0:00:02 > 0:00:04Come, let's get a fox. Come on, let's get a fox.
0:00:05 > 0:00:10Actor Brian Blessed was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14in 1936, the son of a coalminer.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Today, he lives in Surrey with his wife and their many rescued animals.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20I love my name, Brian Blessed.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23It's the most perfect name - Brian Blessed - boom-boom.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I like it. Wouldn't exchange it for any name.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27But who are the Blesseds?
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Come on.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32It's not good enough just to know your mother and father
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and your granddad and this, that and the other.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37You want to know the whole root system.
0:00:41 > 0:00:42Zebra 2-1.
0:00:42 > 0:00:48Brian shot to fame in the early 1960s in the police drama Z Cars.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51He went on to star in further television series,
0:00:51 > 0:00:56theatre and films, famously playing Prince Valtan in Flash Gordon.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Recently, he's chaired the quiz Have I Got News For You.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I'm Brian Blessed! Yes, it's me!
0:01:02 > 0:01:04HE LAUGHS LOUDLY
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Also a passionate adventurer, he has made three attempts on Everest
0:01:09 > 0:01:13and is the oldest man to reach the Magnetic North Pole.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I'd always wanted to be an explorer or an actor.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Those are my two great loves in life.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22And I was determined to do it.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Hey, Misty, Misty.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28I'm going to find out about my family history.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32This is going to be an adventure, and I really am looking forward to it.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37I'm not looking for crowns and coronets and so forth,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and the glittering prizes, I'm looking for humanity.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44You know, on television, the greatest dramas are about ordinary people,
0:01:44 > 0:01:45ordinary relationships.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50That is where we learn so much. That has great meaning.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52And that's what I'm looking for.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29To start his journey,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Brian is heading back to South Yorkshire where he was born.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36I'm a Yorkshireman through and through,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and I think that Yorkshire people have a great sense of humour
0:02:39 > 0:02:43and therefore, I'm approaching this to a certain extent with humour,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46but I'm very serious about it as well.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Almost naive and full of faith.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I can't wait to get started.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59# The train goes running along the line, chickety-can, chickety-can
0:02:59 > 0:03:01# I wish it were mine I wish it were mine
0:03:01 > 0:03:04# Chickety-can, chickety-can, the engine driver stands in front
0:03:04 > 0:03:07# He makes it run, he makes it shunt, chickety-can, chickety-can
0:03:07 > 0:03:09# Chickety-can, chickety-can... #
0:03:09 > 0:03:10HE MIMICS TRAIN WHISTLE
0:03:10 > 0:03:12I find trains madly exciting.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15I can't comprehend the speed we're going at.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I mean... But it's taking me to my dreams, isn't it?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Well, the picture there, of course, there's my mother,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27looking very demure, and my father there,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and then that gorgeous-looking baby is me!
0:03:32 > 0:03:33Which is ridiculous!
0:03:33 > 0:03:34HE CHUCKLES
0:03:34 > 0:03:38I've got my grandfather from the Blessed side, with his wife,
0:03:38 > 0:03:39my grandmother Alice.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45My father and my grandfather were both coalminers.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48My grandfather started work at about 12 years of age,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51he was at Hickleton Main doing all the dynamite
0:03:51 > 0:03:56for blowing up the seams, and my father started in the mine
0:03:56 > 0:04:00just off Hickleton and he looked after all the ponies.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02And he was 13 years of age.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07So my father and grandfather were coalminers,
0:04:07 > 0:04:09but who begat my grandfather?
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Who was before that? Where did they live?
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Who were they? Were they coalminers?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17And my wise granddad - "Hello, Brian, lad,"
0:04:17 > 0:04:20wouldn't talk about anything about his predecessors,
0:04:20 > 0:04:21and that was frustrating.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Brian grew up near Doncaster.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31He's come back to start his search.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Well, I'm really excited because I'm going through Doncaster now
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and I know this scenery very well.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50I'm going to the Doncaster Archives to maybe learn a bit more
0:04:50 > 0:04:55about the Blesseds. How far the miners go back. Or were they miners?
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- Hi, Charles, nice to see you. - Welcome.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07- Have you found anything about the Blesseds?- I think I have.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- You have?!- Come through into the search room.- Oh, great. Great!
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Archivist Charles Kelham has been looking into the Blessed family tree.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18So here we are, Brian, the Blessed family line.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Here we have your grandfather, George William,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25your great-grandfather, George Jabez Blessed.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29And his father was Jabez Blessed who was born about 1817.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33My goodness me. What extra... Jabez Blessed.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37And his parents, we know, were Barnabas Blessed
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and Elizabeth Atkinson.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43Barnabas Blessed was married to Elizabeth Atkinson.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46Do you know anything about Barnabas Blessed?
0:05:46 > 0:05:48I mean, was he a coalminer?
0:05:48 > 0:05:52Ah, now. We happen to know that he was a bookbinder and stationer.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54- Never!- By trade, yes.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- He was a bookbinder and stationer? - Yes.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I used to do that at school, bookbinding and...
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Do we know anything more about them at all there, Charles?
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Well, we know from their marriage banns that they were
0:06:06 > 0:06:11married in 1801 at St Pancras Chapel in London.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13- In London?!- Yes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Extraordinary. St Pancras and that way. And a bookbinder.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20And his wife, a gentle trade, publishing.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I mean, definitely it's not kind of miners.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27- The coal-mining seems to have stopped and now we're into bookbinding.- Yes.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- But London! The south!- Mm.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Here we come!
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Brian now knows that his great-great-great-grandparents,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42Barnabas and Elizabeth Blessed, were married in 1801,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45not in Yorkshire, but in London.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52This has taken me by surprise, this one.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I didn't expect to be going back to London.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Which is, absolutely, a complete shock.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07I'm here at the back of King's Cross, St Pancras,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10all this noise, it's ridiculous.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12And I didn't know this church existed.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It's St Pancras Church and I believe this is where Barnabas
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and Elizabeth got married.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I would never have expected it. Where are my Yorkshire roots?!
0:07:24 > 0:07:25HE CHUCKLES
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It's bizarre!
0:07:28 > 0:07:31HE HUMS
0:07:43 > 0:07:45HE EXHALES
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Isn't it lovely?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53A wonderful atmosphere.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55And I didn't know about it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01HE EXHALES LOUDLY
0:08:02 > 0:08:06All so startling, as you know, it was over 200 years ago -
0:08:06 > 0:08:131801. 200 hundreds years ago they were here and they got
0:08:13 > 0:08:16married and they had children and out of the long line...
0:08:18 > 0:08:20..I appeared.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21I owe them that.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25So, thank you, Barnabas and thank you, Elizabeth.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I wonder if they're looking in on me now.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I wonder what they looked like.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I wonder what she wore, you know.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36I bet she looked gorgeous.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Barnabas... Barnabas Blessed.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44It sounds like, like something from Dickens, doesn't it?
0:08:44 > 0:08:50"Barnabas Blessed, do you take Elizabeth for your wife?"
0:08:50 > 0:08:51"Yes."
0:08:51 > 0:08:57"Do you take Barnabas for your husband?" "Yes. Yes."
0:08:57 > 0:08:59"You may kiss the bride."
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Professor James Raven has more information for Brian
0:09:06 > 0:09:08about Barnabas Blessed.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09Hello, Brian.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Hello, James. I believe you're going to enlighten me?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Well, I hope so.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15THEY CHUCKLE
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So, Barnabas was a bookbinder and a stationer.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22I mean, what does that involve?
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Well, this was an extremely exciting time for the book trade.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28There was increased literacy - there was a growing demand for books,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32and the books were all hand, handmade.
0:09:32 > 0:09:33And in many ways the binder, which
0:09:33 > 0:09:36your great-great-great-grandfather was one,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38was one of the unsung heroes
0:09:38 > 0:09:41of this extraordinary revolution in book production
0:09:41 > 0:09:43at the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45- An unsung hero?- Absolutely.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50At the time, books were manufactured unbound
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and it was the job of bookbinders like Barnabas Blessed,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58to sew in the pages, construct the cover and engrave the lettering.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59In the rapidly-expanding market,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01there was a huge range of bookbinders,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05from modest itinerants, who carried their tools on
0:10:05 > 0:10:10their backs, to the highly-skilled, who worked for elite customers.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14So Barnabas, have you any idea what his position was in this world
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- he lived in?- Well, that's a very good question.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- He didn't have a shop or something like that?- Well, we think he did.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Now we're very fortunate because there is a certain
0:10:21 > 0:10:25type of record that we're able to use to pinpoint him quite precisely.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27No!!
0:10:27 > 0:10:33And we have here the Land Tax Records of the early 19th century,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and they can show us quite precisely where Barnabas
0:10:36 > 0:10:39or as he says here, Barnaby, Barnaby Blessed...
0:10:39 > 0:10:41What does it say, my son, what does it say?
0:10:41 > 0:10:44And here he is in Bull Inn Court.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45Bull Inn Court.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Which is just off the Strand.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- And we can tell from the assessment...- Yes, yes.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54..that the tax collector has made, as rent, £32,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56which puts him in the sort of middling range.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- How fascinating.- The size of the shop's really very important,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01but it's also more the location.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03- That's what's most exciting. - Really?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Because he's in the middle of a flourishing,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08extremely fashionable part of London, close to book-sellers
0:11:08 > 0:11:12and close to potentially elite customers as well.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14- Oh, bravo, Barnaby, eh?! - Yes, absolutely.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19Marvellous history personified by a great guy.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- Oh, I'm very proud of him.- Good.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27- And so, Bull Inn Court, is it still there now?- Indeed it is.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30You can actually see where your great-great-great-grandfather had his shop.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Well, I'm damned! Oh, you marvellous man, you lovely!
0:11:35 > 0:11:38That is a surprise. It's Christmas!
0:11:38 > 0:11:40LAUGHTER
0:11:40 > 0:11:42That's great!
0:11:50 > 0:11:52So, Brian, here we are in the Strand.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55- Absolutely.- Which in the early 19th century would be a bustling
0:11:55 > 0:11:57- thoroughfare as it is, of course, today.- It is indeed.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59And just behind us,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01behind there would have been Book-sellers' Row which would
0:12:01 > 0:12:05have had huge numbers of book-sellers and book trade personnel.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10And here is, as you see, Bull Inn Court.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Well, I've never been here before.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16And your great-great-great-grandfather's shop...
0:12:16 > 0:12:21- Yes.- ..would have been about here according to the Land Tax Records.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23- Probably some...- About here? - ..about here.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- And how high would it have been? - Well, it would have been
0:12:26 > 0:12:28about as high as it is today, and the family
0:12:28 > 0:12:31would probably live over it, probably a servant at the very top.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33And I think if we, if we held hands,
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I'm just thinking if you stretch your hand out like that...
0:12:36 > 0:12:40- Yes, yes, right.- ..that's about the width...- Really?- ..that's about the width of the shop.- Gosh!
0:12:40 > 0:12:43- Should come somewhere against there. - And he was here?
0:12:43 > 0:12:46He was right here. There would have been one door, probably...
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Yes.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52And a bow window and his name would have been above the door.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Gosh! BARNABY! BARNABY! HELLO!
0:12:55 > 0:12:59- I think that's probably... there would have been a lot of noise. - Yes, a lot of that going on.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01There would have been a lot of noise, a lot of bustle.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04I mean, down there was the Strand, down there is the Strand.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07And there's monkey machines da-da-dang-dang, da-da-dang-dang-dang.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Taverns around - coffee, coffee houses.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11- Oh, really?- Up there, because that's Maiden Lane on the way to
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Covent Garden and you have great bustle, great meeting places.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19People would have stopped to see people, conversations, so forth.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Well, years and years I passed there doing voiceovers
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and so forth, I never realised that
0:13:25 > 0:13:28my great-great-great-grandfather was located here.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30I'll come down here when I'm doing voiceovers and I'll go...
0:13:32 > 0:13:33..and to his wife, yes.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36And say, "Well done, Barnaby, well done to his wife."
0:13:36 > 0:13:38THEY CHUCKLE
0:13:38 > 0:13:40I mean, how... Do we know how long he was here?
0:13:40 > 0:13:41I mean, you know, I mean...
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Well, we know he was certainly here for at least three years,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47but we also do have some baptism records of his children.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50- Oh, do you?- Now, here we have...
0:13:50 > 0:13:52We've been led on again. Here we go.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57- Baptism Record, May 9th, 1808 in London.- Gosh, yeah.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02"Martha Atkinson, daughter of Barnabas Blessed, bookbinder."
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- But then we get this. - Here we go again.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11- Baptism Record, 1814.- Yes.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15"Barnabas Blessed's son, Barnabas Charles, was
0:14:15 > 0:14:19"baptised in St John's Chapel in the Parish of Portsea."
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Which is now Portsmouth.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Portsmouth! Well, what's he doing there?
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Well, we can only really speculate about that.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28But Portsmouth had been booming in this period, of course,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30the Napoleonic Wars.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33- He may not have been as successful as he thought he could be here.- Yes.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36He might have thought he could make his fortune in Portsmouth.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- Brave lad. A great adventure.- Yeah.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Portsmouth's connection to the Navy meant it always
0:14:44 > 0:14:46prospered in times of war.
0:14:46 > 0:14:53In 1814, Britain had been fighting the French for almost 20 years.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55The conflict brought thousands of sailors
0:14:55 > 0:14:59and soldiers to Portsmouth and other trades followed.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04Overall, 15 to 20,000 people moved to the town -
0:15:04 > 0:15:06the Blessed family among them.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Now Brian's come to Portsmouth to try and discover what
0:15:14 > 0:15:19opportunities his ancestor Barnabas might have found here 200 years ago.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Oh!
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Hello, John. Well, it's nice to meet you.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28- And you too.- Yes, great.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Dr John Steadman is an expert on the history of Portsmouth at the time.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37I mean, John, why would a bookbinder and a stationer leave London
0:15:37 > 0:15:40and come here to Portsmouth?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Well, Portsmouth was a boom town in 1814.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46All the businesses that prospered through
0:15:46 > 0:15:50the presence of the Navy needed paper and books.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54The Navy needed paper for its ships, its logs, books on navigation,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57so there were great opportunities for bookbinders
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and stationers in Portsmouth to the Navy.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Terrific then for him as he is a bookbinder, I can understand that.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08But this period of prosperity was not to last.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Just a year after the Blessed family moved to Portsmouth,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Britain's long war with the French was over.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Well, that, I suppose, would mean that business subsided in Portsmouth?
0:16:24 > 0:16:25Very definitely.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28The Government started laying off dockyard workers
0:16:28 > 0:16:31on an enormous scale. Ships are laid up.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34The amount of trade coming to Portsmouth's businesses
0:16:34 > 0:16:36declines very dramatically.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41And would this have affected my, er, Barnabas Blessed and his family?
0:16:41 > 0:16:43I think it would have been a crisis.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46If he's running his own business then, um,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49he would have lost a lot of his custom.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51I wonder how he fared.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Well, I don't know what to expect now.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05I'm a bit concerned, a bit of trepidation
0:17:05 > 0:17:08because, I mean, I just hope they didn't suffer as a family,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10you know, Barnabas and Elizabeth and their children.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14And being so brave coming all the way from London over here now
0:17:14 > 0:17:18to Portsmouth, and then the war, the Napoleonic War ends
0:17:18 > 0:17:20and everyone seems to have been out of work.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And why shouldn't THEY be out of work?
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And I don't want to come across a tragic story if I can help it.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Of course, if it is tragic then you face it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31But he seemed such a great guy.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Obviously his wife was lovely, that lovely church
0:17:33 > 0:17:36and that ceremony they had and now their children,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39I don't want to hear that anything untoward happened.
0:17:41 > 0:17:42And that's about it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45HE SIGHS
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Two years after the end of the Napoleonic War, Barnabas
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and Elizabeth's son, Jabez, Brian's direct ancestor,
0:17:54 > 0:17:55was born in Portsmouth.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00St Mary's Church has records relating to the family.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02HE HUMS Well, well, well!
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- Welcome.- Hello there. Nice to meet you.- And you, sir.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07- Great. - My name's Bob. Pleased to see you.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- Yes, nice to nice to meet you, Bob. - Good, good.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Canon Bob White is the vicar.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13A lad like myself.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23Bob, I'm keen to understand how the Blesseds got on,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25and I believe that you have a record of them.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28We have, we have some records that might help you to find that out.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- So if I open up the book. - Excellent, excellent.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32- Shall I give you...? - Oh, there it is, I can't...
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Try around there. Around this line.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39"Elizabeth", and there's the surname, "Blessed". And what does that imply?
0:18:39 > 0:18:42- If you look at the top of the page, Brian...- Yes, yes.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44..it might give you some indication to what the records are.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48"Burials in the Parish of Portsea in the County of Southampton
0:18:48 > 0:18:50"in the Year 1822."
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Oh, no! Is that poor Elizabeth died?
0:18:54 > 0:18:56I'm afraid that's the record of her burial.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- Oh, she was only 40 years old. - Yes. Yeah.
0:18:59 > 0:19:00How sad.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Well, Barnabas, I mean, he's got to look after his... He hasn't got
0:19:06 > 0:19:12a wife and he's got three children, he's got Martha, Charles and Jabez.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15And I'm afraid there's another one. There are four children.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17We've got some records that aren't here,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20but I've got a note of it - of the birth of Elizabeth.
0:19:20 > 0:19:21No!
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Who, as you can see, was born in 1820.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27"Elizabeth, born 1820".
0:19:27 > 0:19:29So at the time of the older Elizabeth's death she'd only
0:19:29 > 0:19:31have been two years old.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34So there are four children, one of them who is only two.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Right. What does this mean? "Father, pauper"? What...?
0:19:38 > 0:19:42Well, that describes the state that the family were in.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44A pauper. Barnabas a pauper?
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Is that...do you mean to tell me he's ended up as a pauper?
0:19:47 > 0:19:49That's what the records seem to be suggesting.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52It means that they had no income, no finances
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and they were entirely dependent upon the state, the parish.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- Oh!- But... - Oh! Bob, I don't like this.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Nothing I can do about it, I'm afraid.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05All we can do is acknowledge the records that they were paupers.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08I mean... he was a great success in London.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11He had a shop and comes all the way to Portsmouth
0:20:11 > 0:20:15and then he ends up a pauper and loses his wife.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Ah. And he's now got four children and one just two years old.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Oh, poor man!
0:20:24 > 0:20:26- And there is more, I'm afraid. - Oh, no!
0:20:26 > 0:20:29If we turn to another page,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31and it's the same burial register
0:20:31 > 0:20:33and, I'm afraid, it's the same year, 1822.
0:20:33 > 0:20:361822, another burial.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Take me there, where is it? Point it out.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39Roughly the same kind of...
0:20:40 > 0:20:46"Barnabas Blessed..." What, "41 years"?
0:20:46 > 0:20:48He dies as well?
0:20:48 > 0:20:51He dies in the same year, about six months later on.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Oh, dear, dear.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56And we're left with...
0:20:56 > 0:20:58What...he's got four children!
0:20:58 > 0:21:01- Four children.- Four kids! - Four kids in very poor conditions.
0:21:01 > 0:21:02Ah!
0:21:02 > 0:21:06Losing your mum and dad - inside six months...
0:21:07 > 0:21:10..incredibly sad.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12And paupers.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13And paupers.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16- Yeah. So they had nothing.- Wow!
0:21:18 > 0:21:21So when Elizabeth and Barnabas died, I mean,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24where would they be buried? Around here?
0:21:24 > 0:21:26They'd have been buried outside in the churchyard, but there's
0:21:26 > 0:21:29no marks because paupers' graves were always unmarked.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33- Oh, yes, oh, dear. Well, it's not what I expected, Bob.- No.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34Thank you anyway.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44In a short time I've travelled a great distance.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47It's...
0:21:48 > 0:21:51..it's started to have real meaning for me this journey,
0:21:51 > 0:21:56and I, I know that, er, Barnabas
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and Elizabeth are buried here somewhere amongst this grass here.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07I mean, they died at 40, 41, but they lived so much in that span of time.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11They experienced success and failure.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13And, er...
0:22:13 > 0:22:18It's so peaceful here and I feel they're resting,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20and I feel close to them.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23That's, um, it's the first time I've ever felt close
0:22:23 > 0:22:24to my roots...
0:22:25 > 0:22:26..and, er...
0:22:28 > 0:22:30..I do.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34Ah.
0:22:34 > 0:22:35I'm terribly moved.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39I just, er...
0:22:41 > 0:22:44One can feel them, one can feel them.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47I've never felt this before... in my life.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51It's tangible and real.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56But more than anything I feel they're at peace
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and that I'm at peace with them.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Following the deaths of Barnabas and Elizabeth Blessed,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17their four children, Martha, Barnabas Charles, Jabez
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and Elizabeth were entirely dependent on the parish.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28To see if he can discover what happened to the children,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Brian has come to Portsmouth History Centre.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Hello there.- Hello.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38- Are you Anna?- I am, yes.- Yes, of course. I'm Brian Blessed. - Please to meet you.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Well, I'm here on this quest about Barnabas Blessed
0:23:40 > 0:23:44and what happened to his four children after he died.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I mean, so I'm hoping you can give me some information about them.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49Yes, I've been doing some research into that.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52As Barnabas was a pauper, the most likely thing that would have
0:23:52 > 0:23:55happened to the children when they became orphans, would be
0:23:55 > 0:23:58that they would have gone into the local parish workhouse.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any trace of the family,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05however, once the children became orphans and became
0:24:05 > 0:24:10chargeable to the parish, they might have been removed elsewhere.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Were the family originally from Portsmouth?
0:24:13 > 0:24:15No, no, no, they came from London.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Well, it seems possible then they may have been removed to London.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20But they were just children, weren't they?
0:24:20 > 0:24:23If they were a burden to the ratepayers then the parish
0:24:23 > 0:24:27was often very keen to actually remove them elsewhere.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Oh, dear, dear!
0:24:31 > 0:24:35At the time, paupers had no automatic right to remain
0:24:35 > 0:24:38where they were living, but could be removed anywhere the family
0:24:38 > 0:24:41had once earned entitlement to financial support.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45As a result, destitute men,
0:24:45 > 0:24:50women and even children were routinely sent vast distances
0:24:50 > 0:24:53to the parish that was legally obliged to take them.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59To try to find out if the four Blessed children were
0:24:59 > 0:25:03victims of this system, Brian is travelling back to London.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08I mean, if what Anna says was right, after all this calamity,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11the children have now been taken away.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19'And there were four of them.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23'I mean Martha's 14, trying to be brave and the little baby...'
0:25:23 > 0:25:25HE IMITATES BABY CRYING
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And then you've got Charles, you know,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32who's about eight years of age and Jabez is about five,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35five or six years of age.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38I think they would have become numb.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Their mother dying just six months before, and then their father
0:25:42 > 0:25:44dying as well.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47I think they'd be in a state of shock.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52I see wide eyes and stillness.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02But they had each other, they were grouped together,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04they were a team and Martha will become the mother.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05She would be very grown up.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08She'd have had to grow up more so.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10So, I think it's up to Martha
0:26:10 > 0:26:14to really hold them together. And I think she will.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16I hope she does.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24If the Blessed children were removed to London, it would have been to the
0:26:24 > 0:26:28parish of St Martin in the Fields where the family once lived.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The parish records are held at the City of Westminster Archives.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35HE HUMS
0:26:35 > 0:26:39- Hello, Alison, I'm Brian Blessed. - Hello.- Nice to meet you.
0:26:39 > 0:26:40And you. Lovely to meet you.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Yes. I'm on a quest to find these four orphaned children.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47- I think you might be able to give me some information.- Yes.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Our volunteers have done some indexes of the Poor Law Records,
0:26:49 > 0:26:50we could have a look at those.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53- Would you like to see them? - Excellent.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56- OK, let's go over here.- Thank you.
0:26:56 > 0:26:57Well, here are the
0:26:57 > 0:27:00St Martin in the Fields Settlement Examinations.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Now, do you know when the family might have come to London?
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Yes, in about 1822.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Oh, right, this should be this one here.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09Let's have a look at it.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12And so we'd be looking for...?
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- Blessed. Blessed. - Surname. Yes, right.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Let me just have a look and...
0:27:16 > 0:27:18It's a strange name, as you know.
0:27:18 > 0:27:24See, we'll just scroll down there, and...
0:27:24 > 0:27:25Oh, yes!
0:27:25 > 0:27:27There it is, Blessed, look.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30- Yes.- 1822. You've done it. You've got it.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34- And what does that mean there? What's that?- Oh, yes, yes.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37So it's, "Children removed from Portsea..."
0:27:37 > 0:27:39That's it!
0:27:39 > 0:27:43"..on the 11th November." Now... "Fa"?
0:27:43 > 0:27:46"Father rented in Bull Inn Court."
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Yeah, that that makes sense.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Bull Inn Court, that's where the father,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Barnabas Blessed used to live and he was a bookbinder and a stationer.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- So, of course, they've sent them back to that parish.- Yes.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Look at this.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Now, 11th of November, that's when they came over, isn't it?
0:28:03 > 0:28:07- Yes.- Yes, but, but extraordinarily, I mean,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10their father died on the 8th of November.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14And that means three days later they're coming to London
0:28:14 > 0:28:16after their father's death.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18- Yes, yes.- Astonishing!
0:28:18 > 0:28:20They were really in a hurry to get rid of them, weren't they?
0:28:20 > 0:28:23- I think they were, yes, I think... - It's all about money.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Yes. Yes, it is. Yes.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28My goodness.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30- That's a picture, isn't it?- Yes.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Oh. Where do we go from here?
0:28:32 > 0:28:36Well, we've got the Day Books for St Martin in the Fields Workhouse,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39so we could have a look at that and see if they were received there and
0:28:39 > 0:28:43whether they've recorded anything else about them on their arrival.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45- Marvellous.- Yes. Shall we go and have a look at that?
0:28:45 > 0:28:49You're a miracle worker, my dear, a miracle worker. Wow!
0:28:49 > 0:28:51- Right, yes. - HE CHUCKLES
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Well, this is the Day Book of the St Martin in the Fields Workhouse.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Well, we're looking for the 11th November, 1822.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03So, if you just support that side, that might
0:29:03 > 0:29:06be a bit of a way through the book.
0:29:06 > 0:29:0910th of November... and...
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Ah, here we are, on this side here, we've got,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17we've got the family up there, can you...?
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Yes, I can see, yes, I can see it. My goodness, look at that.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22We've got Charles Blessed there,
0:29:22 > 0:29:26and we've got Jabez Blessed, 6¾ years of age.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28Those are the ages, yes.
0:29:28 > 0:29:34And Martha, look, 14 years of age. It's all here.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35And look at this.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39Elizabeth Blessed was barely two years old.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41Yes, 22 months.
0:29:41 > 0:29:4322 months. Well, what a find!
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Yes, indeed.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48So, they're, obviously, admitted into the St Martin's Workhouse
0:29:48 > 0:29:50on that day.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54It looks as if the children were split up, actually, because it
0:29:54 > 0:29:58tells you what ward they were put in and we can see the two boys seem
0:29:58 > 0:30:03to have been kept together, they're in, BS, Boys School, then Martha
0:30:03 > 0:30:07is put into Ward 10 and Elizabeth, the baby, is put into Ward 8.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11- Oh, dear, dear!- Right. - It's sad, isn't it?
0:30:11 > 0:30:14- It is a sad story, yes. - It's very sad, but they're surviving.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16- Yes, yes, they are. - Split up but surviving.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19- Split up, yes with Charles as their spokesman.- But the two boys are together.- Yes.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23- So that's a positive thing, yes. - Yes, yes, it is.- Look at this.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27It says - "Martha Blessed, 14 years of age." What's that?
0:30:27 > 0:30:30What's that say? What's that say? What's...?
0:30:30 > 0:30:32That says, "an idiot".
0:30:32 > 0:30:34An idiot.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38Martha described as an...idiot.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41I mean, idiot, that's an extraordinary word to use.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43What does it mean? What's it mean?
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Well, I think that was the word they used to describe what
0:30:46 > 0:30:49- we would now call learning difficulties.- Right.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Um, or special educational needs. Yes.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57- And that was the overseer's shorthand for that.- Really?- Yeah.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00- Oh, that's terribly sad, isn't it? - It is a sad story, yes.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03Poor Martha. I mean, I got the impression that Martha,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06being 14 years of age, would be in charge of the family
0:31:06 > 0:31:08and be responsible for the family, you know.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10But it seems actually the reverse.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13It looks as if she couldn't and it was probably up to Charles,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16of 8½, it was his responsibility to look after,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18probably looking after Martha as well.
0:31:18 > 0:31:19Yes, I think so.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30In 1822, the workhouse was just off Trafalgar Square,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34opposite the Parish Church of St Martin in the Fields.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37For the Blessed children being admitted would have been
0:31:37 > 0:31:39a daunting experience.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41It was one of the biggest workhouses in the country,
0:31:41 > 0:31:43with over 800 inmates.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48The central courtyard was a graveyard packed
0:31:48 > 0:31:50full of the workhouse dead.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Little attempt was made to keep families together,
0:31:53 > 0:31:57with all inmates segregated by age and gender.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Children lived a highly regimented life.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06They were given a basic education and instructed in a trade.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10They rarely, if ever, left the building,
0:32:10 > 0:32:12except to go to church on Sundays.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17Brian has come to St Martin in the Fields Church
0:32:17 > 0:32:21to meet Professor David Green, who has more information about what
0:32:21 > 0:32:26happened to the Blessed children after they arrived at the workhouse.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31I've got a record to show you, but, very sadly, it's a burial register.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Oh, no! Where's that, where's that, where's...?
0:32:33 > 0:32:35From 1822.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39Where? Ah, there.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42Oh, no! Oh, Martha. Martha. Gosh.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47But, I mean, what... she died November the 19th.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50- I mean, they came here on the 11th. - That's correct.
0:32:50 > 0:32:57And she died eight days later, 14½ years of age!
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Oh, how sad...
0:32:59 > 0:33:02I mean, obviously the journey killed her.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04She may have been sick when she arrived.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06I mean, her parents had died
0:33:06 > 0:33:11and they were removed very quickly to St Martin in the Fields.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Within three days of the father dying.
0:33:14 > 0:33:15Poor Martha, eh.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20There were four of them. How, how were the others?
0:33:20 > 0:33:23I mean, was there any danger that they could be ill as well or...?
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Well, there certainly was.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30On the following day, on the 20th, a day after Martha was buried,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34there were two Blessed children baptised here,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38in this very church - Jabez and Elizabeth.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41The baby and, and the six-year-old?
0:33:41 > 0:33:42That's right.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45The speed with which they were baptised suggest that they
0:33:45 > 0:33:48may well have been ill and we've got a little bit more evidence
0:33:48 > 0:33:51that that was actually, sadly, the case.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56Oh, no! No, David! There's not going to be anybody left.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59This is the next page of that very same burial register.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Where?
0:34:01 > 0:34:06Oh, no! Little Elizabeth, December 3rd...
0:34:06 > 0:34:09- That's right. - Age - two years of age.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12(Oh, that's terrible.)
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Oh!
0:34:16 > 0:34:17Poor little mite.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23What kind of a life - born in Portsmouth
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and comes over in a cart and...
0:34:26 > 0:34:27That's right.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30..and then, you know, probably didn't know where the hell she was,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33a little baby and screaming and God knows what, and...
0:34:33 > 0:34:35That's right.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37..and then she dies. I mean, that's incredibly cruel.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57And so the two brothers had, in a short space of time,
0:34:57 > 0:35:01lost their parents and lost their sisters.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05I mean, I mean, how did they take that on board?
0:35:05 > 0:35:07I mean, eight years of age and six.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09I mean.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11Terrible losses.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17I've never come across anything like that in my life.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Awful.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Well, at least Jabez and Charles had each other
0:35:26 > 0:35:29but I mean, what happened to them next?
0:35:29 > 0:35:34Well, within a week, Jabez was sent off to the Infant Poor House
0:35:34 > 0:35:38at Highwood Hill which is to the north of London.
0:35:38 > 0:35:39He was sent there?
0:35:39 > 0:35:42That's right, with people he didn't know.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Charles remained in the workhouse and Jabez was moved out.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50- What kind of traumatic effect did that have on him?- Yes, yes.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Charles being eight and Jabez being six, incredibly young, isn't it?
0:35:53 > 0:35:55I mean, they'd have clung on to each other
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- and suddenly Jabez was taken out there.- Yes.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00Lost his parents, lost his sisters,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02and now he's separated from his brother.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09It was common practice to send pauper children out of London
0:36:09 > 0:36:13to infant poorhouses in the countryside where the cleaner
0:36:13 > 0:36:17air and water improved their chances of survival.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Jabez Blessed spent three years away.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Then, at the age of nine, he was returned to the workhouse.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29But the previous year his brother Charles had been
0:36:29 > 0:36:30apprenticed in South London.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36It says here that Charles Blessing, aged 11 years,
0:36:36 > 0:36:38he's going to be a shoemaker.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43So that does mean that when Jabez came back his brother had
0:36:43 > 0:36:46gone on this apprenticeship, out of the workhouse?
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It does. Jabez comes back to the workhouse
0:36:49 > 0:36:51and all of a sudden his brother isn't there any more.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56- His brother isn't there. Been looking forward to seeing his brother and he's not there.- That's right.
0:36:56 > 0:36:57Oh, dear.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03So, they were isolated from each other which is a great shame.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06So, they'd have to be resolute on their own, wouldn't they?
0:37:06 > 0:37:09- You know, and facing life on their own.- Yes.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Jabez was now the sole remaining Blessed child in the workhouse.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18For two years the records make no further mention of him.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23Then, in 1827, when he was 11, he reappears.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27So, there's Jabez Blessed, yes.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31What is...? 29th of July, 1827.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32That's correct.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37It says "run away... when at church with the other boys."
0:37:37 > 0:37:40That's right. My God!
0:37:40 > 0:37:42- He does a runner!- He's done a runner.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50It looks to me like he came to church, did his prayers,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52"Oh, very good." In-between that and here - oing!
0:37:52 > 0:37:54- He's gone.- That's right.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Well, he must have been absolutely sure of himself.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59He must have had a plan.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03I mean, he knew the area around London, would he, I don't know?
0:38:03 > 0:38:08But I mean he's, he's 11 and smart, and resolute, and crafty.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11Bloody good going!
0:38:11 > 0:38:13He sounds a character, even at that age, doesn't he?
0:38:13 > 0:38:15He does, he does.
0:38:25 > 0:38:26Jabez is biting.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29He's... I'm beginning... I'm really beginning to get very
0:38:29 > 0:38:32enthusiastic about him cos he's a lad after of my own heart.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Adventurous. He decides to run off and escape.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39He's now going out into the world.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45His parents die, so what? So what? He still exists.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48"I am here. I am Jabez. I am alive.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49"I am well.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52"Off I go, faster than a speeding bullet."
0:38:52 > 0:38:54He's on his way.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56HE HUMS
0:39:03 > 0:39:07To find out about the world his great-great-grandfather Jabez
0:39:07 > 0:39:08escaped into,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Brian has come a short distance from St Martin in the Fields
0:39:12 > 0:39:15to Covent Garden Market to meet historian Alysa Levene.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Very nice to meet you.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19- Well, here I am, Alysa, on this quest.- Uh-huh.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23I'm in search of one of my ancestors, Jabez Blessed,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25an 11-year-old boy
0:39:25 > 0:39:30and he escaped from St Martin in the Fields in 1827.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33How would he have survived at that time, around here?
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Although we don't know exactly what Jabez did, we thought that,
0:39:36 > 0:39:40probably, this was exactly the sort of place that he might have come.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43I've got a picture here of the site where we're standing in 1827...
0:39:43 > 0:39:45- God!- ..the year that he ran away.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47- Gosh! It hasn't changed.- No.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50And, as the picture shows, there's quite a lot of opportunities here
0:39:50 > 0:39:53for an enterprising and adventuresome boy.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57We've got lots of markets stalls here selling food that he
0:39:57 > 0:40:00would, probably, have had to filch to try and keep himself together.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04- How could he have earned money? - Well, he probably would have looked for any little
0:40:04 > 0:40:07opportunities to find in a busy area like this,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09like holding a gentleman's horse while he went off to
0:40:09 > 0:40:12do his errands, or perhaps doing a bit of street entertainment.
0:40:12 > 0:40:13I mean, what kind of thing would they be doing?
0:40:13 > 0:40:16Well, we know that young boys were involved in gangs doing
0:40:16 > 0:40:18things like turning cartwheels in the streets
0:40:18 > 0:40:22and doing acrobatics, especially in theatre land, there would have been people leaving the
0:40:22 > 0:40:26theatre in the evening with a bit of money in their pockets and boys like Jabez would have run ahead
0:40:26 > 0:40:30- of them, turning their cartwheels and asking for a bit of money. - Extraordinary.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32If he was a strong boy, a charismatic boy,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34that would have helped him a lot in a place like this.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38I mean, the boy intrigues me. I'm dying to know what happened to him.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Well, I do have something else to show you.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42- Shall we go and sit down and have a look?- Great.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54When we were thinking about what this boy might have done
0:40:54 > 0:40:56we knew that there was a chance that he might have been
0:40:56 > 0:40:58picked up by one of the officials, and
0:40:58 > 0:41:02so the first place that we looked was back in the Workhouse Register.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05And sure enough, on the 10th of August, 1827, we find him
0:41:05 > 0:41:10back at the workhouse about 2½ weeks after he first ran away.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11Jabez?
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- Yeah. There he is back again. - They caught him?
0:41:14 > 0:41:16He certainly ended up back there.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19But he actually did end up going off and doing something else.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21- Really? - If we look further along here.
0:41:21 > 0:41:22Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24- This is a record of his apprenticeship- Yes.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29On the 22nd of August, 1828, he was bound to David Davis
0:41:29 > 0:41:33of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the County of Northumberland - Master Mariner.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Master Mariner! Been taken as an apprentice!
0:41:36 > 0:41:38Uh-huh.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41And we know that this David Davis regularly
0:41:41 > 0:41:44came down from Newcastle to London and he was a transporter of coal.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46That's amazing! How long did he do that for?
0:41:46 > 0:41:48How long was the apprenticeship for?
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Unfortunately, there are no marine records to tell us
0:41:51 > 0:41:53anything about how long Jabez spent at sea.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55It certainly would have been a hard life.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Working on a boat like this would have been dirty and dangerous,
0:41:58 > 0:42:00and he's still only 12 years old.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05As an apprentice to a Master Mariner, Jabez would probably
0:42:05 > 0:42:09have lived on board the coal ship and spent most of his time
0:42:09 > 0:42:14at sea, travelling continuously between Newcastle and London.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18We then lose sight of Jabez for quite a long time, and the
0:42:18 > 0:42:22first time we can track him down in a census is 23 years later in
0:42:22 > 0:42:271851 where he turns up in the market town of Brigg in Lincolnshire.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29In Brigg!
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Yep, there he is, Jabez Blessed.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34- Aged 34.- Aged 34.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36And this is what he's doing.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38So he's a glass and china dealer.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41A glass and china dealer, from being on ships!
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- So he's left the sea behind him. - Yeah.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48- Oh, my God!- He's had a complete change.- Well, yes.- That's not the only change in his circumstances...
0:42:48 > 0:42:49No, what...?
0:42:49 > 0:42:52..because listed below him we can see his wife.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54His wife!
0:42:54 > 0:42:57- And she's called Ellen.- Ellen, his wife.- Uh-huh. Age 28.
0:42:57 > 0:42:5928! And he's got a daughter.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02- Uh-huh. A daughter called Harriet. - Harriet.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05And if we turn over the page we can see that Harriet wasn't
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- the only child he'd had by then. - Elizabeth...
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Uh-huh.
0:43:10 > 0:43:15..William, my dad's name, Emma. So he's got four children in Brigg.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16Yep.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18- Well, good on him?- Absolutely.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21In fact, he didn't stop there, because we can pick him
0:43:21 > 0:43:25up again ten years later in the 1861 Census, still living in Brigg.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27So there he is, Jabez Blessed.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Oh, yes, Jabez Blessed, and he's a licensed hawker.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Uh-huh. So, he's still a seller of goods.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38All the glasses and china and so forth, and four children, very enterprising.
0:43:38 > 0:43:39Well, let's look again at the four children
0:43:39 > 0:43:42because he's still living with his wife Ellen...
0:43:42 > 0:43:44- Yes.- ..then we have Elizabeth...
0:43:44 > 0:43:47- Elizabeth...- ..who's 18, and again, if you turn over the page...
0:43:47 > 0:43:50I can't wait! Here we go. No!
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Look at this. William Blessed, Emma, Charles...
0:43:53 > 0:43:55Uh-huh.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57..which, of course, is his brother's name, isn't it?
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Anna, Alice, George and another Jabez!
0:44:00 > 0:44:04- Uh-huh.- And Ellen. That's...- A baby.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06- How many's that?- Ten altogether.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08- Ten!- The oldest must have left home.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10Well, he was a randy lad, wasn't he?
0:44:10 > 0:44:11SHE CHUCKLES
0:44:11 > 0:44:14And a healthy wife. My goodness me!
0:44:14 > 0:44:16A runaway boy from the age of 11,
0:44:16 > 0:44:18he goes all over the country to Northumberland,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21then he goes to Brigg and then he has ten children, gets married.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24And he must have been doing reasonably well for himself
0:44:24 > 0:44:27because all of the children, apart from the baby, are labelled as being scholars.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31- And you had to pay for education. - Believes in education.- Yeah.
0:44:31 > 0:44:32What a great guy.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35His story was so sad, I was almost in tears.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37You know, all the people dying and so forth.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39I wonder what Brigg is like now.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42- It's not very far from where I grew up.- Maybe you should go and take a look.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45I think I should. I think I should go to Brigg.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47HE LAUGHS
0:44:52 > 0:44:55The journey to Brigg takes Brian back to
0:44:55 > 0:44:59within 50 miles of where he was born in South Yorkshire.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02Jabez, he's becoming quite a hero to me.
0:45:02 > 0:45:03Cos an interesting thing was,
0:45:03 > 0:45:06I mean that, of course, he was 12 years of age
0:45:06 > 0:45:11and then sent on the coal ships, really tremendously hard work.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14But it just wasn't something that was grim. Oh, no.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17And you cannot emphasise enough about the sea.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21"I long to go to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
0:45:21 > 0:45:26"A cry that may not be denied, and all I ask is a tall ship
0:45:26 > 0:45:29"and a star to steer her by."
0:45:29 > 0:45:32Think of the nights - the stars would shine.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Be still sometimes and then stormy.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37Wonderful scenery as well.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39So it would have opened his heart up.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49So I'm now going to Brigg. I'm really excited about it.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51This is where he came.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53I mean, it's a tremendous surprise to me that he
0:45:53 > 0:46:00should come here as a hawker and get married and have a large family.
0:46:00 > 0:46:01I'm intrigued!
0:46:11 > 0:46:13- Hello, Ian. Well, well, well. - Hello, Brian.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Brian has come to ask historian, Ian Packer,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20how hard it would have been for Jabez to make his living in Brigg.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23I mean, my great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed,
0:46:23 > 0:46:28he was a china and glass hawker. What would that have involved?
0:46:28 > 0:46:31And to be a successful hawker I think the greatest asset you
0:46:31 > 0:46:34could have is a charismatic personality,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37somebody who's a natural salesman who can draw people in.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Yeah, and would it be a good place to do business?
0:46:40 > 0:46:41Yes, it definitely would.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44That time when Jabez is here, is just at the moment
0:46:44 > 0:46:48when Brigg is really starting to grow and to thrive.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52This is the main market town for this area of Lincolnshire.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54It's where people come to buy and sell.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58Well, Ian, I've got a census here, I mean, with this address on it.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02There we are, you hold it with me - there, me ducks.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04And I've got there, look,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08- Jabez Blessed, there he is. - Calvin Chapel Yard.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Calvin Chapel Yard, I mean, that's where he lived.
0:47:11 > 0:47:16- Does it still exist?- Yes, it does. Would you like to go and take a look at it?
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Marvellous! Wonderful! You're a star!
0:47:18 > 0:47:20- Let's go and do that.- Thank you.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30And this, of course, would have been the main street in
0:47:30 > 0:47:3519th-century Brigg, as it is now, with the shops on either side.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Pork butcher, as we have here.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41And here is Calvin Chapel Yard where your ancestor lived.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44- Well, that's marvellous. - Shall we go and take a look?
0:47:44 > 0:47:48- Marvellous. Within, yes, indeed. - Yes.- Gosh.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53Well, this is atmospheric, isn't it, eh? Amazing.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56And this is... These buildings are more or less as they would
0:47:56 > 0:47:59have been when your ancestors lived here.
0:47:59 > 0:48:00- So, it's not changed much?- No.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Look at this! Ah, it's amazing.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15And this one here is undergoing restoration at the moment,
0:48:15 > 0:48:18- so we can go in and take a look if you like.- Wonderful. Wonderful.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22HE HUMS
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Oh, well I never!
0:48:25 > 0:48:29I mean, if Jabez lived here, I mean, this is akin to me as a child.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31This is very like the room we had.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33And you had the fireplace here, look,
0:48:33 > 0:48:38and you cooked all your stuff in here, and you had your kettle there,
0:48:38 > 0:48:43all black-leaded and so forth, but it was a happy way of living.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46Ah, memories. But it was this kind of atmosphere.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54If Jabez lived in a place like this, it would actually be fine here,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57with ten children because little single beds, etc,
0:48:57 > 0:48:58double beds, they'd make it work.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03Well, actually, Brian, we know from looking at later censuses
0:49:03 > 0:49:06that Jabez and his wife finally had 13 children.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08- 13 children.- Hm-mm.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11- He was... There was nothing wrong with him, was there?- Certainly not.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13He didn't need the purple pill, did he?!
0:49:13 > 0:49:15He was a real...a randy lad.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Really, he served his country well.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19HE LAUGHS
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Marvellous. Terrific.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24And it looks like all 13 of those children grew up to be adults.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27It's very unusual in the late 19th century.
0:49:27 > 0:49:29People thought it was astonishing that all
0:49:29 > 0:49:33nine of Queen Victoria's children grew up to be adults.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37But the... So for 13 of Jabez's children to grow into adulthood,
0:49:37 > 0:49:39- it's quite extraordinary. - Marvellous!
0:49:39 > 0:49:41I'm sick of hearing about, you know, horrible death
0:49:41 > 0:49:45and disease from Portsmouth and all that, that they
0:49:45 > 0:49:47actually came to Brigg and had good health.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Well, I'm damned.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52I feel we've found him.
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Jabez - we've found you!
0:49:54 > 0:49:56UNDER HIS BREATH: "I know!"
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Could you hear that? No, that was him.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00But I'm sure we've found him.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19You can, I find, you can feel your ancestors.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21I can feel him. I can feel them.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23I can feel the children.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26I can feel the happiness and the health.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28And all these chapels and everywhere they were,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32they were baptised, it starts to sink into your DNA molecule.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36You're not... It's not just looking at something of a dead past,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39but a past that is a present and the future, all one,
0:50:39 > 0:50:42and you can feel it growing within you.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46I feel part of them.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Not just the blood, the somehow...
0:50:49 > 0:50:50their very presence.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Obviously a very happy family.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00And obviously healthy. Led a healthy life.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03Well, it obviously was a very healthy life for the family
0:51:03 > 0:51:08because the first death that we know of is actually Jabez's wife
0:51:08 > 0:51:13Ellen, who dies in 1875 after 35 years of marriage.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15(Gosh, gosh.)
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Did Jabez outlive her by much or very much longer?
0:51:18 > 0:51:21Well, on that, there's something more I'd like to show you.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24I don't believe it. Yes, lead on, lead on!
0:51:38 > 0:51:40This is something I thought might interest you.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43This is Jabez's
0:51:43 > 0:51:46second marriage certificate...
0:51:46 > 0:51:48in 1876.
0:51:49 > 0:51:50Second?!
0:51:51 > 0:51:55After Jabez's first wife died, he married again.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57He got married again.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00What is it? "Jabez Blessed." Yes.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02"When married - August 1st."
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Does it give the wife's name?
0:52:05 > 0:52:06Yes. Yes, here she is.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09It's Sabina Johnson.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13Sabina! That's very glamorous. Johnson.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15- Of course.- So he married again.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17We can see here he gives
0:52:17 > 0:52:23the residence at the time of his marriage as 463 Coldharbour Lane.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Coldharbour Lane? I mean...
0:52:26 > 0:52:28It's London.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31Yes, as you can see, the Parish of Brixton.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35Brixton. What's happened to Brigg? I am totally mystified.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37I haven't a clue where I am.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40I thought, "This is it. The circle is complete.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44"I've been to his room, I've been to the house." You know,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48the 13 children, the wife died and heroic man and colourful man,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50charisma and all this, that and the other,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54- and getting married again and he's in London!- That's right.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57Bloody hell! What's he doing in London?
0:52:57 > 0:53:01Well, he may not be living there, he may just be staying there
0:53:01 > 0:53:03because we know that Jabez
0:53:03 > 0:53:08and his new wife Sabina end up back here in North Lincolnshire.
0:53:08 > 0:53:09Oh, God.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13And so she lived then, did she? In Brixton, until... No?
0:53:13 > 0:53:17The address for her is Winterton in Lincolnshire.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19That's about ten miles from here, in Brigg.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Well, that's even more extraordinary.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25What possessed them to go and get married down there then?
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Well, I've got something here which may give us a clue.
0:53:28 > 0:53:29BRIAN CHUCKLES
0:53:29 > 0:53:33- What we have here is the census from 1881...- Yes.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35..so it's as closest in date to the marriage,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39and as you can see here, this is the register for Coldharbour Lane.
0:53:39 > 0:53:40Yes, Coldharbour Lane, yeah.
0:53:40 > 0:53:46And this will tell us who the occupier is of 463 Coldharbour Lane.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48So, here we go 463...
0:53:48 > 0:53:52So, it says - "Barnabas C Blessed..."
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Oh-ho...
0:53:57 > 0:53:59God. "Shoemaker"!
0:54:02 > 0:54:04No!
0:54:04 > 0:54:06- No, it's not, it's not his brother? - Yes.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08Well, I'm damned! It's Charles.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11- Yes, it is. - I wondered what had happened to him.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I thought he'd died, I didn't dare inquire.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Well, I'll be damned!
0:54:16 > 0:54:19I wouldn't have put any money on that.
0:54:19 > 0:54:20So, his brother!
0:54:21 > 0:54:25But is that why he goes down there to be married? I mean...
0:54:25 > 0:54:29Well, he's certainly staying with his brother at 463 Coldharbour Lane,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33and if we look back at the marriage certificate
0:54:33 > 0:54:35we can see who is witnessing the marriage -
0:54:35 > 0:54:39"Barnabas Charles Blessed" who witnessed the marriage.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42The last time I was acquainted with them
0:54:42 > 0:54:44they were six and eight years of age, I mean, you know,
0:54:44 > 0:54:48they were there in the workhouse, and separated.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52I mean, you're talking... This is over 50 years later!
0:54:52 > 0:54:54And now they're together again.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58How do you think they managed it?
0:54:58 > 0:55:00How does the story seem to you? I mean...
0:55:00 > 0:55:04It's very difficult to know HOW they got back in contact
0:55:04 > 0:55:06with each other or how they kept in contact with each other.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Utterly extraordinary.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12We just don't know.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14My God!
0:55:14 > 0:55:16It's a beautiful, beautiful conclusion.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18How romantic.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21I mean, just amazing. And brotherly love.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23I mean, after all that they suffered as children,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26all those separations, this is really a miracle.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31I mean, I'm just thinking that, er, their father, you know,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35my great-great-great-grandfather Barnabas Blessed,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38and his wife, would be so proud of them.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40And it's turned out well.
0:55:41 > 0:55:46I mean, I wanted to find guts and courage and imagination,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48and I've found it.
0:55:48 > 0:55:49This is what life's about.
0:56:11 > 0:56:12HE EXHALES
0:56:27 > 0:56:29(Ah, well...
0:56:29 > 0:56:31(There's a George...
0:56:31 > 0:56:35(That's it. There you are.)
0:56:36 > 0:56:39Ah. Gosh.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41"Jabez Blessed.
0:56:43 > 0:56:49"Died June 20th, 1890. Aged 73 years of age."
0:56:51 > 0:56:54Ah, dear, Jabez.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56I was just hoping
0:56:56 > 0:56:59and praying that it would end up like this, a successful life.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04My God, you lived life, Jabez, you lived it.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08A tremendous example. A real Blessed.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11I feel a great affinity with you, Jabez.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13Same kind of spirit.
0:57:15 > 0:57:20I just think he was a great survivor and adventurer.
0:57:21 > 0:57:22No coward.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29Yeah, reminds me of Emily Bronte's words, Jabez -
0:57:29 > 0:57:32"No coward soul is mine,
0:57:32 > 0:57:36"No trembler in the earth's storm-troubled sphere;
0:57:36 > 0:57:40"I see Heaven's glories shine
0:57:40 > 0:57:42"and faith shines equal...
0:57:43 > 0:57:45"..arming me...
0:57:46 > 0:57:48"..from fear."
0:57:50 > 0:57:52HE EXHALES
0:57:54 > 0:57:56HE SOBS
0:57:57 > 0:57:59I don't think I've ever cried in my life.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02SOBBING: I've never cried in my life.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05Never cried.
0:58:05 > 0:58:06Not even as a baby.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16I'm proud of you. I'm proud to have found you.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I had a really great-great-grandfather.