0:00:02 > 0:00:04Supermodel Cindy Crawford is unravelling
0:00:04 > 0:00:08the mystery behind her Midwestern family's origins.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12So he ditched his kids and, as far as we know, never returned.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13She travels to England...
0:00:13 > 0:00:15What's in this scroll?
0:00:15 > 0:00:18..where she finds a family torn apart by civil war.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21If you don't surrender, you'll all be massacred.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23And then to Germany...
0:00:23 > 0:00:26You are getting back to something very august.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28..where Cindy uncovers an extraordinary connection
0:00:28 > 0:00:31to early European royalty.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Are you kidding me?
0:01:04 > 0:01:08One of the first true supermodels, Cindy Crawford transformed
0:01:08 > 0:01:12the image of fashion models from mannequins to superstars.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Discovered in her small Illinois home town at the age of 17, Cindy's
0:01:16 > 0:01:21career quickly soared, making her the highest-paid model in the world.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25She's graced the covers of more than 400 magazines,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28strutting the catwalks for designers from Chanel to Ralph Lauren,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33and been at the helm of several successful beauty and design brands.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Cindy lives in Malibu with her husband and their two children.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41I grew up in DeKalb, Illinois, which is
0:01:41 > 0:01:44about 60 miles straight west of Chicago.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47And it's not really... People think maybe it's suburban, but it's not.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It's small town Illinois. And that was a great place to grow up.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I consider myself just like the kind of Midwestern,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57next-door neighbour girl.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Kind of made a career on that, so I'm sticking with that story.
0:02:02 > 0:02:03But, yeah, that's how I see myself.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08Just kind of simple life, a house you didn't lock the doors,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11but surrounded by family and cousins and extended family.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14I mean, I'm lucky because when I was born,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17I had all four great-grandmothers living and two great-grandfathers.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19They lived in Minnesota,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and we would go and visit them, like, two or three times a year.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Between Illinois and Minnesota,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28that's as far back as I've ever gone with my family.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30I have no idea how they ended up there.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32I always say I'm just an American mutt
0:02:32 > 0:02:35because I know all of my grandparents were born here,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and I'm pretty sure all my great-grandparents were born here.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41So, you know, I'm just like... We're, like, you know, Midwestern potato-eating people.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47So I guess it would be cool to have some person that
0:02:47 > 0:02:49was, like, historically relevant.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Like, that would be kind of cool. But the main thing for me
0:02:52 > 0:02:56is just having that sense of connection to history.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03I'm excited about doing this for myself and also for my family.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05I'm especially excited to share it with my kids.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08You know, I have a daughter who's in sixth grade, her name's Kaya,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and I know that she has to do a big family history project.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12So I figure, OK,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16this is my daughter's project right here and it'll be really cool.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19It'll, you know... Because my family, we...
0:03:19 > 0:03:22I mean, being American is great,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25but we all came from somewhere, and I don't have any of that.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I don't have any of those pieces to the puzzle.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Cindy is starting with her father's side of the family,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36following the line of her paternal grandmother, Ramona Hemingway.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41So this is me and Grandma Ramona, and I'm pretty sure this was taken
0:03:41 > 0:03:46at a Hemingway family reunion, probably in Mankato, Minnesota.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49And that's a name that I've always been really curious about.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Like, are we related to Ernest Hemingway, or not?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Other than just it being family rumour, I don't know.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01This is Ramona's parents. Hazel Brown Hemingway,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05my great-grandma, and Frank Hemingway.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06I knew both of them very well.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08We would go up there every summer when I was a kid.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13And Frank was a popcorn farmer, and all he wanted was one son,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17because all farmers want sons, yet he had eight daughters.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Now this picture is Frank's parents, my great-great-grandparents.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Grandpa Lou, and they called Grandma "Lou", too,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but I'm sure they both weren't named Lou.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33But I never knew him, and I don't know anything about him.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36So I guess that's where I'm going to start my search.
0:04:37 > 0:04:44And so I am going to search for "Lou", assuming that that's Louis,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46a short name for Louis.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50L-O-U-I-S Hemingway, and my great-great-grandpa.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Minnesota...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54And the search.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58OK, so I have a lot of Louis Hemingways.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03So then I'm going to click on Vernon, Blue Earth, Minnesota.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06That's right where...near where my great-grandparents lived.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Let's see what it says.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10It says "1880".
0:05:10 > 0:05:13OK, Louis Hemingway.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18He was 13 when this census was taken. He was born in Minnesota.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20His father's name was Frank.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23The census reveals that
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Louis Hemingway named his son
0:05:25 > 0:05:27after his own father,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29making Frank Hemingway Sr
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Cindy's three times great-grandfather.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37His father was from New Hampshire. Wow, I had no idea.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41As far as I knew, everybody on my dad's side was Minnesota.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44So, the next step would be to look up this other
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Frank Hemingway in New England and see where that leads me.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49And I don't know if that would be closer or further
0:05:49 > 0:05:53away from my fantasy of being related to Ernest Hemingway.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Cindy has discovered a clue about her family's
0:05:56 > 0:05:59origins before they arrived in the Midwest.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Her three times great-grandfather, Frank Hemingway,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06was born in New Hampshire in the 1800s.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11So Cindy is heading to the New England Historical Genealogical Society in Boston.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25To see how far back she can trace her family tree,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Cindy has asked genealogist Chris Child to do some research.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33I thought that this was a good place to start to try to figure out
0:06:33 > 0:06:35where Frank Hemingway came from,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39and is there any connection to Ernest Hemingway.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Well, I took the research from Frank Hemingway,
0:06:41 > 0:06:46and I was able to trace the Hemingway family back beyond him.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- Wow. - And I have some good news.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52You do have a distant connection to the writer, Ernest Hemingway.
0:06:52 > 0:06:53That's really cool.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55Your grandmother, Ramona Hemingway,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57is an eighth cousin to Ernest Hemingway.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00That is amazing. I don't know if she knows that. I can't wait to tell her.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03And then to you, we're going two generations down,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05so we are once twice removed.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07- So you're... - Eighth cousins twice removed.- Yes.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Awesome.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12In the course of researching this family, I was actually able to find
0:07:12 > 0:07:15another one of your ancestors that was even more impressive.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Oh, really? OK.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20And that's this Trowbridge family.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23So, you can see here where I'm showing
0:07:23 > 0:07:26the line from Frank Hemingway to Ebenezer Hemenway.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31So this is five-times great-grandfather named Ebenezer Hemenway. OK.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33- And his wife is Ruth Gates. - Right.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38And she's the daughter of Amos Gates and Mary Trowbridge.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41OK, and what's the deal with the Trowbridges?
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's her who we're following back.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47So she's born 1728, and then we go back to her father John,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50grandfather Thomas, great-grandfather James,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52and great-great-grandfather Thomas.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56- Thomas. Oh, and this goes back to England.- Yes.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Wow. My ten times great-grandfather.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02This is the first relative that I found that wasn't
0:08:02 > 0:08:03- born in the United States.- Yes.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08So Thomas is the one who made the big voyage.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10That's really cool.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15So it's actually a very well-known family, and this is one
0:08:15 > 0:08:18genealogy that we have here in our library, if you want to...
0:08:18 > 0:08:22- Wait, this whole book is just about Trowbridge?- Just Trowbridge.- Wow.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27So this is Thomas Trowbridge, "the first of his family to come
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"to America, was the son of John Trowbridge,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34"a wealthy merchant and prominent citizen of Taunton, Somersetshire.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39"His father had long been identified with the woollen trade in Taunton,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41"and it was natural that the son, when he grew up,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44"should turn his attention to some branch of that industry."
0:08:44 > 0:08:49The book reveals that in 1627, Thomas married a woman named
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Elizabeth, and while they were still in England,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55they had four children, the youngest of whom was born in 1633.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00So from looking at this genealogy book and this chart,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02that's where my nine times great-grandfather
0:09:02 > 0:09:10James Trowbridge shows up, born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1636.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14- Right?- Yes.- So this is a child that was born to them
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- after they moved to the New World. - Yes.
0:09:17 > 0:09:22Between 1633 and 1636.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25- That's when they made the move.- Yes.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29So, give me, like, a historical background, what's going on?
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And also, like, in comparison to the Mayflower and all of that,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34like, where are we in time?
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Sure. So this is the period known as the Great Migration.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- OK.- And they're coming primarily for religious reasons.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43There was a whole lot of social and political upheaval going on.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47In 1620, the Mayflower set sail from England
0:09:47 > 0:09:49to the American colonies,
0:09:49 > 0:09:53sparking a 20-year movement of some 20,000 Puritans,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57including the Trowbridge family, known as the Great Migration.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Many Puritans were fleeing religious persecution,
0:10:01 > 0:10:06including imprisonment and torture sanctioned by King Charles I.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Disgusted with their monarch and the Church of England,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12idealistic reformers like Thomas Trowbridge
0:10:12 > 0:10:16left England hoping to find a fresh start in the colonies.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20So they were coming mostly for religious freedom and opportunity?
0:10:20 > 0:10:26- Yes. The Puritan ideal is to come here sort of to escape religious persecution...- Right.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31..but also to establish their idea of what they considered to be a more pure church.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35So they were in Massachusetts Bay in 1636.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38This is the only record I was able to find at this point.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41I looked at a number of records from some of the other colonial
0:10:41 > 0:10:46New England settlements, and I was able to find this history,
0:10:46 > 0:10:47The New Haven Colony.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49The New Haven Colony.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51If you want to read there.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55"Quickly grasping the vision of a kingdom of Christ on the shores
0:10:55 > 0:10:59"of Long Island Sound, a colony settled by kindred souls...
0:10:59 > 0:11:02"In the Bay Colony, pressure of population was beginning to be felt."
0:11:02 > 0:11:05- Meaning...?- The Boston area of Massachusetts Bay.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09- It was just too populated? - It's getting too populated, but also there's dissentions.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14There's differing opinions about the church.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17So there was a group that settled in New Haven that said that the
0:11:17 > 0:11:19church was not strict enough, so this...
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- So this is the group that wanted to be more strict?- Yes, so...
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Like, more Puritan values, or...? Yeah, OK.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28"Among those who undertook either to advance to the frontier with
0:11:28 > 0:11:32"the original company or to follow soon after were...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35"Thomas Jeffrey, Thomas... William Preston."
0:11:35 > 0:11:39Hey, there it is - "Thomas Trowbridge". Wow.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43It's so fascinating moving from England to the wilderness, really,
0:11:43 > 0:11:49to set up this ideal religious community, right?
0:11:49 > 0:11:53- Like a kind of Utopia for Puritans. I mean, was that...?- Yes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56All of these indications would indicate he was a committed Puritan.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Would this be, like, Quaker, or...?
0:12:00 > 0:12:01It's primarily Congregational.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04It's funny, because my family...
0:12:04 > 0:12:07The church that I grew up going to was Congregationalist.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10- Kept the same religion all those years.- Yeah, isn't that amazing?
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Religion has always been an important part,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15especially of, like, the Hemingway family.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19I remember staying with my great-grandparents and, I mean,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21everyone went to church Sunday morning.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26The church was really central to how they defined themselves as a family.
0:12:26 > 0:12:32Seems like, in some ways, that those Trowbridge Puritan values
0:12:32 > 0:12:36really trickled down all the way to my great-grandparents.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39That's pretty incredible to go back that far on my first day,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43really, on doing this. But where do I go next?
0:12:43 > 0:12:47The Connecticut State Library is a great place to do
0:12:47 > 0:12:49research on the New Haven colony.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51They have a lot of original records.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54OK, great. That will be my next stop, then. Amazing.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57- Thank you, so much. - Oh, you're welcome.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00I knew my family were not Native American, so I knew
0:13:00 > 0:13:03we got over here somehow, but I never really looked that far back.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06I think this sets the bar really high for a first day.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11I've already gone back to 1633, to find out where my family came
0:13:11 > 0:13:15from England here, so I'm excited to see where this journey takes me.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Cindy is heading to Hartford, Connecticut.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29To find out what happened to the Trowbridge family once
0:13:29 > 0:13:34they moved to the New Haven colony some time after 1636, Cindy has come
0:13:34 > 0:13:38to the Connecticut State Library to meet historian Judy Schiff.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Well, I've had a chance to do some research in the records here,
0:13:42 > 0:13:47and there is a trail of information about Thomas Trowbridge
0:13:47 > 0:13:48in the New Haven colony.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50So what is this?
0:13:50 > 0:13:53This is a court document that has a specific date on it,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58so we can follow the progress of the Trowbridge family in New Haven.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02November 3rd 1641.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06It says, "It is ordered that an attachment be sent forth
0:14:06 > 0:14:10"to distrain the goods of Mr Trowbridge,
0:14:10 > 0:14:16- "to pay the town's rates..." Which would be taxes, right?- Mm-hmm.
0:14:16 > 0:14:24"..and to fulfil the demands of those persons to whom
0:14:24 > 0:14:26"he is indebted." So what does this mean?
0:14:26 > 0:14:28- In the 17th century. - He owed people money?
0:14:28 > 0:14:32So it shows, first of all, that he hasn't been paying his taxes
0:14:32 > 0:14:34or certain bills.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39They're actually going to go into his estate
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and make these payments happen.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46There's some problem here, because he's not paying his bills.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47That's right.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53We can move further along to another case that was held in April 1644.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57- Trowbridge, right here. - Very good.- OK.
0:14:57 > 0:15:03"For as much as the whole estate of Thomas Trowbridge of New Haven
0:15:03 > 0:15:06"is to be sequestered for the payment of his debts.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11"He absented himself in taking no course concerning the same.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14"And his family...
0:15:14 > 0:15:16"to be dissolved."
0:15:17 > 0:15:18Wow.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22And as far as we know, there's no records of him ever coming back?
0:15:22 > 0:15:23No.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28"Sergeant Jeffrey and his wife being willing to take the children
0:15:28 > 0:15:32"of the said Thomas Trowbridge, provided that in case their father
0:15:32 > 0:15:36"shall come over, that then he will refer himself to the court, to judge
0:15:36 > 0:15:40"and determine what is equal for him to have, for the keeping of them."
0:15:40 > 0:15:45So the court took it upon themselves to place the children
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- with, like, a foster family. - Exactly.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49But what about his wife?
0:15:49 > 0:15:54Mysteriously, there's no record of Mrs Trowbridge. So...
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Oh. He lost his wife? Wow.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00- ..she has already vanished from the record.- Wow.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03So probably his wife died, even though we don't have a record.
0:16:03 > 0:16:04Possibly, yeah.
0:16:04 > 0:16:11And as far as you found in the New Haven documents, he never returned.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13No.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17We felt that it was pretty early on, probably, that
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Thomas Trowbridge leaves New Haven.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25- OK.- And sure enough, we found a very interesting document.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32In this area, you'll see Thomas Trowbridge.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34- Yeah, I see Trowbridge right here. - Right.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37And this is weddings.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38That's right.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Thomas Trowbridge married Frances...
0:16:43 > 0:16:47So this wedding actually took place in 1641.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- But where? - The same area that he came from.
0:16:51 > 0:16:57So he went... He left his children in New Haven,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and went back to Taunton to find a wife.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Would it have been that difficult to find a wife in New Haven?
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Yes, because each of these households had come over together.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12And, presumably, any of the single women,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17very often they were elderly, a grandmother, a great-grandmother,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21or a servant of a certain category that would not maybe be suitable.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25So he went back to England, ditched his kids,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29and as far as we know, there's no records of him ever coming back?
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- No.- But there is records of the Trowbridge family
0:17:32 > 0:17:34staying in New Haven.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38So it seems that the children stayed.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42As far as we know, and I think to find out more,
0:17:42 > 0:17:47you're going to have to have to go to some sources in England.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49OK. That'll be my next stop, then.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52'When I first started looking at the documents today,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55'and most of the time Thomas Trowbridge's name appeared,'
0:17:55 > 0:17:57it was because he owed money.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01So at first I'm thinking, like, deadbeat dad, or something like that.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04That didn't make me go, "I really want to get to know this guy."
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Maybe there's something else going on.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10There must be a reason, good or bad, we don't know yet,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13but it doesn't really fit his pattern.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16He came to New Haven and he moved his whole family there,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19so that doesn't seem like a thing someone would do
0:18:19 > 0:18:22if their intention was just to abandon them there.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I'm sure losing his wife could have... You know,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28some people go crazy when something like that happens.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30I don't know.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32All I know is that he did go back to England,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and that's what I want to figure out - what happened from there?
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Cindy is heading to Taunton in Somerset,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Thomas Trowbridge's home town.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51She's meeting historian Susan Hardman Moore
0:18:51 > 0:18:53at the Somerset Heritage Centre.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Susan has been trying to find out why Cindy's ancestor never
0:18:56 > 0:18:59returned to his family in Connecticut.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04I found out that my ten times great-grandfather, Thomas Trowbridge,
0:19:04 > 0:19:09moved to the New Haven colony, but it looks like his wife died
0:19:09 > 0:19:13and he came back to England to get a new wife.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16But it doesn't look like he ever went back to New Haven.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21Thinking generally about a period, it wasn't that unusual for people
0:19:21 > 0:19:25to come back from New England, either temporarily or for good.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- OK.- There was a lot of tension in England at that time with
0:19:29 > 0:19:33King Charles I. He ruled for 11 years without a Parliament,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37but in 1640, he had to call Parliament because he needed money.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42He was at war with the Scots, and so news that Charles had called
0:19:42 > 0:19:45a Parliament would have come over to New England.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Taken several months to get there, of course,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51but we do see in 1640, '41, just at the time
0:19:51 > 0:19:53when Thomas Trowbridge comes back,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56a great sort of surge of people coming home,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59because all kinds of new possibilities seem to be opening up.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02OK, so what do you have? What have you found?
0:20:02 > 0:20:04So let me show you what I've found.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Oh, this is a white glove, a white glove...
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- It's a white glove activity, yes. - OK.- You need to put these on.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10- Thank you.- Yeah.- Wow.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Isn't it amazing that the ink and the paper still stays?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Wow.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20- Just to explain what this document is.- OK.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24It's from the Taunton quarter session rolls,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26that's the technical name for it.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28The quarter session is a local court.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33One of its roles was to award pensions to people who had
0:20:33 > 0:20:35been wounded in war.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40This document comes from October 1652.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43Taunton. Does that say Taunton Borough?
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Taunton Borough, yeah.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Wow. I can only read about every third word.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51Oh! Trowbridge, right there. So, not much here.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54- I've got a transcript here...- OK. - ..if that would help?
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- Yes. Let me see, and then maybe I can...- Take a look at that too.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02"These are to certify all whom it may concern that Richard Hillard
0:21:02 > 0:21:05"of Taunton, during the several sieges thereof, was
0:21:05 > 0:21:10"a faithful soldier under the command of Captain Thomas Trowbridge."
0:21:10 > 0:21:13OK, that's new information.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17"In the regiment of Colonel Robert Blake."
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Wow, so he was a captain in... What would he...? In what?
0:21:21 > 0:21:22What was that considered?
0:21:22 > 0:21:25OK, well, it says in the document that he served under
0:21:25 > 0:21:28the command of Colonel Robert Blake.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32- Right.- And that places him in the Parliamentary Army.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38- In the Parliamentary Army.- This is written in the time of Oliver Cromwell, when England was at war.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42And Taunton became a real centre of resistance to the King.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47We're talking about the English Civil War here, 1644, '45.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Wow, he came back to fight.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54So once he got back here, found the wife, he ended up staying.
0:21:54 > 0:21:55Well, that's right.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59I mean, when he first came back, the civil war hadn't broken out.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01He got remarried in 1641.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04In 1642, the civil war breaks out.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10In 1642, years of conflict in England erupted into civil war.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Instead of fleeing from Charles I's religious oppression,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16as he had done back in the 1630s,
0:22:16 > 0:22:21this time Thomas Trowbridge chose to stay in England and fight.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Trowbridge joined the Parliamentary Army, of which Oliver Cromwell
0:22:24 > 0:22:29was a leader, hoping to defeat the King's Royalist forces and finally
0:22:29 > 0:22:33put an end to what Trowbridge saw as the rule of a brutal tyrant.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37Taunton was a real hotspot in the English Civil War.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41And so it was a real centre of resistance to the King's forces.
0:22:41 > 0:22:46- Trowbridge would have been one of the key people in the castle... - Right.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49..defending the castle and the town, and holding it for Parliament.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51So this petition says,
0:22:51 > 0:22:58"Showeth that your petitioner during the several sieges of Taunton was
0:22:58 > 0:23:03"a faithful soldier under the command of Captain Thomas Trowbridge."
0:23:03 > 0:23:06So this guy also was wounded in battle under
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Captain Thomas Trowbridge, and he's petitioning also for a pension.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15- Wow, seems like Thomas really looked out for the guys that fought under him.- Right, yeah. Mm-hmm.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21OK, wow. And this is signed "Thomas Trowbridge, Captain."
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- That would have been his...- That's his signature.- ..actual signature?
0:23:26 > 0:23:27Wow.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31It still seems a little bit strange to me that you could
0:23:31 > 0:23:35just leave your children in the New World and come back to England.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38I admit, it does seem strange to us now, but it wasn't actually
0:23:38 > 0:23:43that unusual for families to be divided by the Atlantic.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Maybe Thomas Trowbridge intended to come back temporarily,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50maybe send for the children to come over, but shipping was disrupted,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54the sending of letters was disrupted during the civil war.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57OK, so I won't... I'll give him a break.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Right!
0:23:59 > 0:24:01So, knowing that he stayed in England,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03what did Thomas do during the siege at Taunton?
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Well, I think it would be lovely for you to visit Taunton Castle
0:24:08 > 0:24:11and meet my fellow historian, Bernard Capp, who would be able
0:24:11 > 0:24:16to tell you all about the history of the battle that took place.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18So if you wanted to, you could go and take a look
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and actually see where Thomas Trowbridge fought.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Absolutely. That sounds amazing.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Well, thank you so much. - Oh, my pleasure.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Usually when I travel, I do try to take in some cultural experience.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36And here, I get to do that, but added in with a direct connection to me.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41To think that my ten times great-grandfather was here in Taunton,
0:24:41 > 0:24:44fighting during the English Civil War...
0:24:44 > 0:24:46it just humanises history.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Cindy is heading to Taunton Castle to find out more
0:24:56 > 0:25:00about Thomas Trowbridge's experience during the Siege of Taunton.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05Historian Bernard Capp is an expert on the period.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09- How are you? - Hi, Cindy, very good to meet you.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Yesterday, I found out that Thomas Trowbridge was
0:25:11 > 0:25:14a captain in the English Civil War.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17So I guess I'm curious - how does a siege work?
0:25:17 > 0:25:19- Set the stage for me a little bit. - OK.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23What was happening in Taunton in 1641 or '42?
0:25:23 > 0:25:27So Blake came in and got Trowbridge and these others involved,
0:25:27 > 0:25:30the first task was to dig trenches, put up barricades,
0:25:30 > 0:25:31all sorts of things.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35So the castle was the ultimate stronghold and defence bastion.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40In October 1644, Taunton was the only Parliamentarian enclave
0:25:40 > 0:25:44in the county of Somerset, so it was targeted by King Charles I.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47His Royalist forces surrounded the town
0:25:47 > 0:25:51and left the citizens with no access to help or supplies.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Thomas Trowbridge played a vital role in the siege.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57As captain, he was responsible for protecting the people
0:25:57 > 0:26:01of Taunton during the brutal attack that lasted seven months.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07To begin with, the garrison only had supplies of food or ammunition,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10gunpowder and so on, for three months,
0:26:10 > 0:26:11so there's a real stress there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13- How are they going to last out? - Yeah.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15And in the last two or three months of the siege,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18it was tighter than ever before, which meant no food getting in.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21And there was desperate hunger.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23They were down to their very last supplies.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Almost out of food, they had to take thatch from the roofs
0:26:26 > 0:26:29of the houses to feed the horses.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And they were down to the last two barrels or so of gunpowder.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36So they were very close, I guess, to having to give up the town.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Wow.- The Royalists did break through these barricades,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41so they got through most of the town.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45They burnt a lot of the houses, and the commander sent this final
0:26:45 > 0:26:48challenge, or summons, to Blake, saying, "Surrender now, and I'll
0:26:48 > 0:26:52"spare your lives, but if you don't surrender, you'll all be massacred."
0:26:52 > 0:26:53Wow.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57The siege was maintained over quite a long period, and the
0:26:57 > 0:27:01town is literally desolate and destroyed, and they're half starved.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03But they held out and, in the nick of time,
0:27:03 > 0:27:07the Royalists have to withdraw to go and face Cromwell.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12So the siege is lifted and the garrison and the people survive.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- They managed to hold on.- Yeah.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17But at great cost to the community, correct?
0:27:17 > 0:27:18It's a huge cost, yes.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22And we have an account from the force coming into the town.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24This is an extract from it.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27"On the 12th, Colonel Weldon entered the town,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30"the inhabitants being joyed beyond expression."
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- I bet they were thrilled.- Yes!
0:27:33 > 0:27:36"The country people, to the number of about a thousand,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38"came in from their hiding places in the woods,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41"and with 'broad eyes of wonder' gazed upon the works which
0:27:41 > 0:27:44"had defended the place, and upon the soldiers who had defended
0:27:44 > 0:27:48"the works, looking upon them as giants rather than men."
0:27:49 > 0:27:52So, Thomas Trowbridge would have been considered a giant
0:27:52 > 0:27:56by the country people who came in, because he was one of the soldiers...
0:27:56 > 0:27:58- Yes, yes.- ..that defended them. - He's one of the leading giants.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Yeah, yeah.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03To me, it seems like Taunton was a very decisive victory
0:28:03 > 0:28:05in the English Civil War.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Well, Taunton was just one action, one siege.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The war still goes on, there are big battles to be fought,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15but it's... Parliament is now on the upper hand.
0:28:15 > 0:28:16And a year later, in 1646,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Parliament does finally come out on top,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21the war ends, the King has to surrender.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25- What happens next? - Trowbridge stays in Taunton.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Something like two-thirds of the houses we've just seen
0:28:28 > 0:28:29had been destroyed by fire or battered,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33and they'd have to face the prospect of starting life all over again.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38One of the things that really made me feel proud yesterday
0:28:38 > 0:28:40was that after the war,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43he petitioned the court on behalf of the soldiers who were injured
0:28:43 > 0:28:47under his service in the war to help them get pensions,
0:28:47 > 0:28:48to help care for their family.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51Clearly, he was an officer who cared about the men who'd been
0:28:51 > 0:28:53working with him, fighting for him.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58It just goes back to, like, that is innate in all of us, that we want to help people.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59- Great.- Thank you so much.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03- It's been a pleasure.- 'I think being here at Taunton Castle today'
0:29:03 > 0:29:08helped me imagine what life was like for Thomas Trowbridge.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Things were hot and heavy here.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16It was not easy, and that he would have been in the thick of it.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Thomas had already left his homeland to escape
0:29:19 > 0:29:21the oppression of King Charles.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25But when he had the opportunity to fight for his beliefs, he took it.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29It's an honour to be descended from such a brave and committed man.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I'm definitely interested in looking even further
0:29:33 > 0:29:36back into the Trowbridge family history, if that exists.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38I mean, we're already very far back, so I don't know
0:29:38 > 0:29:42if there's records beyond that, but that would be fascinating to me.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48Cindy has now traced her ancestry back to the early 1600s, but
0:29:48 > 0:29:52to see if she can go even further back, she's heading to London.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02I've been in London a lot over the last, I don't know...
0:30:02 > 0:30:04since I started modelling,
0:30:04 > 0:30:08but never really come and thought about my connection to England.
0:30:08 > 0:30:13Makes me more curious in a way, and looking at every building
0:30:13 > 0:30:18and every landmark and thinking, "How am I connected to them?"
0:30:20 > 0:30:24Cindy is meeting genealogist Charles Mosley,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29who has been tracing her family tree beyond Thomas Trowbridge.
0:30:29 > 0:30:30What did you bring for me?
0:30:30 > 0:30:33What...? I'm excited to see, what's in this scroll?
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Quite a bit. Let's try rolling it back and see where it takes us.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41But overall, over, shall we say, the next ten generations,
0:30:41 > 0:30:46your ancestors are stepping up in the world, as you'll discover
0:30:46 > 0:30:48by just tracing their steps.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51We have here Thomas Trowbridge, the one that we've mentioned,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53son of John Trowbridge.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56But John Trowbridge marries a member of the Prowse family,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59the gentry, definite gentry status people.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02And one of them, William de Mohun himself, II,
0:31:02 > 0:31:04in the first half of the 12th century,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06is created Earl of Somerset.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Charles has been able to trace Cindy's family tree back more
0:31:10 > 0:31:14than 12 centuries, following her bloodline from England to
0:31:14 > 0:31:17Continental Europe, where her distinguished ancestors
0:31:17 > 0:31:21include counts, dukes and even a king of Italy.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28So from Thomas Trowbridge, ten times great-grandfather,
0:31:28 > 0:31:32all the way up here to 28, 29, 30,
0:31:32 > 0:31:3731, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40...
0:31:37 > 0:31:41And then you're getting back to something very august.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42SHE GASPS
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Charlemagne. Are you kidding me?
0:31:47 > 0:31:50- No, no, not in the least. - So it's...- Would I dare?
0:31:50 > 0:31:54You are descended from European royalty, and quite a bit of royalty.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57That's amazing. And Charlemagne at the top. Incredible.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59- Charlemagne at the top, as he deserves to be.- Wow.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05This says Charlemagne was born on 2nd April in 748,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Aachen, Germany.
0:32:07 > 0:32:08- It's a long time ago.- Wow.
0:32:08 > 0:32:14He is the first person since the Roman Empire to unify Europe,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and that is why his name has such resonance today
0:32:17 > 0:32:21as the "Father of Europe".
0:32:21 > 0:32:24And indeed he is the father of you many times back, of course,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27- great-great-great-great-grandfather. - 41 times.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29I never would have imagined anything about, you know...
0:32:29 > 0:32:32I'm from, like, Midwestern, you know, farm people,
0:32:32 > 0:32:34so this is just incredible. Thank you so much.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36There's royal blood in the West, in the Midwest.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40It's certainly something to put in your dining room wall.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42I have to have a very long... very high ceiling.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44You'll have to raise a ceiling, but that's not a problem, is it?!
0:32:44 > 0:32:47- Off to Germany. I look forward to seeing you.- OK, thank you.- Bye.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50I already thought going back to Thomas Trowbridge in the 1600s
0:32:50 > 0:32:53was, you know...that was pretty impressive and pretty far back,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57and then we jumped almost a thousand years to Charlemagne.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02It's way bigger and further back than I even would have dreamed.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07I really want to learn everything about Charlemagne.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09I was a good student but, you know,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12some of that stuff you learn for the test and you forget.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14I mean, you listen differently when it's related to you,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17when you have, like, a personal connection to it.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20So just to give the historical context
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and just to learn a little bit about the man.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27Cindy is travelling to Aachen in Germany,
0:33:27 > 0:33:30where Charlemagne lived in the early ninth century.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41To learn more about Charlemagne's life and legacy,
0:33:41 > 0:33:45she is meeting Prof Rosamond McKitterick at Aachen Cathedral.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Charlemagne's father took over
0:33:51 > 0:33:54when he was about three years old, as king.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57So this little boy of three was then brought up as a prince.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59As a prince, a king of what, though? What was...?
0:33:59 > 0:34:03- King of Francia, and it was what we would think of as France...- OK.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06..roughly speaking. So Charlemagne then inherited from his father.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10And what he decided to do, he started to expand the kingdom.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14So he went across the Alps, he conquered the Lombard Kingdom
0:34:14 > 0:34:16and became King of the Lombards.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18He had expeditions to Spain.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22He conquered right down to the Pyrenees and even a bit beyond.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25So by the time you would get to around 800,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Charlemagne is now ruler of most of what we would call Western Europe.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30Wow.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34And what can you tell me about Charlemagne as, you know, the person?
0:34:34 > 0:34:38One of the famous poems by Alcuin, who was an Englishman from York at
0:34:38 > 0:34:42the court, describes all the girls, the daughters, around the throne.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Charlemagne was so fond of them, he wouldn't let them get married.
0:34:45 > 0:34:46- His daughters?- His daughters.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51But we do know that the girls were also as well educated as the sons.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53And he had 20 children altogether.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55From different women, I'm assuming.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57- From different women, but there were...- So 20 children in all?
0:34:57 > 0:34:59..20 children altogether.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03And, in fact, we do know of one person who wrote about him
0:35:03 > 0:35:07in great detail, which was a man called Einhard.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10And Einhard was actually at Charlemagne's court.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13And after he died, he wrote a biography of him.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18But have a look at this, because that's a description of what your super-granddaddy looked like.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20"Charles was large and strong."
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Charles, is that what they would have called him?
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Carolus Charles, yes.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27"His height is well known to have been seven times
0:35:27 > 0:35:28"the length of his foot."
0:35:28 > 0:35:33- That's a funny, um...- Well, he was probably a very tall man.- OK.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37"The upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and
0:35:37 > 0:35:42"animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45"Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50"His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear,
0:35:50 > 0:35:53"but not so strong as his size led one to expect.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56"His health was excellent, except during the four years
0:35:56 > 0:36:00"preceding his death, when he was subject to frequent fevers.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03"Even in those years, he consulted rather his own inclinations
0:36:03 > 0:36:07"than the advice of physicians, who were almost hateful to him
0:36:07 > 0:36:09"because they wanted him to give up roast,
0:36:09 > 0:36:14"to which he was accustomed, and to eat boiled meat instead."
0:36:14 > 0:36:17So they already knew that then, that was healthier.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21- You know, what's amazing about this is how personal it is.- Yeah. Yeah.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25How, like, you feel like you're getting to know the man,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28- not this historical figure.- Yes.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31And what did the... Like, what did people think about him?
0:36:31 > 0:36:35You know, were people happy to be kind of united under Charlemagne?
0:36:35 > 0:36:37That's the part that makes him so different.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40- He's not just a conqueror.- Mm-hmm.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44He's not just somebody who bullies people or rules them ineffectively,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46which is all, if you're ruling by justice, that's good.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51But he's also promoting culture and learning, really fantastically.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55And the wonderful way that we know that peace is being retained
0:36:55 > 0:36:58throughout this vast area is we know about a lot of the palaces,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00but they weren't fortified.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03- So it must have been peaceful. - Wow. Huh!
0:37:03 > 0:37:05You haven't got great big fortresses set up everywhere,
0:37:05 > 0:37:07you have beautiful palaces.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10People come to them. Assemblies are held.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12You can travel throughout the kingdom.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16So there is a great deal of effort to try and rule things,
0:37:16 > 0:37:19to control things, to make sure that the king is in touch.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22I mean, this space is so magnificent and beautiful.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25What is the relevance of being here, for Charlemagne?
0:37:25 > 0:37:26This is his palace chapel.
0:37:26 > 0:37:32It's the place he wanted to express his commitment and achievement,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35and his aims as a Christian ruler.
0:37:35 > 0:37:36Wow.
0:37:36 > 0:37:43It dates probably from around 796, with the marble, the arches,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45the glorious mosaics.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49You have to imagine that this is somewhere he was coming every day.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51He would come to Mass.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54For the last part of his life, he lived here more or less all the time.
0:37:54 > 0:37:59I feel like, you know, I have more understanding about his legacy
0:37:59 > 0:38:01in terms of, you know, the world.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04But instead of it just being a name, Charlemagne,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06that I have a connection to,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10I feel now that there's a connection to a person, who was Charlemagne.
0:38:10 > 0:38:11So, thank you very much.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14- It's been a great pleasure, Cindy. - Thank you.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22I'm still digesting the fact that, you know, yes,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24grew up a small Midwestern girl.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29The connection to Charlemagne is very humbling.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33My 41 times great-grandfather was living in the 700s.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37And the world was very different then,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41but in some ways it makes you realise time is elastic.
0:38:41 > 0:38:46It can seem very long ago, but then it doesn't seem that long ago.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50I can't wait to share this experience with my children
0:38:50 > 0:38:53and my husband and the greater part of my family,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57because I think everyone will be so interested. Not only for them
0:38:57 > 0:39:02to kind of feel that they are a tiny little blip of this
0:39:02 > 0:39:05part of history, but also just for them to learn.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10If you would have said, like, to try to connect myself to
0:39:10 > 0:39:13someone in history, I think the farthest back I would have
0:39:13 > 0:39:18even thought was, like, 1600s, where we had Thomas Trowbridge.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22I wouldn't have even imagined that you could go further than that.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26And we went almost another thousand years beyond that.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Thomas Trowbridge, Charlemagne, they're real people.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33So learning about that history, to me, that's a link,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36that's a real, tangible link.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39I feel so fortunate to have participated in this experience
0:39:39 > 0:39:47because I think it's bigger than certainly I would have imagined.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49It's been amazing.