended it with comedy and physical humour and dance,

0:44:390:44:42

and it was a real mixed bag, a real variety of staff.

0:44:420:44:44

-A real variety show.

-Yes.

0:44:440:44:46

I'd love to see it. I mean, it sounds fantastic.

0:44:460:44:48

To discover that, you know, in my ancestry,

0:44:480:44:50

there is a history of performance, in particular comedy,

0:44:500:44:54

perhaps some slapstick, it's great.

0:44:540:44:57

-Yeah.

-It's great to discover that.

0:44:570:44:59

So this is another document you might find very interesting.

0:44:590:45:02

I love these playbills.

0:45:020:45:03

-Yeah.

-Fantastic, from the Music Hall in Shrewsbury.

0:45:030:45:07

"Grand Fashionable American Entertainments."

0:45:070:45:10

-Yes.

-I love it, "Entertainments," plural, there.

0:45:100:45:12

So, "A reunion of celebrated and original American minstrels."

0:45:120:45:17

And we've got, "The Real Delineators of Ethiopian character."

0:45:170:45:21

And then we've got Pell, during his stay at St James's Theatre

0:45:210:45:24

had the honour of performing in the presence

0:45:240:45:27

of her most gracious majesty, the Queen.

0:45:270:45:30

-Indeed, yeah.

-Wow.

0:45:300:45:32

-Yeah.

-So I'm looking at this, the minstrels,

0:45:320:45:35

were they the top of the bill here?

0:45:350:45:37

Or, or... Pell?

0:45:370:45:39

-Uh...

-What do you reckon?

-But the American minstrels and Pell's

0:45:400:45:43

opera troupe are one and the same.

0:45:430:45:45

This is all referring to their performance.

0:45:450:45:47

-Wow.

-So...

0:45:470:45:48

Opening chorus, "Happy are we..."

0:45:510:45:53

I'm not going to say that.

0:45:540:45:56

-Yeah.

-I can't. I mean, obviously this is of a time.

0:45:560:45:58

Yes. Absolutely.

0:45:580:46:00

With this style of performance,

0:46:010:46:02

we have a real difficulty from a 21st-century perspective,

0:46:020:46:05

looking at the terminology.

0:46:050:46:07

-There's all sorts of instances on here, aren't there?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

0:46:070:46:10

MUSIC: Miss Lucy Long

0:46:100:46:12

Minstrel shows originally came from America.

0:46:120:46:15

Over there, blacked up performers presented an often bawdy

0:46:160:46:20

and demeaning parody of African-American songs and manners.

0:46:200:46:25

The version that developed in Britain was aimed at a more

0:46:250:46:28

respectable family audience.

0:46:280:46:31

But the minstrels carried on presenting racial caricatures

0:46:320:46:36

in their shows.

0:46:360:46:37

So does this mean that my great-great-grandfather Dennis

0:46:400:46:42

-blacked up at some point?

-Yes, he did.

0:46:420:46:46

He would have been part of the ensemble performance,

0:46:460:46:48

they all blacked up at this point, so that's very difficult for us now.

0:46:480:46:52

Yeah.

0:46:540:46:56

I think it's fascinating, the range of materials you have here.

0:46:560:46:59

Is there anything of my great-great-grandfather at all?

0:46:590:47:03

There is. There is.

0:47:030:47:05

There is an image, it's very fuzzy, but it's something at least,

0:47:050:47:09

and I'll just show this to you.

0:47:090:47:13

This is...

0:47:130:47:14

..a newspaper article.

0:47:150:47:17

Again, some of this text is similar to what we have just seen.

0:47:190:47:23

Right in the middle there,

0:47:230:47:24

you've got a representation of Pell's American Opera Troupe.

0:47:240:47:29

-Now, it's not a passport photo, is it?

-It's not, it's fuzzy, but you can see in the middle there...

0:47:290:47:35

-There is a violinist.

-There is a violinist.

0:47:350:47:36

He is right in the middle of that ensemble.

0:47:360:47:39

-He is, isn't he? Yeah. He's right in the middle.

-Centre-stage.

0:47:390:47:42

And this was at the Atheneum Lecture Hall, Bury St Edmunds.

0:47:420:47:47

Positively for two nights only.

0:47:470:47:49

-If you miss it...

-That's it, it's gone.

0:47:500:47:53

Maybe.

0:47:530:47:54

It's fabulous, isn't it?

0:47:550:47:57

What an amazing discovery.

0:47:580:47:59

It was a bit of a shock when I first discovered exactly the sort of

0:48:140:48:18

musician that Dennis was.

0:48:180:48:20

I don't really know quite how to feel about it at this point.

0:48:200:48:23

It's... On one hand, it kind of amuses me, because I'm thinking,

0:48:230:48:28

"Yeah, that's what it was back then."

0:48:280:48:31

But on the other hand, I'm almost slightly horrified by it.

0:48:310:48:34

We've kind of started to learn about Dennis and the fact that he was

0:48:360:48:39

a violinist and he went on tour, and I was thinking,

0:48:390:48:42

"Yes, this is terrific."

0:48:420:48:44

And then that was the bombshell right there, wasn't it?

0:48:440:48:47

Bigamy, syphilis...

0:48:510:48:52

..blacking up as a minstrel.

0:48:540:48:56

It's quite a variety...

0:48:570:48:58

..of ancestry.

0:49:010:49:02

Warwick has come to meet music historian Derek Scott

0:49:100:49:13

at the Atheneum in Bury St Edmunds, where Dennis Manning performed

0:49:130:49:18

with Pell's American Opera Troupe in 1858.

0:49:180:49:21

Dennis Manning, my great-great-grandfather ,

0:49:240:49:27

he was the son of an Irish labourer.

0:49:270:49:29

So how does he end up playing music of this type?

0:49:290:49:33

The thing is how does he get from Irish music

0:49:330:49:36

into African-American music?

0:49:360:49:39

And there are a surprising number of links, both socially and culturally.

0:49:390:49:45

In New York,

0:49:450:49:47

you'd have adjacent neighbourhoods of free black Americans

0:49:470:49:51

and poor Irish,

0:49:510:49:53

so there is some linking there, but musically, too,

0:49:530:49:57

if I play you a typical popular minstrel song of the period...

0:49:570:50:02

# The Camptown ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah

0:50:020:50:06

# The Camptown racetrack five miles long, oh, doo-dah day. #

0:50:060:50:11

You can see, to make that into a real...

0:50:110:50:13

I'd only really have to do something like this.

0:50:130:50:15

That's amazing.

0:50:210:50:22

And it's suddenly a different style.

0:50:220:50:24

Yeah, it is. And they are not poles apart at all, are they?

0:50:240:50:28

No, not really.

0:50:280:50:29

What makes it African-American is it has a device called

0:50:290:50:34

call and response.

0:50:340:50:37

You've got the one bit like that, and then the...

0:50:370:50:39

# Doo-dah, doo-dah... #

0:50:390:50:40

I don't know how you are on doo-dahs, do you want to...?

0:50:400:50:43

-I'm not bad at a doo-dah.

-If I do...

0:50:430:50:44

If you are accomplished with doo-dahs...?

0:50:440:50:47

-I'll try the narrative bit and you do the...

-I'll get ready for a doo-dah, yeah.

-Right.

-OK.

-So...

0:50:470:50:51

-# The Camptown ladies sing this song.

-Doo-dah, doo-dah.

0:50:510:50:56

-# The Camptown racetrack five miles long.

-Doo-dah, doo-dah day. #

0:50:560:51:00

-I don't know whether I did that right.

-But that's right. It's a throwing it to and fro.

-Yeah.

0:51:000:51:04

So there is a kind of influence from the African-American side

0:51:040:51:09

into Irish music, and from Irish music into African-American music.

0:51:090:51:13

Now, we know that Dennis played the violin

0:51:130:51:16

in a very successful touring group.

0:51:160:51:20

Is that what he did throughout his career?

0:51:200:51:21

If I show you something a little later on, from the era,

0:51:210:51:26

right down the bottom there,

0:51:260:51:28

you'll find comments on what he is doing later.

0:51:280:51:31

This is an important notice to concert hall proprietors.

0:51:310:51:34

"Mr D Manning, late musical director of Pell's Opera Troupe."

0:51:340:51:38

-So he was musical director?

-Yes, that's right.

0:51:380:51:42

"Sentimental vocalist, guitarist, and solo violinist."

0:51:420:51:45

Yeah, notice that.

0:51:450:51:47

It is not just violinist now, is it?

0:51:470:51:49

It isn't. Sentimental vocalist, what does that mean in musical terms?

0:51:490:51:53

Even in the '50s, minstrels were playing some sentimental songs.

0:51:530:51:59

One of the great favourites of your great-great-grandfather's troupe

0:51:590:52:02

was the Hazel Dell.

0:52:020:52:05

# All alone my watch I'm keeping, in the Hazel Dell

0:52:050:52:14

# For my darling Nelly's near me sleeping

0:52:150:52:21

# Nelly, dear, farewell. #

0:52:210:52:26

-Oh, dear.

-Warwick, you've sung, haven't you?

0:52:260:52:29

-I'm sure I've seen you in performances singing.

-Not as well as you, sir.

0:52:290:52:34

-That's lovely.

-Is there any chance...?

0:52:340:52:36

Lovely. Very sentimental.

0:52:360:52:38

I am trying to divert you away from asking me to sing.

0:52:380:52:41

Do not ask me to sing.

0:52:410:52:42

I'm just wondering...

0:52:420:52:44

To join me in the chorus on this.

0:52:440:52:48

Without the tears rolling down you.

0:52:480:52:50

I don't know the words.

0:52:500:52:52

-Well, as it happens...

-Oh, no!

0:52:520:52:54

By amazing coincidence...

0:52:560:52:59

-Oh, Derek.

-.. I have some words.

0:52:590:53:02

Yeah, OK. So I've just got to join in with this bit here?

0:53:020:53:06

-Yeah? Just the chorus.

-Yes, just the chorus.

0:53:060:53:09

But you must sing as well, don't stop, none of that.

0:53:090:53:11

-OK.

-All right.

0:53:110:53:12

-Shall we try just the, "all alone...?"

-Yeah, yeah.

0:53:120:53:15

BOTH: # All alone my watch I'm keeping, in the Hazel Dell

0:53:150:53:25

# For my darling Nelly's near me sleeping

0:53:250:53:31

# Nelly, dear, farewell. #

0:53:310:53:36

It's lovely. And that is quite touching to think that my

0:53:380:53:42

great-great-grandfather Dennis would have sung that as well,

0:53:420:53:45

-and now I can sing it.

-Now you...

0:53:450:53:47

But the last document we have has to be the death certificate.

0:53:470:53:52

I'll let you see it.

0:53:520:53:53

I've seen a fair number of these on my travels over the last few days.

0:53:530:53:57

1890.

0:53:570:53:59

Dennis Manning, died at 52.

0:53:590:54:03

-Oh, dear.

-If you look at the address he's living at - 6 Betterton Street.

0:54:030:54:08

This is in the Covent Garden area.

0:54:080:54:10

We know that number six was actually a boarding house that was licensed

0:54:100:54:15

for 95 borders.

0:54:150:54:19

95?

0:54:190:54:20

Unfortunately, it does look as if...

0:54:200:54:22

..Dennis Manning was on his uppers when he died.

0:54:240:54:29

From the great days...

0:54:310:54:32

I hate to end on this kind of note for you.

0:54:320:54:35

Well, the journey was lovely. His story was inspiring and enjoyable.

0:54:350:54:40

But kind of ended too soon, in a way.

0:54:400:54:43

And not particularly happily, obviously, for him.

0:54:430:54:45

You'd think he'd be at the peak of his career.

0:54:450:54:48

Yes. Yes, you would, wouldn't you?

0:54:480:54:51

It's just a lesson in the insecurity of the life of an artist.

0:54:510:54:55

Well, it's one that I know very well as an actor myself.

0:54:550:54:57

You know, you can never take this business for granted,

0:54:570:55:00

and you have to have a plan B.

0:55:000:55:02

Dennis, I don't think had a plan B.

0:55:020:55:04

There you are, the insecurity of the musician.

0:55:040:55:06

Absolutely.

0:55:060:55:07

Warwick's come to the ballroom at the Athenaeum,

0:55:160:55:19

where his great-great-grandfather, Dennis Manning,

0:55:190:55:22

performed more than 150 years earlier.

0:55:220:55:25

It's lovely to actually be somewhere that one of my ancestors

0:55:260:55:31

actually was.

0:55:310:55:32

To think that Dennis...

0:55:380:55:39

..was in this very room,

0:55:400:55:43

doing what he loved doing, entertaining people.

0:55:430:55:46

That's a really lovely feeling.

0:55:470:55:50

And I'm just enjoying being here,

0:55:530:55:56

and kind of soaking the atmosphere up.

0:55:560:55:58

Part of me feels slightly guilty,

0:56:050:56:08

having unearthed all of these family secrets.

0:56:080:56:12

I'm sort of imagining my ancestors looking down, saying,

0:56:140:56:17

"Who do you think you are? Unearthing all our secrets,

0:56:170:56:21

"telling the world."

0:56:210:56:22

The thing that strikes me about their stories is there was

0:56:270:56:29

always a struggle, there was always a fight and a determination in them.

0:56:290:56:34

And I've got that as well.

0:56:350:56:36

I've got a determination to succeed and to get through life

0:56:360:56:41

in the best way possible,

0:56:410:56:43

and do things the right way as well.

0:56:430:56:45

So I've got a great deal of respect for...

0:56:470:56:49

..all of the people in the stories that I've told.

0:56:500:56:53

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