0:00:04 > 0:00:08Actor Nigel Havers divides his time between homes in London
0:00:08 > 0:00:12and Wiltshire, that he shares with his wife, Georgiana.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15This is PJ, a very nice, gentle horse.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19I love horses, really love them.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Especially when they run fast and win me money.
0:00:21 > 0:00:22HE LAUGHS
0:00:22 > 0:00:26For over 30 years, Nigel has been one of this country's most
0:00:26 > 0:00:28recognisable and popular actors.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31From Chariots of Fire to The Charmer, and most recently
0:00:31 > 0:00:35a smooth male escort, Lewis Archer in Coronation Street.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Gail, please don't self combust, ten minutes,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42that's all I'm asking, things aren't quite how you imagine them.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Oh, please, you're a common crook, a scoundrel, a bounder, a cad.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49- You said so yourself. - Huh!
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Actors are supposed to live in the present,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57"on the moment", as they say.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00So it's kind of handy for me that I don't worry about the past.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05But I have become much more reflective in the last few years.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Because I suppose I've gone beyond the halfway mark now.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14You know I've always been sort of, er,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17spoken of as a sort of, you know a posh, you know, guy,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20always plays those sort of parts and stuff, so what I'm really
0:01:20 > 0:01:24hoping for, is that my background is not like that at all.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59This is a picture of my mother and father.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02- I wasn't around when this was taken. - No.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05And here's a picture of my father and that's,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08that's a large whiskey in his left hand there.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11And I think probably on the television was a first
0:02:11 > 0:02:13episode of Doctor Who or something like that.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15And I'm hiding behind the sofa.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17And your eyes are very large.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Cos it was so frightening.
0:02:19 > 0:02:25My father was, erm, a very easy going...level-tempered man.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31He became an MP as well as a barrister and served
0:02:31 > 0:02:35under Margaret Thatcher as Attorney General and then Lord Chancellor.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41- And here's, look, here's the family, erm, there's my father.- Yeah.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45And there's my grandfather, Sir Cecil.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48My grandpa was famous for being the judge,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52the last judge to sentence a woman to be hanged,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56because he presided over the Ruth Ellis case, famous for that.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Famous for all sorts of things in the, in, in law terms.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03As for my mother's side, I know nothing.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06My parents were not remotely interested in looking back.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08They only were looking forward.
0:03:08 > 0:03:09It's almost as if, you know
0:03:09 > 0:03:12my ancestry stopped with my grandfather, bang.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15That's all you need to know.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21To go back beyond his grandfather,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Nigel is off to Hampshire to see his father's older brother, Tony Havers.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29My father died over 20 years ago now.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Erm, and, but Tony's er, as fit and well, I think he's 94,
0:03:34 > 0:03:3795 and he's full of life.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41I know that obviously my father was a lawyer
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and my grandfather was a judge
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and beyond that it's never really been talked about.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49So I'm interested to see what Tony's going to tell me.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Oh, someone's farm. That's not right.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57HE LAUGHS
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Wait a minute. We'll find it. Don't worry.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Nigel.- Uncle Tony.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16- Dear boy.- How lovely to see you, marvellous to see you.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17It's lovely to see you.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Well that, this is a, not a surprise...
0:04:19 > 0:04:20It's a pleasure.
0:04:20 > 0:04:21- Good. - Come on in.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Absolutely, thank you very much.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Did you have a good trip down?
0:04:26 > 0:04:27yeah, I did, it only took five hours.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- It's great to see you.- Great to see you.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Very interesting that you've come here to see me
0:04:33 > 0:04:37because we've got here a, a very good, erm, family tree.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39- OK.- Now here you are, Nigel.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42- Um-hm. - Born 1951. Great, that's right?
0:04:42 > 0:04:43I'm afraid it is, yes.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45I wish I could lie about it but I can't.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Er, you, son of, erm, Michael and Carol,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52then we move on up to Cecil Robert Havers.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53Yes.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Much-loved in our family, in fact adored.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56We loved him, we really did.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00When I was at prep school I suddenly got this note in the post, you know.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03"Dear Nigel, I had the Beatles for tea on Thursday
0:05:03 > 0:05:06"and I got their autographs for you, enclosed."
0:05:06 > 0:05:08- Yeah.- And there they were.- Yeah. - I've still got them.- Yeah.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12- And can you imagine that at boarding school...- Oh!- I was the hero, you know.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13- Yeah you could have... - Yeah, yeah amazing.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18And then we go on up further to Agnes who,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20who was married to Daniel.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23- Hm-hmm.- That would have been your great grandmother...- Hm-hmm.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Great grandfather. Now we're getting, er, Nigel,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28we're now getting near the top of the tree.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29OK.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32George Buckingham. Now then have, have a good moniker at him.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Yeah.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Confident and, erm, a good, a good
0:05:36 > 0:05:38family maker, with 17 children.
0:05:38 > 0:05:4117, yeah.
0:05:41 > 0:05:4514 who survived. And this really is the sort of
0:05:45 > 0:05:47culmination of the whole thing.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49This was at, erm, Salisbury House,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52- which was the Buckingham main house...- Hm.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55large house in Unthank Road, Norwich. This is George here.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56Yes.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00And this is the great child bearer, Elizabeth Buckingham
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and she was in her single life, Elizabeth Hamblion.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Hamblion.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10And so, erm, these are the 14 children, the family.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Now when I was about six, erm, my mum and father
0:06:14 > 0:06:16- took me to visit Elizabeth... - Hm.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18..in her house,
0:06:18 > 0:06:23because every Sunday morning she insisted that all the family
0:06:23 > 0:06:25should attend Salisbury House.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27- Right.- She wanted to see them. - Oh, right.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31So we attended and we, we were lined up
0:06:31 > 0:06:34- and I was told to sit on the floor because I was only six.- Yes.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36- So I was down here somewhere. - Hm.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39And we waited and waited and against the wall,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42because she was up in the bedroom above and, erm,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45she got into her lift up there and her lift came down...
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- ..and the doors parted. - Yeah.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52In a wheelchair, didn't move except to have a searching
0:06:52 > 0:06:56glance from left across to the centre, over to the right.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59- Yeah.- And she suddenly said, "Where's Geoffrey?"
0:06:59 > 0:07:03And, and Geoffrey had got, got into trouble for not coming.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04Oh!
0:07:04 > 0:07:05Dead scary.
0:07:06 > 0:07:07She sounds a pretty...
0:07:07 > 0:07:09She was a regal lady but...
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Very regal. Looks like Queen Victoria.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13- Yes, absolutely Queen Victoria.- Yeah.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15- A long dress and lace cap. - Yeah.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17But what's interesting, Nigel,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20is I know a lot about all those people, but the one part of the
0:07:20 > 0:07:24family tree I don't know anything about at all, is Elizabeth Hamblion.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Er, it's a blank, a blank sheet.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32With his uncle's help, Nigel has managed to trace his father's
0:07:32 > 0:07:36line back to his great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Hamblion.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41You end up with this woman who looks just like a sort of Queen Victoria.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46I don't know what to expect, but she does put on a grand,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48a very grand air.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50I need to know about her, I really do.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57To begin his search, Nigel has come home to London
0:07:57 > 0:08:00and ordered up Elizabeth Hamblion's birth certificate.
0:08:02 > 0:08:03Can't wait.
0:08:08 > 0:08:09So, here we are.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14It's from the Registration District of Colchester, in 1841,
0:08:14 > 0:08:15in the county of Essex.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21So that makes her, makes her an Essex girl.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23She probably didn't wear white high heels,
0:08:23 > 0:08:24probably have her hair done like that.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27But she's still an Essex bird.
0:08:30 > 0:08:31Erm, the mother,
0:08:31 > 0:08:37Elizabeth Ann Hamblion...and her father...
0:08:40 > 0:08:42..was Henry Hamblion,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46here we are, Henry Hamblion, and it says occupation of father, driver.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Driver. A driver.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Where does all this grandness come from, I'm wondering. Anyway.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Let's have a look on the internet.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10I've loaded up the Census for 1841, so let's, let's put her name in.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Birth year we know is 1841.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19OK, here we go.
0:09:25 > 0:09:32Oh! Right, there is daughter, er, Elizabeth Anne.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34She was two months old when this census was taken,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38and at the bottom, here we are, erm, let's have a look at that.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43That says Henry Hamblion, and that's the father.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And let's just go, and he's er, and his occupation,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50does that say Hackney?
0:09:50 > 0:09:51Hackney Master.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54I think it does.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57He was a coachman of some sort, or a taxi driver.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01It looks like he was a cab driver.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06"Take me to Whitechapel please." "Certainly, Sir."
0:10:07 > 0:10:11So much for the stately home. It's time to go.
0:10:11 > 0:10:12To Essex.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Nigel has come to Colchester to discover more about the
0:10:18 > 0:10:22profession of his great-great-great grandfather, Henry Hamblion.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29He's meeting coaching expert, Colin Porson.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Good morning.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Colin, thank you very much for coming,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and we'll talk about how you're dressed in a minute,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38but, erm, I know from the census, which I've seen,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41that Henry Hamblion is a Hackney Master.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Is that going up in the world? I don't know what it means.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- It is going up in the world. - Oh, good.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But before we delve into that,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53perhaps I should just explain the outfit?
0:10:53 > 0:10:55It's a lovely outfit. Great.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Erm, Henry was operating in the middle of the 19th
0:10:58 > 0:10:59- century as we know. - Um-hmm.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03And, and this, this uniform is in fact that of a, erm,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06a coach guard from that period and I thought it would add
0:11:06 > 0:11:09just a bit of local colour to our conversation.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11It does, I love it, it's great.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12Now, the Hackney Master.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16- I recognise Hackney because we call our taxis in London, Hackney cabs.- We do.- Yeah.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20- For exactly the same... - I thought they came from Hackney? - But unfortunately no.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25Hackney came originally from, from an old French verb, meaning to hire.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Oh, right. Nothing to do with Hackney at all.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34And I think that when he started, Henry was driving
0:11:34 > 0:11:38carriages for hire, much as you have black cabs today.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42But by 1841 he was obviously coming up in the world
0:11:42 > 0:11:46and by describing himself as a Hackney Master,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49- would suggest that he has drivers working for him.- Oh!
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- He had moved into a moved into... - Oh!
0:11:51 > 0:11:54..a more managerial, a more organisational role.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57I had this image that he was just driving his own cab.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I think he's moved beyond that.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03- Now, The Essex Standard was... - Yeah.- ..the local paper.
0:12:03 > 0:12:10It's, erm, 1844 now. "The Original Mews", Sir Isaac's Walk, Colchester.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14H & J Hamblion, that's Henry and...
0:12:14 > 0:12:17Jeremiah was his, his younger brother.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18Uh-huh.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20So this was a family business.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"Beg respectfully to announce to the Ladies, Gentry, and the
0:12:23 > 0:12:26"Inhabitants of Colchester and its vicinity, that they have recently
0:12:26 > 0:12:31"added to their Establishment a number of superior Clarence and..."
0:12:31 > 0:12:33Brougham.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34"..Brougham."
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- As in sweeping. - Yes. Brougham carriages.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39These were prestigious vehicles.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Henry's business was, was definitely on the...
0:12:41 > 0:12:42- Yeah.- ..on the up.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- What would they cost, these? - I mean, you're...
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- You're probably looking at, at stretch limo...- Yeah.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49- ..money. I mean this... - Right.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52..this would be the Bentley Continental.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Oh, he's obviously doing well, I would say.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56- So that's all good. - Yeah.
0:12:56 > 0:13:02He was also a Jobbed Master, someone who would hire out horses by
0:13:02 > 0:13:06themselves or horses and carriages and a coachman and a groom.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07This is a big business.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08This is a big business.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Colin has brought with him a replica stagecoach, from the period
0:13:14 > 0:13:18when Henry Hamblion was running his carriage business.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20And here is your coach Nigel.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23This would have been coming through Colchester every day.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27So how many people does this, erm, this fit?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29We would have four people in here.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Today it is driven by a coachman with a brakeman, two grooms
0:13:33 > 0:13:35and Colin, the guard.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36And this one goes here.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39Oh, I got that.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41- No time.- Good, so here we are.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48HE PLAYS HORN
0:13:59 > 0:14:00That means we're going.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02- That means start.- Start.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07And there were various standard calls that the guard would blow
0:14:07 > 0:14:10to indicate to other road users what the coach is doing.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16So, we can blow
0:14:16 > 0:14:18and clear the road.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19OK.
0:14:22 > 0:14:23Clear the road.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26HE BLOWS HORN
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Isn't that great, isn't that fantastic? I love that.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35You might release that as a CD.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40- CD.- Yeah. And we've cleared, you've cleared the road all right, I can tell,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42look, there's nobody there at all.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43They're terrified.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47I feel very at home here actually, I do.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58By 1844, Henry Hamblion and his brother Jeremiah were hiring
0:14:58 > 0:15:01out a range of vehicles from their central Colchester stables.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06Including small fast cabs operating from the centre of town, a large
0:15:06 > 0:15:11omnibus and smart carriages serving the upper classes of Colchester.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18Nigel is meeting local historian, Patrick Denny, to find
0:15:18 > 0:15:21out where Henry and Jeremiah plied their trade.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24So...this is the high street.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26This is the ancient high street.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29So what was Colchester really like in that period?
0:15:29 > 0:15:32This is probably one of the earliest photographs we've got, it's
0:15:32 > 0:15:34- dating about 1858. - Yeah.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38The livestock market is still in the high street.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41All the stalls, the fish stalls as far as the eye can see.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44And, and the carriages outside the fire offices where all
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- the Hackney carriages used to stand. - Yeah.- That could be one of Henry's...
0:15:47 > 0:15:49- Yeah.- ..carriages standing there.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Colchester was an increasingly prosperous town in the 1840's,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57with a thriving corn market and emerging clothing industry.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03In 1843, a new railway station had been built providing Henry
0:16:03 > 0:16:05and Jeremiah with new business.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10Transporting ever more passengers from the station to the town.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13So they've got a lot of expensive carriages, horses,
0:16:13 > 0:16:14wealthy passengers
0:16:14 > 0:16:18and there was always a threat of people operating on the wrong side of the law, erm...
0:16:18 > 0:16:19Yes. ..stealing from him.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Got a few newspaper cuttings here, one from The Ipswich Journal.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33It says "Highway robbery at Mile End."
0:16:33 > 0:16:36God, you know I never thought of highway robbery,
0:16:36 > 0:16:38I always think of that as being much, earlier...
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- Earlier on.- Yes.- Yeah this is, this is during Henry's time.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46"A daring highway robbery was perpetrated on the Mile End Road,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48"two miles from the town, early on Thursday morning.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50"Daniel Underwood, in the service of
0:16:50 > 0:16:52"Mr Henry Hamblion..." Here he is.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53There he is, yeah.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57"A short distance from the Dog and Pheasant public-house,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59"a man stopped the horses whilst another
0:16:59 > 0:17:03"jumped on the box of the vehicle and knocked the driver from his seat.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"They made off with only the driver's hat and silver mounted whip,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08- "worth 15 shillings." - Yes.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10That's a lot of money then?
0:17:10 > 0:17:12That is, 15 shillings. We've got another one actually.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17"On Thursday the 23rd, a man hired a horse
0:17:17 > 0:17:19"and gig at the stables of Messrs Hamblion..."
0:17:19 > 0:17:20There we are.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25"..of this town, under pretence of going to Bentley in Suffolk,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27"but instead of which he was seen soon afterwards driving
0:17:27 > 0:17:32"in the opposite direction and was traced to Braintree; and
0:17:32 > 0:17:36"neither the individual nor the horse and gig has since been heard of.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38"A reward is offered for his apprehension."
0:17:38 > 0:17:40But this is a worry for
0:17:40 > 0:17:41- Henry isn't it, I mean... - Yeah.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44..his reputation is at stake in terms of people thinking,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46well, do we go with him,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- he's been burgled, maybe we... - That's right.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- And if it happens too often of course his business could be at risk.- Yeah.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- Er, totally.- So this is a serious thing.- I think so, yes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01To find out how Henry protected his business,
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Nigel's meeting 19th century crime expert, Professor Peter King.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Peter, er,
0:18:10 > 0:18:15I'm aware that my ancestor, Henry Hamblion, erm,
0:18:15 > 0:18:19had had some trouble with highway robbery and other crimes.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21How, how could you deal with that, how could you prevent these
0:18:21 > 0:18:24things happening because it could be very serious?
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Well, that's why we've brought you here.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31Er, because the association that helped to solve that problem
0:18:31 > 0:18:33their records are here in this solicitor's office,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35- so let's have a look. - OK.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37Here we've got the, erm, minute book,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40this is of the Colchester Association.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42"At the annual meeting of the members of the Colchester
0:18:42 > 0:18:48"Association held at the Town Hall, Colchester on Tuesday 5th May 1846."
0:18:48 > 0:18:53"After dinner at the 3 Cups Hotel,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56"the following new subscribers were elected."
0:19:01 > 0:19:02There he is.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- Henry Hamblion. So he's now part of this...- Yeah.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07- ..Colchester Association. - He, his brother,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10his brother Jeremiah joined a couple of years later.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11Right.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14So they were... the partners were both in there.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18We've got a poster here from just a few years earlier, 1842.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Oh, this is a little bit before my ancestor joined.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22Yes, yes.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24A fantastic poster.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27"Subscribers to the Colchester Association for the protection
0:19:27 > 0:19:31"of property and the prosecution of housebreakers and thieves."
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Yeah, it was called 'The Thieves Association',
0:19:33 > 0:19:35interestingly, so Henry has just joined
0:19:35 > 0:19:37the thieves in fact. And...
0:19:37 > 0:19:41It says here, "No trouble or expense will be spared in detecting
0:19:41 > 0:19:44"offenders and bringing them to justice."
0:19:44 > 0:19:46And look, and look, the Mayor's involved.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49- Yeah, the Mayor, the big noises are probably in there.- Yeah.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- Including the MP. - Oh, yes.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53And a couple of MD's.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57They were lawyers, tradesmen, shopkeepers,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00the classic middle and upper middle class, you know.
0:20:00 > 0:20:01This is a voluntary association,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05they create a communal fund from which they can then, er...
0:20:05 > 0:20:07- Protect themselves. - ..can be used. Yeah...
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Can they arrest people themselves, can they go up and...?
0:20:09 > 0:20:12No, no, they can't, they have to use the existing police force
0:20:12 > 0:20:17and the policing of the, of the town is still very rudimentary.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Modern policing was in its infancy in the 1840's.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24And it wasn't until 1856 that a nationally-funded
0:20:24 > 0:20:28and government-regulated police force was introduced.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32Before this, associations like 'The Thieves', could pay local
0:20:32 > 0:20:36officers to prioritise their cases and pursue criminals.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40By joining 'The Thieves', Henry was not only eligible for these
0:20:40 > 0:20:45privileges, he also gained the kudos of being part of Colchester's
0:20:45 > 0:20:46business establishment.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50So, he's sort of making it now, isn't he? He's got
0:20:50 > 0:20:53a good business going, he's enough money to join the association
0:20:53 > 0:20:56with, along with all these, you know, respected people.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58His brother-in-law.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00So the two of them are really, you know,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02basically, they're going up in the world, aren't they?
0:21:02 > 0:21:04And four years after they joined 'The Thieves',
0:21:04 > 0:21:07something else happens which has an interesting turn of events.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11"Notice is hereby given, that the
0:21:11 > 0:21:14"Partnership subsisting between Henry Hamblion
0:21:14 > 0:21:19"and Jeremiah Hamblion is this, this day dissolved by mutual consent."
0:21:19 > 0:21:21- May 9th 1850. - And...
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Which means that Jeremiah is no longer part of the business?
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- I wonder why?- We've got a couple of clues we'd like to show you.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30- Oh, I see.- And this is from The Essex Standard...
0:21:30 > 0:21:32- Yes, I know The Essex Standard, yes. - The local rag.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35"Charge of furious driving." oh, God!
0:21:35 > 0:21:39- "Against Jeremiah Hamblion." Right. - Hm.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43"William Dines was driving a fresh broken colt on the Lexden Road
0:21:43 > 0:21:45- "accompanied by a complainant." - By the complainant.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48"When they were followed for some distance by a van."
0:21:48 > 0:21:49By a van?
0:21:49 > 0:21:52"Driven by the defendant, who ultimately passed the other
0:21:52 > 0:21:57"vehicle and as it was alleged, he hallooed, he hallooed
0:21:57 > 0:22:00"so as to cause the colt to take fright and become reactive..."
0:22:00 > 0:22:01Now that's not good, is it?
0:22:01 > 0:22:04So he's obviously, you know, he's a bit of a lad, this guy.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06There's a bit of road rage going on here. Oh, yeah.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09And we have another document suggesting that Jeremiah was
0:22:09 > 0:22:11quite capable of hitting the news more than once.
0:22:12 > 0:22:17Oh, God, er, "County Court October 13th. Action for wilful damage.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20"Sarah Mills, fish dealer, versus Jeremiah Hamblion.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23"The plaintiff stated that she was keeping an oyster
0:22:23 > 0:22:27"stall in the fish market when Mr Hamblion, who had
0:22:27 > 0:22:31"plenty of room to pass, drove against her stall and upset it."
0:22:31 > 0:22:33HE LAUGHS
0:22:33 > 0:22:34Oh!
0:22:34 > 0:22:37"She cried out, for God's sake, you'll kill me,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40"as the shafts of the barrow" I don't know why I'm laughing.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42"struck her leg, but Mr Hamblion,
0:22:42 > 0:22:45"making use of some abusive language,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49"said, he didn't care what he did and took no notice of her.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52"Her leg was badly injured and being in the family way..."
0:22:52 > 0:22:56- Yeah, she was pregnant as well. - I don't know why I'm laughing, He's a bit of a lad, isn't he?
0:22:56 > 0:22:59It's a pregnant woman and he's taking her out... he's taking her out.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Having looked at this, I mean you're an expert at this,
0:23:01 > 0:23:03do you think that's why they sort of split up?
0:23:03 > 0:23:07If you got a, a furious driving brother and you're running
0:23:07 > 0:23:10a company like this, it's not going to do your reputation very much good.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I was intrigued by it, the problem Henry had with, with er,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17his brother.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21But I think it's right that Henry decided that maybe he should go
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and do something else.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25So now he's lost his business partner, erm,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28where does that leave him?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Nigel is meeting business historian,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Dr Terry Gourvish at 15 Queen Street.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37A house in front of the site that was formerly Henry Hamblin's
0:23:37 > 0:23:38livery stables.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41So far I know that, erm, Henry...
0:23:41 > 0:23:44- Um-hmm. - ..has gone it on his own.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I'd like to know what happens next.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48- OK, well, right, well that was in 1850 I think...- Hm.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and this is the 1851 census.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Right.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57And so we've got, we've got Henry here, who's head of the house at 37.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00- Er, and it says Inn Keeper. - Hm.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05What, what happened to the, erm, the horses and stables?
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Oh, I think he kept those.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09Oh, so he's really doing, doing well indeed, isn't he?
0:24:09 > 0:24:10Yes, it's a diversification.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Fantastic, good for him. Elizabeth, wife.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Yes.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20Rosanna, daughter, aged 12.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23- And, and it says she has an occupation at 12 of...- It's crossed out.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26It's been crossed out, but it does actually say barmaid.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Barmaid.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Barmaid.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Right, would you, do you fancy a pint.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36All that going on, she's a proper, behind the bar at 12?
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Yes well, that wasn't uncommon...
0:24:38 > 0:24:40in 1851.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42OK. Elizabeth, daughter.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45- Now Elizabeth, erm, I've seen a photograph of her.- Oh, right.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- My uncle Tony, who's 95, showed me this...- Oh!
0:24:48 > 0:24:49..very grand lady sitting,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52looking like a miniature Queen Victoria, very, very grand.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55So that's her there, aged 10.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56In the Brewers Arms.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59In the Brewers Arms. She wouldn't have told many people that.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01- I'm not sure she would. - No he's doing fine.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02He is doing fine, yes that's right.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04- He's diversifying, that's great isn't it?- Yes.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07I mean, that's what people should do. And then...
0:25:07 > 0:25:08You've got something else here?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Well, this is, they have to go forward some years.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13"October 5th 1864."
0:25:13 > 0:25:17So a "Mr Henry Hamblion begs to inform the public he's taken
0:25:17 > 0:25:20"the business of Railway and General Carrying."
0:25:20 > 0:25:23So that means he's taken over a different sort of business?
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Indeed so.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27And not carrying the public, carrying...
0:25:27 > 0:25:30- Carrying goods, yes...- Goods. - ..merchandise.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Er, and taking it to the railway station.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38The rail network expanded even further in the 1860's.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41With over 4,000 miles of new track.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Money could be make ferrying goods to and from the station
0:25:44 > 0:25:45and around town.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50By adding general carrying to his other businesses,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Henry would be competing with established
0:25:52 > 0:25:55firms like Pickford's for lucrative contracts with the railways.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59He's making loads of money, doing really well.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- Yes, so we might think. - Yeah.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05However, er, I have this document to show you.
0:26:05 > 0:26:06Right.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08And this is barely two years later.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Erm, "Henry Hamblion, of
0:26:10 > 0:26:12"Colchester, in the county of Essex, licensed victualler
0:26:12 > 0:26:17"and late a Common Carrier, and livery stable keeper,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19"having been adjudged bankrupt."
0:26:19 > 0:26:21Oh, right.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24So he's gone, he's gone bust.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Yes, yes within two years of acquiring that carrying business.
0:26:30 > 0:26:31Oh, dear.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Well, it was, it was all going so well, he was expanding.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Becoming more of an entrepreneur.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45And then he hit me with this bombshell that,
0:26:45 > 0:26:50that he'd gone bankrupt a few, literally a few years later.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55And...it was a real hammer blow.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58And I've got to find out why, what happened.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00How this big business has just gone down the tubes.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Nigel has come to meet bankruptcy expert, Dr Katherine McMillan.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10Katherine, thank you so much for seeing me.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12- Hello.- Nice to meet you.- Nice to meet you.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Oh, now, first of all, how bad was it to go bankrupt in 1860,
0:27:17 > 0:27:18whatever it was?
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- From a social perspective... - Hm.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25..a respected man like Henry, this is, attracts a huge moral stigma.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27And it's a huge reverse for this man.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29So what happens to you, basically?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32This is a report from The Essex Standard.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34The Essex Standard, it comes up a lot.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38OK, this is about Hamblion, Colchester.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41"Who came to the court on his own petition on the 20th October
0:27:41 > 0:27:45"last, attributing his failure to, losses in business."
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Something has gone wrong in the common carrier business.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Yes, you know, I mean it, there was something about,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56he knew how to run the yard and, and the horses and the carriages,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58but suddenly he wanted to branch out.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Maybe that's what happened?
0:28:00 > 0:28:02That may well have been too much.
0:28:02 > 0:28:03- He didn't know that business. - Yes.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Too much competition?
0:28:05 > 0:28:07It's entirely possible. It's a competitive industry.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11So "losses in business and my having some surety for my son-in-law."
0:28:11 > 0:28:13So who is this son-in-law?
0:28:13 > 0:28:18Well, we answer that by looking at this, er, marriage certificate.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Here's Henry's daughter, her name is Rosina,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27I know on the census I saw, she was described as a barmaid.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Yes.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31- She grew up quite fast, this girl. - Yes.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Marrying John Hum. He's a builder.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38And in acting as a surety,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41what Henry was doing was assuming a liability.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44- He's a guarantor, basically? - It's a form of guarantor.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49By acting as a surety for John Hum, Henry was not only liable for
0:28:49 > 0:28:53his own business debts, but also for a large part of his son-in-law's.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59John has problems shortly before, erm,
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Henry has filed his own petition for bankruptcy.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06- Oh, this is in August.- Yes. - Whereas that was in October.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07"So John F Hum,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10"builder of Colchester was brought up from the county gaol."
0:29:10 > 0:29:11Yes.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13"As a prisoner for debt."
0:29:14 > 0:29:18Right, so he's been sent down for not paying his debt?
0:29:18 > 0:29:19Yes.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Now John Hum, I presume he's going to have children?
0:29:22 > 0:29:25John does have children at this point, erm...
0:29:25 > 0:29:31Ah now, that'll be one reason why my ancestor was keen to make
0:29:31 > 0:29:34- sure that he didn't get into, you know...- Yes.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37..was a, acted as, as a surety for him.
0:29:37 > 0:29:38Yes, yes.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Because he was protecting his, his eldest daughter.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44- Would be very natural for a father to step in...- Absolutely.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46..in those circumstances to assist his daughter
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and to assist his grandchildren.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52The collapse of his own business and his attempt to
0:29:52 > 0:29:56cover his builder son-in-law's debts led to Henry's ruin.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01But unlike John Hum, Henry avoided prison by voluntarily
0:30:01 > 0:30:04filing for bankruptcy and declaring all his debts.
0:30:06 > 0:30:12We have a final, erm, entry here, erm,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15in the Court of Bankruptcy.
0:30:15 > 0:30:16"Re Henry Hamblion.
0:30:16 > 0:30:23"The bankrupt, he can't show creditors holding security, £8,460."
0:30:23 > 0:30:26- Yes. That's an enormous sum. - Yeah.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29It's equivalent probably to about £2.5 million today.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Henry handed over his considerable fortune in an attempt to pay off
0:30:35 > 0:30:40his debts, which amounted to more than £2.5 million in today's money.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41What a shame
0:30:41 > 0:30:46to build all this up and then have it all go so horribly wrong.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49Hm, what a shame, eh?
0:30:54 > 0:30:58I'm sort of shattered by Henry's downfall, to be honest.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Erm, and just that, the amount of money that was involved in this.
0:31:09 > 0:31:10Nigel has gone online to see
0:31:10 > 0:31:14if he can discover what happened to Henry after his bankruptcy.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Hang on, let's just go to the top,
0:31:21 > 0:31:25this is from The Essex Standard, Friday 17th February 1871.
0:31:25 > 0:31:31So, we've now gone on, '66, '67, four years later.
0:31:32 > 0:31:39Right..."The Provident Asylum Society, a special meeting of the
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"members of this useful institution, the next business was to consider
0:31:42 > 0:31:47"the claim of Mr Henry Hamblion, be admitted on the Foundation to
0:31:47 > 0:31:50"receive the usual benefits, much commiseration was shown towards Mr
0:31:50 > 0:31:54"Hamblion in his present affliction, was unanimously elected."
0:31:58 > 0:32:02What does that mean in Victorian times? Provident Asylum Society.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06well, I know, there are two things,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09it might be that his affliction is that he's still got no money, but
0:32:09 > 0:32:13er, commiseration shown towards his present affliction, maybe there's
0:32:13 > 0:32:17something actually gone wrong with him, this is driving him a bit mad.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19The first priority is to find out what happened to Henry, er,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21also I need to find out what happened to my ancestor,
0:32:21 > 0:32:27Elizabeth, who must be, she was 10 in 51, she must be in her 20's.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Nigel hopes that local historian, Andrew Phillips, can help him
0:32:33 > 0:32:36make sense of Henry's circumstances.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38- This is from The Essex Standard. - Uh-huh.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40Er, your local paper.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44I need you to tell me what the Provident Asylum Society is?
0:32:44 > 0:32:50The Provident Asylum Society was set up for people of business
0:32:50 > 0:32:56and professional people to, er, pay an annual
0:32:56 > 0:33:01subscription against the possibility that disaster might come their way.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04So a little security. So you do this in case your...
0:33:04 > 0:33:05- Oh, absolutely. - ..business fails.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08And Henry was bright enough to think,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11- "Just in case this goes wrong, I'm going to pay into this."- That's right.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16OK. He had the foresight to anticipate, and to cover himself.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22He was now eligible to the usual benefits and they weren't nothing
0:33:22 > 0:33:27because behind us stands, in fact, the Provident Asylum Society.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Oh, wow, it's very attractive houses.
0:33:29 > 0:33:30Indeed.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32So he has a roof over his head.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38Self help societies were common in Victorian England.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42There was no welfare state, and if a family fell on hard times,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45it risked ending up in the workhouse.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48But prudent businessmen like Henry could pay into a private
0:33:48 > 0:33:51fund like the Provident Asylum Society,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55ensuring him against poverty and homelessness.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57- He's doing fine. - Yes, he's doing great.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I mean, he could start again, you know, he could start another business.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Yes, but hang on, they were sympathising with his affliction.
0:34:03 > 0:34:04Yes.
0:34:04 > 0:34:05What does that suggest to you?
0:34:05 > 0:34:07That he might not be very well.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16- Oh, dear, oh, dear. Er, it's a death certificate.- Uh-huh.
0:34:16 > 0:34:231871...let me just, one second, let me just look at this.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26This was February 17th 1871.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32March, so a month later he dies of, it says here, er,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37the cause of death, "diseased heart certified."
0:34:37 > 0:34:41- So he had a heart attack in other words, probably.- Probably.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42So the probability is he
0:34:42 > 0:34:46was packing up almost to move in and had a...
0:34:46 > 0:34:47Yeah.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50- Oh, dear. He never made it.- What about the family?
0:34:50 > 0:34:54- Ah!- Does he say?- The small print. Here we are, rule 12.
0:34:54 > 0:34:55Ah, "Widows of Members.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59"In the event of the death of a Member of the Foundation,
0:34:59 > 0:35:01"who was a married man at the time of his admission,
0:35:01 > 0:35:06"his widow shall continue to reside in the house, rent and tax free."
0:35:06 > 0:35:09- Oh, that's good, so he was really smart, wasn't he?- Yeah.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11- He put aside and paid for this... - Yeah.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13..in case something happened and,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16and show what a wonderful man he was in many, many ways.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18But tell me, I really want to know what happened to my,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21my direct ancestor, Elizabeth junior, so to speak.
0:35:21 > 0:35:22I know.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26But I last came across her, she was, erm, 10 years old.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30We roll forward a further ten years to 1881.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35- Yeah.- And I have here, a copy of the census.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Oh, here's a man called George Buckingham.
0:35:39 > 0:35:40- And...- Elizabeth.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44He's a shoe manufacturer.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46Was does that say, I can't see what that says?
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Employing...
0:35:48 > 0:35:5050 men. Oh, he's a big... big time.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53That's a significant size shoe factory.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55Oh, we've got to where Elizabeth is married to Buckingham.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- Yeah.- My uncle Tony...- Yeah.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03..went and had lunch, when he was six, with those two.
0:36:03 > 0:36:04- Really?- Yes.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09And so we've, we've now come... the whole circle has now joined up.
0:36:09 > 0:36:10The circle of life.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13But, erm, it occurs to me,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16behind us, erm, Henry's wife, Elizabeth is still living here.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- That's right. - So...
0:36:18 > 0:36:21And, and she lived long after his death.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23To the age of 79.
0:36:23 > 0:36:24Oh, wow, that's good.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28And she died in this house, er, 1892.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33And she was buried with him in Colchester Cemetery.
0:36:33 > 0:36:34Ah!
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Oh, look at this.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58"In memory of Henry Hamblion, who died March 17th 1871,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00"aged 56 years."
0:37:02 > 0:37:04"Also of Elizabeth Hamblion."
0:37:05 > 0:37:11"Wife of the above, died December 28th 1892, aged 79."
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Well...they're together.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22And here we are in, in Henry's graveyard, having gone through,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25you know, such hard times himself.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26Losing all his fortune...
0:37:28 > 0:37:33..but caring for his family and then dying suddenly at 56 years old.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34Hard, really.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39When Uncle Tony showed me
0:37:39 > 0:37:43that picture of Elizabeth, Henry's daughter,
0:37:43 > 0:37:48looking like a sort of copy of Queen Victoria, erm, I wondered
0:37:48 > 0:37:51what sort of a woman she was and where she'd come from.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53And now that I know,
0:37:53 > 0:37:57she must have watched her father go through the ups and downs of life.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00She wasn't from a great money or titled background,
0:38:00 > 0:38:01she'd grown up the hard way.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06I'll look at that photograph again and I'll see a woman who's,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08you know, survived all that.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Having explored his father's ancestry,
0:38:18 > 0:38:20Nigel is turning to his mother's side.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24His mother Carol has a sister, Amanda, who lives in Hertfordshire.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Now we're off to see my Auntie Amanda, Amanda Lay.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35I don't know what she knows about my family history, I have no idea.
0:38:37 > 0:38:43But I know from experience that, that she's very, erm,
0:38:43 > 0:38:45up for a lark, as they say.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49My mother's side of the family is a complete mystery to me
0:38:49 > 0:38:51and this is a whole section of the family I really
0:38:51 > 0:38:53know nothing about.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Nigel has arranged to meet his aunt, Amanda Lay, at her local pub.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Auntie Mans, as I live and breathe.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08Hello.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10SHE LAUGHS
0:39:10 > 0:39:14- Lovely to see you. - Well, it is.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17Who'd ever believe we'd be sitting in a pub talking about, well...
0:39:17 > 0:39:18Family.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21..family. Are we posh, or not really?
0:39:21 > 0:39:22- No.- No.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25She said defensively. No.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28I just wanted to know, that's all?
0:39:28 > 0:39:30- I do know that, that is a photograph...- Yes.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32..of my grandfather, who of course I never met.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34Whose name was?
0:39:34 > 0:39:35- Stuart...- Stuart.- ..Charles Lay.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Stuart Charles Lay.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39I was told that he worked in the city.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45That isn't actually true, he worked, erm, he owned a laundry.
0:39:45 > 0:39:46He owned a laundry?
0:39:46 > 0:39:49- Yes. And... - He owned a laundry.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50It must have been quite a profitable laundry?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52- It, I think it was. - OK.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56But you definitely know this person because, er, that was his wife.
0:39:56 > 0:39:57My grandmother.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02That is grandma. And er, she was Irene Wackett.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04I never knew that. Wackett.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06Wackett.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08You say that with such relish, you like that?
0:40:08 > 0:40:10- So, Wackett.- Yes.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13- And she looks fantastic. - I don't tell many people that.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14No, no, I don't suppose you do.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16- And I'm not going to tell many people myself.- Good.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18- I'll keep quiet about that.- Yes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Erm, she looks fantastic here, though. She's very, very elegant.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25- She's a model, really.- She was really fortunate
0:40:25 > 0:40:27cos you can see why I take after, that side.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28THEY LAUGH
0:40:31 > 0:40:33No, you don't, you're gorgeous.
0:40:33 > 0:40:35No, look, OK.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41So, that is Elizabeth, who was, erm, her mother.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44So that's my great grandmother.
0:40:44 > 0:40:45Hm.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46She looks quite stern.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48And she was born in Cornwall.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51- So this is Elizabeth Wackett, but... - Right.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53..but what was her maiden name?
0:40:53 > 0:40:55Couch.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57- Now we have someone. - And now yes, this is...
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Could have been, she could have been...
0:40:59 > 0:41:03..my, my great grandmother, so your great-great-grandmother
0:41:03 > 0:41:06and she was, er, Maria Caroline.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08- Hm.- Couch.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10She looks very kind.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13She was married to somebody called David Couch.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Who was a miller in Cornwall.
0:41:16 > 0:41:22Here, this photo is of Jonathan Couch, who was his twin brother.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24I don't know whether they were identical twins, you know,
0:41:24 > 0:41:26maybe they were a little bit alike.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32Nigel has discovered that his great-great-grandfather,
0:41:32 > 0:41:34David Couch, was a flour miller in Cornwall.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39His twin brother Jonathan lived in the same hamlet,
0:41:39 > 0:41:40known as Couch's Mill.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46And here we have a picture of the house.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49- A lovely house.- Yes.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52I wouldn't mind that myself. What about the dates?
0:41:52 > 0:41:54Are the dates in here somewhere?
0:41:54 > 0:42:00Yes, on here is the, erm, this is the 1851 census.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04It's on this page where David must be. Here.
0:42:04 > 0:42:05David...
0:42:05 > 0:42:07His father was called John Couch.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12Right, so here's John Couch, he's head of the house, male, man,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14- and he's, he was the miller and then there's...- Yes.
0:42:14 > 0:42:20..David, son, who was 28, he was the, the millwright.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26Jonathan Couch, he's the blacksmith.
0:42:27 > 0:42:33Jonathan was the blacksmith but later became the miller.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37- So, so here, so the mill didn't pass down to David's children?- No.
0:42:37 > 0:42:38It went sideways to...
0:42:38 > 0:42:41It, it did. David did take over for a time.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- So what happened there? - I, I don't know.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46- We would have had a mill. - Yes. Hm.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51- We would have had this mill. - You could have been the proud owner of Couch's Mill, the whole area.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53- It's such a pretty house. - Yes.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Well, I'm really intrigued, this village with the,
0:42:57 > 0:43:04the blacksmith and the miller and, I'm just... Can't wait to get there.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11Auntie Amanda told me yesterday that my ancestors,
0:43:11 > 0:43:17specifically David Couch were in Cornwall, so I've gone west.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I have a sneaky suspicion that something odd happens to him,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23because his twin brother, Jonathan, the mill went to him,
0:43:23 > 0:43:28so I just want to know what happened to David really, so...
0:43:29 > 0:43:32I don't know what to expect actually, I have no idea.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38Couch's Mill is on the Boconnoc Estate in Cornwall.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40In the 1850's, the mill was one of many
0:43:40 > 0:43:43tenanted properties owned by the Fortescue family,
0:43:43 > 0:43:44who lived at the main house.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Historian Dr Catherine Lorigan is showing Nigel the way to the mill.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56I think we're getting near, aren't we?
0:43:56 > 0:43:58Yes, just coming down into the hamlet.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06That's it, isn't it?
0:44:06 > 0:44:08It is. That's the scene.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10- Nothing really has changed. - No.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13There's the path, quite modest when I get close up to it.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Yes. That's interesting to see, isn't it?
0:44:16 > 0:44:17Charming to be here.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21I'm beginning to sound like Prince Charles, you know, so modest and...
0:44:21 > 0:44:25- Shall we go and have a look inside? - Yeah. I'll follow you.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32And down, mind the steps.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45So we are in the mill.
0:44:45 > 0:44:46We are.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52It's nearly like just someone just left one day.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Yes, they'd just gone.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57It hasn't been worked since the 1920s, I think.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04As the millwright, the job of David,
0:45:04 > 0:45:09Nigel's great-great-grandfather, was to maintain the mill's equipment,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11working alongside his father, John.
0:45:12 > 0:45:13His twin brother
0:45:13 > 0:45:16Jonathan worked as a blacksmith in the same hamlet.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21So just to remind myself, you've got...
0:45:21 > 0:45:23- Yes.- ..John Couch, who's the head.
0:45:23 > 0:45:25- That's right.- Head man.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28He's the man, yes head of household, he was the miller.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30He was 62, so, but he was a fit 62 I bet?
0:45:30 > 0:45:32- Yes, yes. Well... - Just like me.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34A lot of them didn't...
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Then there's more over here...
0:45:36 > 0:45:41Then there's Ann Bryant, and she was a house servant working for...
0:45:41 > 0:45:43- With the wife. - ..for, for mum.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46- And then two servants actually working in the mill as well so... - Ah!
0:45:46 > 0:45:48..it's actually quite a big household, eight people...
0:45:48 > 0:45:50- Oh! - ..all living in that.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53- Yeah that's a bit of a squeeze, I would have thought?- Yes.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55- Sharing bedrooms and stuff. - Yes, I would have thought so.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59- That's a lot of people in this space. - It is quite a lot of people.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03I now know where my direct ancestor lived, right here.
0:46:03 > 0:46:05And I know that, you know,
0:46:05 > 0:46:09these things get passed down naturally, and I would
0:46:09 > 0:46:13have thought that David was going to inherit the business
0:46:13 > 0:46:19and continue it and evidently something goes wrong, or...
0:46:21 > 0:46:22I don't know what's happened.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24But I've got to find that out.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33Nigel is going online at Boconnoc House to search for any
0:46:33 > 0:46:35information about his great-great-grandfather.
0:46:39 > 0:46:40David.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49Couch. See if we can find any reference in a newspaper.
0:46:49 > 0:46:50Let's search that.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59Something that says, Bryant versus David Couch, hang on a minute,
0:46:59 > 0:47:00Bryant.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08There was someone in the... Ann Bryant, house servant.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14Hang on a minute, right. Now, I'm going to magnify this.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23"Trecan Gate Petty Sessions, 6th April.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27"Ann Bryant versus David Couch of Boconnoc, affiliation order made..."
0:47:28 > 0:47:29Affiliation order.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33I don't know what that means.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37"An affiliation order made for five shillings per week for six
0:47:37 > 0:47:39"weeks, midwife, Mr..."
0:47:40 > 0:47:45What's this, so something happened here, did she have a baby?
0:47:45 > 0:47:47Is that what happened? They...
0:47:48 > 0:47:49He, he, erm...
0:47:55 > 0:47:58So, it looks like, what it looks like is they had an affair.
0:47:58 > 0:48:05He had an affair with the servant girl
0:48:05 > 0:48:06and made her pregnant.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11He just couldn't resist it.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13A bit of a cad, really!
0:48:13 > 0:48:15HE LAUGHS
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Oh, dear. I've been playing those sort of parts for years.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25David Couch, you naughty boy.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Nigel hopes that social historian, Dr Tom Nutt, can shed some light
0:48:36 > 0:48:40on his great-great-grandfather's affair with the family servant.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44And what I've discovered is that my great-great-grandfather,
0:48:44 > 0:48:50David Couch managed to get the, er, house servant pregnant.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Now, what is an affiliation order?
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Affiliation is the legal process for dealing with illegitimate children.
0:48:57 > 0:48:58Right.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02Firstly, determining the paternity of the child,
0:49:02 > 0:49:05and then the second step is a maintenance order.
0:49:05 > 0:49:09- Right.- That is, er, putting the father,
0:49:09 > 0:49:13David Couch, erm, under an order to pay two shillings and six pence,
0:49:13 > 0:49:15in this case for maintenance.
0:49:15 > 0:49:21It says on Friday, April 15th 1853, at the Trecan Gate Petty Sessions.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23What, what would they be?
0:49:23 > 0:49:24Well, the Petty Sessions, er,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28- was what we would now think of as the magistrate's court.- Ah!
0:49:29 > 0:49:33In 1853, according to the laws of the time, the onus
0:49:33 > 0:49:37was on 19-year-old servant girl, Ann Bryant, to stand up in court
0:49:37 > 0:49:41and prove her child's father was the boss's son, David Couch.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45How could Ann Bryant prove
0:49:45 > 0:49:49that David Couch was the father, I mean what,
0:49:49 > 0:49:52what evidence is required to do that?
0:49:52 > 0:49:56Ann probably would have brought in witnesses to the court, so...
0:49:56 > 0:49:58What, ie they'd seen us in bed together?
0:49:58 > 0:50:01Well, it could be in fact actually, erm, very often
0:50:01 > 0:50:05it'll be the woman's mother or father or even a brother or
0:50:05 > 0:50:09sister who might say that they'd seen them walking out together.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11So this actually proves...
0:50:11 > 0:50:15Ann Bryant has proved... that the child is...
0:50:15 > 0:50:19- David's.- ..is David's.- That's right. - That's basically what this does?
0:50:19 > 0:50:20That's what it does.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23So, erm, what happened to the child?
0:50:23 > 0:50:26Another certificate which I can show you.
0:50:26 > 0:50:27- Yeah.- And...
0:50:30 > 0:50:33Oh, dear. This is a death certificate.
0:50:35 > 0:50:43So, on the 15th of March 1854, a year and a month later,
0:50:43 > 0:50:47inflammation of the chest is the reason, the cause of death.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52Sadly, erm, deaths in infancy were very, very common.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54Eleanor Couch Bryant.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Heavens above, she's got the word Couch in there.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00That meant that they'd got together, do you think?
0:51:00 > 0:51:04I wouldn't necessarily take that leap,
0:51:04 > 0:51:07but I think this, whatever the kind of relationship they had,
0:51:07 > 0:51:10was with recognition of the household, of the community.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Yeah, she'd been taken into the house, er...
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Yeah, when they come to register the death
0:51:15 > 0:51:17she's recorded as having the father's name.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27The image I build about David is that he's a hardworking man who
0:51:27 > 0:51:32had a fling, but he's not casting this girl and his child away.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37What I want to now to find out is what happened to David.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Aged 30, what happens to him?
0:51:40 > 0:51:41Very nice to meet you.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45Nigel is meeting family historian, Dr Joanne Bailey,
0:51:45 > 0:51:46at the Boconnoc Parish Church.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53Joanne, I know my great-great-grandfather, David Couch
0:51:53 > 0:51:58had a child, a daughter and very, very sadly little Eleanor died.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00- But I know nothing about what happened...- Yes.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04Well, we have a document that I can show you in 1862.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07- This is a decade later. - They were getting married.
0:52:07 > 0:52:08This was for a very happy reason, yes.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12Very happy, getting married. Erm, to Maria Caroline Collins.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14Yeah.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17He's about 38. Oh, she's a widow.
0:52:17 > 0:52:18Yes.
0:52:18 > 0:52:19And he's happy to take her
0:52:19 > 0:52:22and her two children from her first marriage.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24- Her two children. - Yes.
0:52:24 > 0:52:25Oh, that's a good choice.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28I mean, the other option would have been to marry a young woman.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31He's had experience of a woman much younger and it didn't go so well.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33He's showing some maturity, isn't he?
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Yes, he's being very sensible.
0:52:35 > 0:52:36Good for him.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41Over the next six years from 1862,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44David and Maria Couch went on to have three children,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47David Frederick, Elizabeth and Georgina.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53But in 1868, tragedy struck again.
0:52:53 > 0:52:55And this, so...
0:52:55 > 0:52:56- Georgina Mary...- Yes.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58- ..Couch died.- Yes.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01And was buried on March the 26th.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03- And she... - Aged 20 months.
0:53:03 > 0:53:08Yes. I have the, erm, death certificate here.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13Georgina Mary Couch, it says here,
0:53:13 > 0:53:20"Scald on the chest with white pot, lived two days, accidental death."
0:53:20 > 0:53:22So what does that mean? Chest with white pot?
0:53:22 > 0:53:25Well, white pots we think is a,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27a local dish that was made from milk or cream and it...
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Yeah.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32..looks like Georgina, who was toddling,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34has pulled the pan onto herself.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39- Yeah. So this is, oh, he's lost two daughters now.- Yes.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41- That must have been a shock. - Erm...
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Two days of hell, to live for two days, oh!
0:53:46 > 0:53:49In the second half of the 19th century in England, more than
0:53:49 > 0:53:53a quarter of children died before they reached their fifth birthday.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59But after Georgina's death, David's family continued to grow.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Have a look at the register of baptisms.
0:54:04 > 0:54:05OK.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11On March the 10th we have Georgina Mary, daughter of David
0:54:11 > 0:54:12and Maria Caro...
0:54:12 > 0:54:15hang on, but there's already been a Georgina.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18That's right, yes, erm...
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Right, so that means that, that they waited and she has another...
0:54:21 > 0:54:22Yes.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24- ..child, which happened to be a girl. - Yes.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28So, I can see now, in remembrance...
0:54:28 > 0:54:30- That's right.- ..of...- Of the...
0:54:30 > 0:54:32- ..Georgina.- ..first Georgina, yes.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35- Difficult, that's very sweet, isn't it?- Yes.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38So shall we have a look at, erm, the next census?
0:54:38 > 0:54:40Yes, that would be great. Yeah.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43This is 1871.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47David Couch. Oh, he's the head of the house now.
0:54:47 > 0:54:48Yes.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52He's a master miller. It's taken him some time but at 48 he's a man.
0:54:52 > 0:54:58Yes, his father John died in December 1864.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00- Right, so there's David, there as head.- Yes.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02- There's his wife, Maria. - Yes.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04- And then there's... - Frederick.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08Frederick, Caroline and Georgina, the two daughters, and so...
0:55:08 > 0:55:10- He made it there.- The line is now sort of forming and...
0:55:10 > 0:55:13- That's right, yes.- ..so I'm coming from somewhere now?- Yeah.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15And from somewhere rather nice it seems.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17Yes, it does seem that, that's good.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21But I know, I've seen records that in fact Jonathan took
0:55:21 > 0:55:22- the mill over...- Yes.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26..and I can't work out how that happens if you've got,
0:55:26 > 0:55:29- David, you know, successful... - Yes.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31..with his three children, what, what, how does that?
0:55:31 > 0:55:36Well, we can turn to the Estate Steward's Diary.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Er, and this is on the 17th.
0:55:39 > 0:55:40"A very busy...
0:55:40 > 0:55:47"Couch's Mill bridge. Poor David Couch died this day at 1:30pm."
0:55:47 > 0:55:49OK.
0:55:50 > 0:55:56Right. God! So, he didn't really make 50, did he?
0:55:56 > 0:55:58No, he's still 48 when he died.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04So, David's established himself, he's been, you know,
0:56:04 > 0:56:06- master in his own house... - Yes.
0:56:06 > 0:56:07Head of the house.
0:56:08 > 0:56:13And six years later he dies, where does that leave, er, his wife and children?
0:56:13 > 0:56:17Frederick is David and Maria's son, and he's still too young, really.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20Frederick couldn't run the mill, he's about five, wasn't he?
0:56:20 > 0:56:23Yes, so really there is no-one left.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29With none of David Couch's children old enough to take over,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32his widow Maria passed the mill to David's twin brother,
0:56:32 > 0:56:34Jonathan, who became the master miller.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38Not wishing to stay in the area,
0:56:38 > 0:56:43Maria left Cornwall altogether, taking the children with her, ending
0:56:43 > 0:56:47Nigel's direct ancestral connection to Cornwall and the mill.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55David Couch was buried in the parish graveyard near the mill.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04Oh, here we go, there's John Couch, that's his dad.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07So, I bet they're nearby.
0:57:07 > 0:57:08How about here?
0:57:10 > 0:57:13David Couch, here he is, here's my
0:57:13 > 0:57:16great-great-grandfather's gravestone.
0:57:18 > 0:57:24"Also of Georgina, the daughter." So, they're buried together.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Oh, that's really charming.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34They're together, which is how it should be.
0:57:36 > 0:57:37That's wonderful.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39There's one daughter that isn't named here,
0:57:39 > 0:57:45but, erm, he had out of wedlock and losing not one but two children
0:57:45 > 0:57:50is just such... Devastating, it must have been so devastating for him.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55I'm so glad that he, you know, got married and had more children,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57I know he died very young, really,
0:57:57 > 0:58:00but I feel that he had a good life, so I feel good about it.
0:58:04 > 0:58:09Discovering about my relations has been not only just emotionally
0:58:09 > 0:58:12moving for me, but also, I don't know whether I can say this, really,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14but I've always been you know, er,
0:58:14 > 0:58:16when I'm interviewed, you know, "You're such a posh actor,"
0:58:16 > 0:58:18the word "posh" always crops up.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21"You must be bored playing the same, you know, posh parts."
0:58:21 > 0:58:28Well, as it turns out, I'm no posher than anybody else, which is,
0:58:28 > 0:58:30which is fantastic.
0:58:30 > 0:58:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd