Brian Blessed Who Do You Think You Are?


Brian Blessed

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Come, let's get a fox. Come on, let's get a fox.

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Actor Brian Blessed was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire,

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in 1936, the son of a coalminer.

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Today, he lives in Surrey with his wife and their many rescued animals.

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I love my name, Brian Blessed.

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It's the most perfect name - Brian Blessed - boom-boom.

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I like it. Wouldn't exchange it for any name.

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But who are the Blesseds?

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Come on.

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It's not good enough just to know your mother and father

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and your granddad and this, that and the other.

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You want to know the whole root system.

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Zebra 2-1.

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Brian shot to fame in the early 1960s in the police drama Z Cars.

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He went on to star in further television series,

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theatre and films, famously playing Prince Valtan in Flash Gordon.

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Recently, he's chaired the quiz Have I Got News For You.

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I'm Brian Blessed! Yes, it's me!

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HE LAUGHS LOUDLY

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Also a passionate adventurer, he has made three attempts on Everest

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and is the oldest man to reach the Magnetic North Pole.

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I'd always wanted to be an explorer or an actor.

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Those are my two great loves in life.

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And I was determined to do it.

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Hey, Misty, Misty.

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I'm going to find out about my family history.

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This is going to be an adventure, and I really am looking forward to it.

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I'm not looking for crowns and coronets and so forth,

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and the glittering prizes, I'm looking for humanity.

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You know, on television, the greatest dramas are about ordinary people,

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ordinary relationships.

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That is where we learn so much. That has great meaning.

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And that's what I'm looking for.

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To start his journey,

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Brian is heading back to South Yorkshire where he was born.

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I'm a Yorkshireman through and through,

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and I think that Yorkshire people have a great sense of humour

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and therefore, I'm approaching this to a certain extent with humour,

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but I'm very serious about it as well.

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Almost naive and full of faith.

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I can't wait to get started.

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# The train goes running along the line, chickety-can, chickety-can

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# I wish it were mine I wish it were mine

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# Chickety-can, chickety-can, the engine driver stands in front

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# He makes it run, he makes it shunt, chickety-can, chickety-can

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# Chickety-can, chickety-can... #

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HE MIMICS TRAIN WHISTLE

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I find trains madly exciting.

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I can't comprehend the speed we're going at.

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I mean... But it's taking me to my dreams, isn't it?

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Well, the picture there, of course, there's my mother,

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looking very demure, and my father there,

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and then that gorgeous-looking baby is me!

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Which is ridiculous!

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HE CHUCKLES

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I've got my grandfather from the Blessed side, with his wife,

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my grandmother Alice.

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My father and my grandfather were both coalminers.

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My grandfather started work at about 12 years of age,

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he was at Hickleton Main doing all the dynamite

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for blowing up the seams, and my father started in the mine

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just off Hickleton and he looked after all the ponies.

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And he was 13 years of age.

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So my father and grandfather were coalminers,

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but who begat my grandfather?

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Who was before that? Where did they live?

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Who were they? Were they coalminers?

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And my wise granddad - "Hello, Brian, lad,"

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wouldn't talk about anything about his predecessors,

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and that was frustrating.

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Brian grew up near Doncaster.

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He's come back to start his search.

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Well, I'm really excited because I'm going through Doncaster now

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and I know this scenery very well.

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I'm going to the Doncaster Archives to maybe learn a bit more

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about the Blesseds. How far the miners go back. Or were they miners?

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-Hi, Charles, nice to see you.

-Welcome.

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-Have you found anything about the Blesseds?

-I think I have.

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-You have?!

-Come through into the search room.

-Oh, great. Great!

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Archivist Charles Kelham has been looking into the Blessed family tree.

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So here we are, Brian, the Blessed family line.

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Here we have your grandfather, George William,

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your great-grandfather, George Jabez Blessed.

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And his father was Jabez Blessed who was born about 1817.

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My goodness me. What extra... Jabez Blessed.

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And his parents, we know, were Barnabas Blessed

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and Elizabeth Atkinson.

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Barnabas Blessed was married to Elizabeth Atkinson.

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Do you know anything about Barnabas Blessed?

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I mean, was he a coalminer?

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Ah, now. We happen to know that he was a bookbinder and stationer.

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-Never!

-By trade, yes.

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-He was a bookbinder and stationer?

-Yes.

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I used to do that at school, bookbinding and...

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Do we know anything more about them at all there, Charles?

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Well, we know from their marriage banns that they were

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married in 1801 at St Pancras Chapel in London.

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-In London?!

-Yes.

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Extraordinary. St Pancras and that way. And a bookbinder.

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And his wife, a gentle trade, publishing.

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I mean, definitely it's not kind of miners.

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-The coal-mining seems to have stopped and now we're into bookbinding.

-Yes.

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-But London! The south!

-Mm.

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Here we come!

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Brian now knows that his great-great-great-grandparents,

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Barnabas and Elizabeth Blessed, were married in 1801,

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not in Yorkshire, but in London.

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This has taken me by surprise, this one.

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I didn't expect to be going back to London.

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Which is, absolutely, a complete shock.

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I'm here at the back of King's Cross, St Pancras,

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all this noise, it's ridiculous.

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And I didn't know this church existed.

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It's St Pancras Church and I believe this is where Barnabas

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and Elizabeth got married.

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I would never have expected it. Where are my Yorkshire roots?!

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HE CHUCKLES

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It's bizarre!

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HE HUMS

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HE EXHALES

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Isn't it lovely?

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A wonderful atmosphere.

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And I didn't know about it.

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HE EXHALES LOUDLY

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All so startling, as you know, it was over 200 years ago -

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1801. 200 hundreds years ago they were here and they got

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married and they had children and out of the long line...

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..I appeared.

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I owe them that.

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So, thank you, Barnabas and thank you, Elizabeth.

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I wonder if they're looking in on me now.

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I wonder what they looked like.

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I wonder what she wore, you know.

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I bet she looked gorgeous.

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Barnabas... Barnabas Blessed.

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It sounds like, like something from Dickens, doesn't it?

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"Barnabas Blessed, do you take Elizabeth for your wife?"

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"Yes."

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"Do you take Barnabas for your husband?" "Yes. Yes."

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"You may kiss the bride."

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Professor James Raven has more information for Brian

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about Barnabas Blessed.

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Hello, Brian.

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Hello, James. I believe you're going to enlighten me?

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Well, I hope so.

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THEY CHUCKLE

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So, Barnabas was a bookbinder and a stationer.

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I mean, what does that involve?

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Well, this was an extremely exciting time for the book trade.

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There was increased literacy - there was a growing demand for books,

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and the books were all hand, handmade.

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And in many ways the binder, which

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your great-great-great-grandfather was one,

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was one of the unsung heroes

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of this extraordinary revolution in book production

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at the end of the 18th century and the early 19th century.

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-An unsung hero?

-Absolutely.

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At the time, books were manufactured unbound

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and it was the job of bookbinders like Barnabas Blessed,

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to sew in the pages, construct the cover and engrave the lettering.

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In the rapidly-expanding market,

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there was a huge range of bookbinders,

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from modest itinerants, who carried their tools on

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their backs, to the highly-skilled, who worked for elite customers.

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So Barnabas, have you any idea what his position was in this world

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-he lived in?

-Well, that's a very good question.

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-He didn't have a shop or something like that?

-Well, we think he did.

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Now we're very fortunate because there is a certain

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type of record that we're able to use to pinpoint him quite precisely.

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No!!

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And we have here the Land Tax Records of the early 19th century,

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and they can show us quite precisely where Barnabas

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or as he says here, Barnaby, Barnaby Blessed...

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What does it say, my son, what does it say?

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And here he is in Bull Inn Court.

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Bull Inn Court.

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Which is just off the Strand.

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-And we can tell from the assessment...

-Yes, yes.

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..that the tax collector has made, as rent, £32,

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which puts him in the sort of middling range.

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-How fascinating.

-The size of the shop's really very important,

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but it's also more the location.

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-That's what's most exciting.

-Really?

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Because he's in the middle of a flourishing,

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extremely fashionable part of London, close to book-sellers

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and close to potentially elite customers as well.

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-Oh, bravo, Barnaby, eh?!

-Yes, absolutely.

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Marvellous history personified by a great guy.

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-Oh, I'm very proud of him.

-Good.

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-And so, Bull Inn Court, is it still there now?

-Indeed it is.

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You can actually see where your great-great-great-grandfather had his shop.

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Well, I'm damned! Oh, you marvellous man, you lovely!

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That is a surprise. It's Christmas!

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LAUGHTER

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That's great!

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So, Brian, here we are in the Strand.

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-Absolutely.

-Which in the early 19th century would be a bustling

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-thoroughfare as it is, of course, today.

-It is indeed.

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And just behind us,

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behind there would have been Book-sellers' Row which would

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have had huge numbers of book-sellers and book trade personnel.

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And here is, as you see, Bull Inn Court.

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Well, I've never been here before.

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And your great-great-great-grandfather's shop...

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-Yes.

-..would have been about here according to the Land Tax Records.

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-Probably some...

-About here?

-..about here.

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-And how high would it have been?

-Well, it would have been

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about as high as it is today, and the family

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would probably live over it, probably a servant at the very top.

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And I think if we, if we held hands,

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I'm just thinking if you stretch your hand out like that...

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-Yes, yes, right.

-..that's about the width...

-Really?

-..that's about the width of the shop.

-Gosh!

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-Should come somewhere against there.

-And he was here?

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He was right here. There would have been one door, probably...

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Yes.

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And a bow window and his name would have been above the door.

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Gosh! BARNABY! BARNABY! HELLO!

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-I think that's probably... there would have been a lot of noise.

-Yes, a lot of that going on.

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There would have been a lot of noise, a lot of bustle.

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I mean, down there was the Strand, down there is the Strand.

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And there's monkey machines da-da-dang-dang, da-da-dang-dang-dang.

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Taverns around - coffee, coffee houses.

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-Oh, really?

-Up there, because that's Maiden Lane on the way to

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Covent Garden and you have great bustle, great meeting places.

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People would have stopped to see people, conversations, so forth.

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Well, years and years I passed there doing voiceovers

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and so forth, I never realised that

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my great-great-great-grandfather was located here.

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I'll come down here when I'm doing voiceovers and I'll go...

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..and to his wife, yes.

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And say, "Well done, Barnaby, well done to his wife."

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THEY CHUCKLE

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I mean, how... Do we know how long he was here?

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I mean, you know, I mean...

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Well, we know he was certainly here for at least three years,

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but we also do have some baptism records of his children.

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-Oh, do you?

-Now, here we have...

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We've been led on again. Here we go.

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-Baptism Record, May 9th, 1808 in London.

-Gosh, yeah.

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"Martha Atkinson, daughter of Barnabas Blessed, bookbinder."

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-But then we get this.

-Here we go again.

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-Baptism Record, 1814.

-Yes.

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"Barnabas Blessed's son, Barnabas Charles, was

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"baptised in St John's Chapel in the Parish of Portsea."

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Which is now Portsmouth.

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Portsmouth! Well, what's he doing there?

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Well, we can only really speculate about that.

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But Portsmouth had been booming in this period, of course,

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the Napoleonic Wars.

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-He may not have been as successful as he thought he could be here.

-Yes.

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He might have thought he could make his fortune in Portsmouth.

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-Brave lad. A great adventure.

-Yeah.

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Portsmouth's connection to the Navy meant it always

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prospered in times of war.

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In 1814, Britain had been fighting the French for almost 20 years.

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The conflict brought thousands of sailors

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and soldiers to Portsmouth and other trades followed.

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Overall, 15 to 20,000 people moved to the town -

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the Blessed family among them.

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Now Brian's come to Portsmouth to try and discover what

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opportunities his ancestor Barnabas might have found here 200 years ago.

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Oh!

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Hello, John. Well, it's nice to meet you.

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-And you too.

-Yes, great.

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Dr John Steadman is an expert on the history of Portsmouth at the time.

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I mean, John, why would a bookbinder and a stationer leave London

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and come here to Portsmouth?

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Well, Portsmouth was a boom town in 1814.

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All the businesses that prospered through

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the presence of the Navy needed paper and books.

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The Navy needed paper for its ships, its logs, books on navigation,

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so there were great opportunities for bookbinders

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and stationers in Portsmouth to the Navy.

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Terrific then for him as he is a bookbinder, I can understand that.

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But this period of prosperity was not to last.

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Just a year after the Blessed family moved to Portsmouth,

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Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo.

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Britain's long war with the French was over.

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Well, that, I suppose, would mean that business subsided in Portsmouth?

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Very definitely.

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The Government started laying off dockyard workers

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on an enormous scale. Ships are laid up.

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The amount of trade coming to Portsmouth's businesses

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declines very dramatically.

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And would this have affected my, er, Barnabas Blessed and his family?

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I think it would have been a crisis.

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If he's running his own business then, um,

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he would have lost a lot of his custom.

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I wonder how he fared.

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Well, I don't know what to expect now.

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I'm a bit concerned, a bit of trepidation

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because, I mean, I just hope they didn't suffer as a family,

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you know, Barnabas and Elizabeth and their children.

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And being so brave coming all the way from London over here now

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to Portsmouth, and then the war, the Napoleonic War ends

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and everyone seems to have been out of work.

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And why shouldn't THEY be out of work?

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And I don't want to come across a tragic story if I can help it.

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Of course, if it is tragic then you face it.

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But he seemed such a great guy.

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Obviously his wife was lovely, that lovely church

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and that ceremony they had and now their children,

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I don't want to hear that anything untoward happened.

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And that's about it.

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HE SIGHS

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Two years after the end of the Napoleonic War, Barnabas

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and Elizabeth's son, Jabez, Brian's direct ancestor,

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was born in Portsmouth.

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St Mary's Church has records relating to the family.

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HE HUMS Well, well, well!

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-Welcome.

-Hello there. Nice to meet you.

-And you, sir.

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-Great.

-My name's Bob. Pleased to see you.

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-Yes, nice to nice to meet you, Bob.

-Good, good.

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Canon Bob White is the vicar.

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A lad like myself.

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Bob, I'm keen to understand how the Blesseds got on,

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and I believe that you have a record of them.

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We have, we have some records that might help you to find that out.

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-So if I open up the book.

-Excellent, excellent.

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-Shall I give you...?

-Oh, there it is, I can't...

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Try around there. Around this line.

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"Elizabeth", and there's the surname, "Blessed". And what does that imply?

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-If you look at the top of the page, Brian...

-Yes, yes.

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..it might give you some indication to what the records are.

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"Burials in the Parish of Portsea in the County of Southampton

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"in the Year 1822."

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Oh, no! Is that poor Elizabeth died?

0:18:500:18:54

I'm afraid that's the record of her burial.

0:18:540:18:56

-Oh, she was only 40 years old.

-Yes. Yeah.

0:18:560:18:59

How sad.

0:18:590:19:00

Well, Barnabas, I mean, he's got to look after his... He hasn't got

0:19:020:19:06

a wife and he's got three children, he's got Martha, Charles and Jabez.

0:19:060:19:12

And I'm afraid there's another one. There are four children.

0:19:120:19:15

We've got some records that aren't here,

0:19:150:19:17

but I've got a note of it - of the birth of Elizabeth.

0:19:170:19:20

No!

0:19:200:19:21

Who, as you can see, was born in 1820.

0:19:210:19:24

"Elizabeth, born 1820".

0:19:240:19:27

So at the time of the older Elizabeth's death she'd only

0:19:270:19:29

have been two years old.

0:19:290:19:31

So there are four children, one of them who is only two.

0:19:310:19:34

Right. What does this mean? "Father, pauper"? What...?

0:19:340:19:38

Well, that describes the state that the family were in.

0:19:380:19:42

A pauper. Barnabas a pauper?

0:19:420:19:44

Is that...do you mean to tell me he's ended up as a pauper?

0:19:440:19:47

That's what the records seem to be suggesting.

0:19:470:19:49

It means that they had no income, no finances

0:19:490:19:52

and they were entirely dependent upon the state, the parish.

0:19:520:19:55

-Oh!

-But...

-Oh! Bob, I don't like this.

0:19:550:19:58

Nothing I can do about it, I'm afraid.

0:19:580:20:00

All we can do is acknowledge the records that they were paupers.

0:20:000:20:05

I mean... he was a great success in London.

0:20:050:20:08

He had a shop and comes all the way to Portsmouth

0:20:080:20:11

and then he ends up a pauper and loses his wife.

0:20:110:20:15

Ah. And he's now got four children and one just two years old.

0:20:170:20:21

Oh, poor man!

0:20:210:20:23

-And there is more, I'm afraid.

-Oh, no!

0:20:240:20:26

If we turn to another page,

0:20:260:20:29

and it's the same burial register

0:20:290:20:31

and, I'm afraid, it's the same year, 1822.

0:20:310:20:33

1822, another burial.

0:20:330:20:36

Take me there, where is it? Point it out.

0:20:360:20:38

Roughly the same kind of...

0:20:380:20:39

"Barnabas Blessed..." What, "41 years"?

0:20:400:20:46

He dies as well?

0:20:460:20:48

He dies in the same year, about six months later on.

0:20:480:20:51

Oh, dear, dear.

0:20:510:20:53

And we're left with...

0:20:530:20:56

What...he's got four children!

0:20:560:20:58

-Four children.

-Four kids!

-Four kids in very poor conditions.

0:20:580:21:01

Ah!

0:21:010:21:02

Losing your mum and dad - inside six months...

0:21:020:21:06

..incredibly sad.

0:21:070:21:10

And paupers.

0:21:100:21:12

And paupers.

0:21:120:21:13

-Yeah. So they had nothing.

-Wow!

0:21:130:21:16

So when Elizabeth and Barnabas died, I mean,

0:21:180:21:21

where would they be buried? Around here?

0:21:210:21:24

They'd have been buried outside in the churchyard, but there's

0:21:240:21:26

no marks because paupers' graves were always unmarked.

0:21:260:21:29

-Oh, yes, oh, dear. Well, it's not what I expected, Bob.

-No.

0:21:290:21:33

Thank you anyway.

0:21:330:21:34

In a short time I've travelled a great distance.

0:21:410:21:44

It's...

0:21:450:21:47

..it's started to have real meaning for me this journey,

0:21:480:21:51

and I, I know that, er, Barnabas

0:21:510:21:56

and Elizabeth are buried here somewhere amongst this grass here.

0:21:560:21:59

I mean, they died at 40, 41, but they lived so much in that span of time.

0:22:020:22:07

They experienced success and failure.

0:22:070:22:11

And, er...

0:22:110:22:13

It's so peaceful here and I feel they're resting,

0:22:130:22:18

and I feel close to them.

0:22:180:22:20

That's, um, it's the first time I've ever felt close

0:22:200:22:23

to my roots...

0:22:230:22:24

..and, er...

0:22:250:22:26

..I do.

0:22:280:22:30

Ah.

0:22:320:22:34

I'm terribly moved.

0:22:340:22:35

I just, er...

0:22:380:22:39

One can feel them, one can feel them.

0:22:410:22:44

I've never felt this before... in my life.

0:22:440:22:47

It's tangible and real.

0:22:490:22:51

But more than anything I feel they're at peace

0:22:530:22:56

and that I'm at peace with them.

0:22:560:22:58

Following the deaths of Barnabas and Elizabeth Blessed,

0:23:090:23:13

their four children, Martha, Barnabas Charles, Jabez

0:23:130:23:17

and Elizabeth were entirely dependent on the parish.

0:23:170:23:21

To see if he can discover what happened to the children,

0:23:250:23:28

Brian has come to Portsmouth History Centre.

0:23:280:23:31

-Hello there.

-Hello.

0:23:310:23:34

-Are you Anna?

-I am, yes.

-Yes, of course. I'm Brian Blessed.

-Please to meet you.

0:23:340:23:38

Well, I'm here on this quest about Barnabas Blessed

0:23:380:23:40

and what happened to his four children after he died.

0:23:400:23:44

I mean, so I'm hoping you can give me some information about them.

0:23:440:23:47

Yes, I've been doing some research into that.

0:23:470:23:49

As Barnabas was a pauper, the most likely thing that would have

0:23:490:23:52

happened to the children when they became orphans, would be

0:23:520:23:55

that they would have gone into the local parish workhouse.

0:23:550:23:58

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any trace of the family,

0:23:580:24:02

however, once the children became orphans and became

0:24:020:24:05

chargeable to the parish, they might have been removed elsewhere.

0:24:050:24:10

Were the family originally from Portsmouth?

0:24:100:24:13

No, no, no, they came from London.

0:24:130:24:15

Well, it seems possible then they may have been removed to London.

0:24:150:24:18

But they were just children, weren't they?

0:24:180:24:20

If they were a burden to the ratepayers then the parish

0:24:200:24:23

was often very keen to actually remove them elsewhere.

0:24:230:24:27

Oh, dear, dear!

0:24:270:24:30

At the time, paupers had no automatic right to remain

0:24:310:24:35

where they were living, but could be removed anywhere the family

0:24:350:24:38

had once earned entitlement to financial support.

0:24:380:24:41

As a result, destitute men,

0:24:430:24:45

women and even children were routinely sent vast distances

0:24:450:24:50

to the parish that was legally obliged to take them.

0:24:500:24:53

To try to find out if the four Blessed children were

0:24:560:24:59

victims of this system, Brian is travelling back to London.

0:24:590:25:03

I mean, if what Anna says was right, after all this calamity,

0:25:040:25:08

the children have now been taken away.

0:25:080:25:11

'And there were four of them.

0:25:170:25:19

'I mean Martha's 14, trying to be brave and the little baby...'

0:25:190:25:23

HE IMITATES BABY CRYING

0:25:230:25:25

And then you've got Charles, you know,

0:25:250:25:28

who's about eight years of age and Jabez is about five,

0:25:280:25:32

five or six years of age.

0:25:320:25:35

I think they would have become numb.

0:25:350:25:38

Their mother dying just six months before, and then their father

0:25:380:25:42

dying as well.

0:25:420:25:44

I think they'd be in a state of shock.

0:25:450:25:47

I see wide eyes and stillness.

0:25:490:25:52

But they had each other, they were grouped together,

0:25:590:26:02

they were a team and Martha will become the mother.

0:26:020:26:04

She would be very grown up.

0:26:040:26:05

She'd have had to grow up more so.

0:26:050:26:08

So, I think it's up to Martha

0:26:080:26:10

to really hold them together. And I think she will.

0:26:100:26:14

I hope she does.

0:26:140:26:16

If the Blessed children were removed to London, it would have been to the

0:26:200:26:24

parish of St Martin in the Fields where the family once lived.

0:26:240:26:28

The parish records are held at the City of Westminster Archives.

0:26:290:26:33

HE HUMS

0:26:330:26:35

-Hello, Alison, I'm Brian Blessed.

-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

0:26:350:26:39

And you. Lovely to meet you.

0:26:390:26:40

Yes. I'm on a quest to find these four orphaned children.

0:26:400:26:44

-I think you might be able to give me some information.

-Yes.

0:26:440:26:47

Our volunteers have done some indexes of the Poor Law Records,

0:26:470:26:49

we could have a look at those.

0:26:490:26:50

-Would you like to see them?

-Excellent.

0:26:500:26:53

-OK, let's go over here.

-Thank you.

0:26:530:26:56

Well, here are the

0:26:560:26:57

St Martin in the Fields Settlement Examinations.

0:26:570:27:00

Now, do you know when the family might have come to London?

0:27:000:27:03

Yes, in about 1822.

0:27:030:27:05

Oh, right, this should be this one here.

0:27:050:27:07

Let's have a look at it.

0:27:070:27:09

And so we'd be looking for...?

0:27:100:27:12

-Blessed. Blessed.

-Surname. Yes, right.

0:27:120:27:14

Let me just have a look and...

0:27:140:27:16

It's a strange name, as you know.

0:27:160:27:18

See, we'll just scroll down there, and...

0:27:180:27:24

Oh, yes!

0:27:240:27:25

There it is, Blessed, look.

0:27:250:27:27

-Yes.

-1822. You've done it. You've got it.

0:27:270:27:30

-And what does that mean there? What's that?

-Oh, yes, yes.

0:27:300:27:34

So it's, "Children removed from Portsea..."

0:27:340:27:37

That's it!

0:27:370:27:39

"..on the 11th November." Now... "Fa"?

0:27:390:27:43

"Father rented in Bull Inn Court."

0:27:430:27:46

Yeah, that that makes sense.

0:27:460:27:48

Bull Inn Court, that's where the father,

0:27:480:27:50

Barnabas Blessed used to live and he was a bookbinder and a stationer.

0:27:500:27:54

-So, of course, they've sent them back to that parish.

-Yes.

0:27:540:27:58

Look at this.

0:27:580:28:00

Now, 11th of November, that's when they came over, isn't it?

0:28:000:28:03

-Yes.

-Yes, but, but extraordinarily, I mean,

0:28:030:28:07

their father died on the 8th of November.

0:28:070:28:10

And that means three days later they're coming to London

0:28:100:28:14

after their father's death.

0:28:140:28:16

-Yes, yes.

-Astonishing!

0:28:160:28:18

They were really in a hurry to get rid of them, weren't they?

0:28:180:28:20

-I think they were, yes, I think...

-It's all about money.

0:28:200:28:23

Yes. Yes, it is. Yes.

0:28:230:28:26

My goodness.

0:28:260:28:28

-That's a picture, isn't it?

-Yes.

0:28:280:28:30

Oh. Where do we go from here?

0:28:300:28:32

Well, we've got the Day Books for St Martin in the Fields Workhouse,

0:28:320:28:36

so we could have a look at that and see if they were received there and

0:28:360:28:39

whether they've recorded anything else about them on their arrival.

0:28:390:28:43

-Marvellous.

-Yes. Shall we go and have a look at that?

0:28:430:28:45

You're a miracle worker, my dear, a miracle worker. Wow!

0:28:450:28:49

-Right, yes.

-HE CHUCKLES

0:28:490:28:51

Well, this is the Day Book of the St Martin in the Fields Workhouse.

0:28:510:28:55

Well, we're looking for the 11th November, 1822.

0:28:550:28:59

So, if you just support that side, that might

0:28:590:29:03

be a bit of a way through the book.

0:29:030:29:06

10th of November... and...

0:29:060:29:09

Ah, here we are, on this side here, we've got,

0:29:110:29:15

we've got the family up there, can you...?

0:29:150:29:17

Yes, I can see, yes, I can see it. My goodness, look at that.

0:29:170:29:20

We've got Charles Blessed there,

0:29:200:29:22

and we've got Jabez Blessed, 6¾ years of age.

0:29:220:29:26

Those are the ages, yes.

0:29:260:29:28

And Martha, look, 14 years of age. It's all here.

0:29:280:29:34

And look at this.

0:29:340:29:35

Elizabeth Blessed was barely two years old.

0:29:350:29:39

Yes, 22 months.

0:29:390:29:41

22 months. Well, what a find!

0:29:410:29:43

Yes, indeed.

0:29:430:29:45

So, they're, obviously, admitted into the St Martin's Workhouse

0:29:450:29:48

on that day.

0:29:480:29:50

It looks as if the children were split up, actually, because it

0:29:500:29:54

tells you what ward they were put in and we can see the two boys seem

0:29:540:29:58

to have been kept together, they're in, BS, Boys School, then Martha

0:29:580:30:03

is put into Ward 10 and Elizabeth, the baby, is put into Ward 8.

0:30:030:30:07

-Oh, dear, dear!

-Right.

-It's sad, isn't it?

0:30:080:30:11

-It is a sad story, yes.

-It's very sad, but they're surviving.

0:30:110:30:14

-Yes, yes, they are.

-Split up but surviving.

0:30:140:30:16

-Split up, yes with Charles as their spokesman.

-But the two boys are together.

-Yes.

0:30:160:30:19

-So that's a positive thing, yes.

-Yes, yes, it is.

-Look at this.

0:30:190:30:23

It says - "Martha Blessed, 14 years of age." What's that?

0:30:230:30:27

What's that say? What's that say? What's...?

0:30:270:30:30

That says, "an idiot".

0:30:300:30:32

An idiot.

0:30:320:30:34

Martha described as an...idiot.

0:30:340:30:38

I mean, idiot, that's an extraordinary word to use.

0:30:380:30:41

What does it mean? What's it mean?

0:30:410:30:43

Well, I think that was the word they used to describe what

0:30:430:30:46

-we would now call learning difficulties.

-Right.

0:30:460:30:49

Um, or special educational needs. Yes.

0:30:490:30:52

-And that was the overseer's shorthand for that.

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:30:520:30:57

-Oh, that's terribly sad, isn't it?

-It is a sad story, yes.

0:30:570:31:00

Poor Martha. I mean, I got the impression that Martha,

0:31:000:31:03

being 14 years of age, would be in charge of the family

0:31:030:31:06

and be responsible for the family, you know.

0:31:060:31:08

But it seems actually the reverse.

0:31:080:31:10

It looks as if she couldn't and it was probably up to Charles,

0:31:100:31:13

of 8½, it was his responsibility to look after,

0:31:130:31:16

probably looking after Martha as well.

0:31:160:31:18

Yes, I think so.

0:31:180:31:19

In 1822, the workhouse was just off Trafalgar Square,

0:31:260:31:30

opposite the Parish Church of St Martin in the Fields.

0:31:300:31:34

For the Blessed children being admitted would have been

0:31:340:31:37

a daunting experience.

0:31:370:31:39

It was one of the biggest workhouses in the country,

0:31:390:31:41

with over 800 inmates.

0:31:410:31:43

The central courtyard was a graveyard packed

0:31:450:31:48

full of the workhouse dead.

0:31:480:31:50

Little attempt was made to keep families together,

0:31:500:31:53

with all inmates segregated by age and gender.

0:31:530:31:57

Children lived a highly regimented life.

0:31:580:32:01

They were given a basic education and instructed in a trade.

0:32:010:32:06

They rarely, if ever, left the building,

0:32:060:32:10

except to go to church on Sundays.

0:32:100:32:12

Brian has come to St Martin in the Fields Church

0:32:150:32:17

to meet Professor David Green, who has more information about what

0:32:170:32:21

happened to the Blessed children after they arrived at the workhouse.

0:32:210:32:26

I've got a record to show you, but, very sadly, it's a burial register.

0:32:260:32:31

Oh, no! Where's that, where's that, where's...?

0:32:310:32:33

From 1822.

0:32:330:32:35

Where? Ah, there.

0:32:350:32:39

Oh, no! Oh, Martha. Martha. Gosh.

0:32:390:32:42

But, I mean, what... she died November the 19th.

0:32:430:32:47

-I mean, they came here on the 11th.

-That's correct.

0:32:470:32:50

And she died eight days later, 14½ years of age!

0:32:500:32:57

Oh, how sad...

0:32:570:32:59

I mean, obviously the journey killed her.

0:32:590:33:02

She may have been sick when she arrived.

0:33:020:33:04

I mean, her parents had died

0:33:040:33:06

and they were removed very quickly to St Martin in the Fields.

0:33:060:33:11

Within three days of the father dying.

0:33:110:33:14

Poor Martha, eh.

0:33:140:33:15

There were four of them. How, how were the others?

0:33:160:33:20

I mean, was there any danger that they could be ill as well or...?

0:33:200:33:23

Well, there certainly was.

0:33:230:33:25

On the following day, on the 20th, a day after Martha was buried,

0:33:250:33:30

there were two Blessed children baptised here,

0:33:300:33:34

in this very church - Jabez and Elizabeth.

0:33:340:33:38

The baby and, and the six-year-old?

0:33:380:33:41

That's right.

0:33:410:33:42

The speed with which they were baptised suggest that they

0:33:420:33:45

may well have been ill and we've got a little bit more evidence

0:33:450:33:48

that that was actually, sadly, the case.

0:33:480:33:51

Oh, no! No, David! There's not going to be anybody left.

0:33:510:33:56

This is the next page of that very same burial register.

0:33:560:33:59

Where?

0:33:590:34:01

Oh, no! Little Elizabeth, December 3rd...

0:34:010:34:06

-That's right.

-Age - two years of age.

0:34:060:34:09

(Oh, that's terrible.)

0:34:100:34:12

Oh!

0:34:130:34:16

Poor little mite.

0:34:160:34:17

What kind of a life - born in Portsmouth

0:34:190:34:23

and comes over in a cart and...

0:34:230:34:26

That's right.

0:34:260:34:27

..and then, you know, probably didn't know where the hell she was,

0:34:270:34:30

a little baby and screaming and God knows what, and...

0:34:300:34:33

That's right.

0:34:330:34:35

..and then she dies. I mean, that's incredibly cruel.

0:34:350:34:37

And so the two brothers had, in a short space of time,

0:34:530:34:57

lost their parents and lost their sisters.

0:34:570:35:01

I mean, I mean, how did they take that on board?

0:35:010:35:05

I mean, eight years of age and six.

0:35:050:35:07

I mean.

0:35:070:35:09

Terrible losses.

0:35:090:35:11

I've never come across anything like that in my life.

0:35:120:35:17

Awful.

0:35:170:35:19

Well, at least Jabez and Charles had each other

0:35:230:35:26

but I mean, what happened to them next?

0:35:260:35:29

Well, within a week, Jabez was sent off to the Infant Poor House

0:35:290:35:34

at Highwood Hill which is to the north of London.

0:35:340:35:38

He was sent there?

0:35:380:35:39

That's right, with people he didn't know.

0:35:390:35:42

Charles remained in the workhouse and Jabez was moved out.

0:35:420:35:46

-What kind of traumatic effect did that have on him?

-Yes, yes.

0:35:460:35:50

Charles being eight and Jabez being six, incredibly young, isn't it?

0:35:500:35:53

I mean, they'd have clung on to each other

0:35:530:35:55

-and suddenly Jabez was taken out there.

-Yes.

0:35:550:35:58

Lost his parents, lost his sisters,

0:35:580:36:00

and now he's separated from his brother.

0:36:000:36:02

It was common practice to send pauper children out of London

0:36:060:36:09

to infant poorhouses in the countryside where the cleaner

0:36:090:36:13

air and water improved their chances of survival.

0:36:130:36:17

Jabez Blessed spent three years away.

0:36:170:36:20

Then, at the age of nine, he was returned to the workhouse.

0:36:200:36:24

But the previous year his brother Charles had been

0:36:260:36:29

apprenticed in South London.

0:36:290:36:30

It says here that Charles Blessing, aged 11 years,

0:36:320:36:36

he's going to be a shoemaker.

0:36:360:36:38

So that does mean that when Jabez came back his brother had

0:36:390:36:43

gone on this apprenticeship, out of the workhouse?

0:36:430:36:46

It does. Jabez comes back to the workhouse

0:36:460:36:49

and all of a sudden his brother isn't there any more.

0:36:490:36:51

-His brother isn't there. Been looking forward to seeing his brother and he's not there.

-That's right.

0:36:510:36:56

Oh, dear.

0:36:560:36:57

So, they were isolated from each other which is a great shame.

0:36:580:37:03

So, they'd have to be resolute on their own, wouldn't they?

0:37:030:37:06

-You know, and facing life on their own.

-Yes.

0:37:060:37:09

Jabez was now the sole remaining Blessed child in the workhouse.

0:37:090:37:13

For two years the records make no further mention of him.

0:37:150:37:18

Then, in 1827, when he was 11, he reappears.

0:37:180:37:23

So, there's Jabez Blessed, yes.

0:37:240:37:27

What is...? 29th of July, 1827.

0:37:270:37:31

That's correct.

0:37:310:37:32

It says "run away... when at church with the other boys."

0:37:320:37:37

That's right. My God!

0:37:370:37:40

-He does a runner!

-He's done a runner.

0:37:400:37:42

It looks to me like he came to church, did his prayers,

0:37:470:37:50

"Oh, very good." In-between that and here - oing!

0:37:500:37:52

-He's gone.

-That's right.

0:37:520:37:54

Well, he must have been absolutely sure of himself.

0:37:540:37:57

He must have had a plan.

0:37:570:37:59

I mean, he knew the area around London, would he, I don't know?

0:37:590:38:03

But I mean he's, he's 11 and smart, and resolute, and crafty.

0:38:030:38:08

Bloody good going!

0:38:080:38:11

He sounds a character, even at that age, doesn't he?

0:38:110:38:13

He does, he does.

0:38:130:38:15

Jabez is biting.

0:38:250:38:26

He's... I'm beginning... I'm really beginning to get very

0:38:260:38:29

enthusiastic about him cos he's a lad after of my own heart.

0:38:290:38:32

Adventurous. He decides to run off and escape.

0:38:320:38:35

He's now going out into the world.

0:38:370:38:39

His parents die, so what? So what? He still exists.

0:38:400:38:45

"I am here. I am Jabez. I am alive.

0:38:450:38:48

"I am well.

0:38:480:38:49

"Off I go, faster than a speeding bullet."

0:38:490:38:52

He's on his way.

0:38:520:38:54

HE HUMS

0:38:540:38:56

To find out about the world his great-great-grandfather Jabez

0:39:030:39:07

escaped into,

0:39:070:39:08

Brian has come a short distance from St Martin in the Fields

0:39:080:39:12

to Covent Garden Market to meet historian Alysa Levene.

0:39:120:39:15

Very nice to meet you.

0:39:150:39:17

-Well, here I am, Alysa, on this quest.

-Uh-huh.

0:39:170:39:19

I'm in search of one of my ancestors, Jabez Blessed,

0:39:190:39:23

an 11-year-old boy

0:39:230:39:25

and he escaped from St Martin in the Fields in 1827.

0:39:250:39:30

How would he have survived at that time, around here?

0:39:300:39:33

Although we don't know exactly what Jabez did, we thought that,

0:39:330:39:36

probably, this was exactly the sort of place that he might have come.

0:39:360:39:40

I've got a picture here of the site where we're standing in 1827...

0:39:400:39:43

-God!

-..the year that he ran away.

0:39:430:39:45

-Gosh! It hasn't changed.

-No.

0:39:450:39:47

And, as the picture shows, there's quite a lot of opportunities here

0:39:470:39:50

for an enterprising and adventuresome boy.

0:39:500:39:53

We've got lots of markets stalls here selling food that he

0:39:530:39:57

would, probably, have had to filch to try and keep himself together.

0:39:570:40:00

-How could he have earned money?

-Well, he probably would have looked for any little

0:40:000:40:04

opportunities to find in a busy area like this,

0:40:040:40:07

like holding a gentleman's horse while he went off to

0:40:070:40:09

do his errands, or perhaps doing a bit of street entertainment.

0:40:090:40:12

I mean, what kind of thing would they be doing?

0:40:120:40:13

Well, we know that young boys were involved in gangs doing

0:40:130:40:16

things like turning cartwheels in the streets

0:40:160:40:18

and doing acrobatics, especially in theatre land, there would have been people leaving the

0:40:180:40:22

theatre in the evening with a bit of money in their pockets and boys like Jabez would have run ahead

0:40:220:40:26

-of them, turning their cartwheels and asking for a bit of money.

-Extraordinary.

0:40:260:40:30

If he was a strong boy, a charismatic boy,

0:40:300:40:32

that would have helped him a lot in a place like this.

0:40:320:40:34

I mean, the boy intrigues me. I'm dying to know what happened to him.

0:40:340:40:38

Well, I do have something else to show you.

0:40:380:40:40

-Shall we go and sit down and have a look?

-Great.

0:40:400:40:42

When we were thinking about what this boy might have done

0:40:510:40:54

we knew that there was a chance that he might have been

0:40:540:40:56

picked up by one of the officials, and

0:40:560:40:58

so the first place that we looked was back in the Workhouse Register.

0:40:580:41:02

And sure enough, on the 10th of August, 1827, we find him

0:41:020:41:05

back at the workhouse about 2½ weeks after he first ran away.

0:41:050:41:10

Jabez?

0:41:100:41:11

-Yeah. There he is back again.

-They caught him?

0:41:110:41:14

He certainly ended up back there.

0:41:140:41:16

But he actually did end up going off and doing something else.

0:41:160:41:19

-Really?

-If we look further along here.

0:41:190:41:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:41:210:41:22

-This is a record of his apprenticeship

-Yes.

0:41:220:41:24

On the 22nd of August, 1828, he was bound to David Davis

0:41:240:41:29

of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the County of Northumberland - Master Mariner.

0:41:290:41:33

Master Mariner! Been taken as an apprentice!

0:41:330:41:36

Uh-huh.

0:41:360:41:38

And we know that this David Davis regularly

0:41:380:41:41

came down from Newcastle to London and he was a transporter of coal.

0:41:410:41:44

That's amazing! How long did he do that for?

0:41:440:41:46

How long was the apprenticeship for?

0:41:460:41:48

Unfortunately, there are no marine records to tell us

0:41:480:41:51

anything about how long Jabez spent at sea.

0:41:510:41:53

It certainly would have been a hard life.

0:41:530:41:55

Working on a boat like this would have been dirty and dangerous,

0:41:550:41:58

and he's still only 12 years old.

0:41:580:42:00

As an apprentice to a Master Mariner, Jabez would probably

0:42:010:42:05

have lived on board the coal ship and spent most of his time

0:42:050:42:09

at sea, travelling continuously between Newcastle and London.

0:42:090:42:14

We then lose sight of Jabez for quite a long time, and the

0:42:150:42:18

first time we can track him down in a census is 23 years later in

0:42:180:42:22

1851 where he turns up in the market town of Brigg in Lincolnshire.

0:42:220:42:27

In Brigg!

0:42:270:42:29

Yep, there he is, Jabez Blessed.

0:42:290:42:31

-Aged 34.

-Aged 34.

0:42:310:42:34

And this is what he's doing.

0:42:340:42:36

So he's a glass and china dealer.

0:42:360:42:38

A glass and china dealer, from being on ships!

0:42:380:42:41

-So he's left the sea behind him.

-Yeah.

0:42:410:42:43

-Oh, my God!

-He's had a complete change.

-Well, yes.

-That's not the only change in his circumstances...

0:42:430:42:48

No, what...?

0:42:480:42:49

..because listed below him we can see his wife.

0:42:490:42:52

His wife!

0:42:520:42:54

-And she's called Ellen.

-Ellen, his wife.

-Uh-huh. Age 28.

0:42:540:42:57

28! And he's got a daughter.

0:42:570:42:59

-Uh-huh. A daughter called Harriet.

-Harriet.

0:42:590:43:02

And if we turn over the page we can see that Harriet wasn't

0:43:020:43:05

-the only child he'd had by then.

-Elizabeth...

0:43:050:43:08

Uh-huh.

0:43:080:43:10

..William, my dad's name, Emma. So he's got four children in Brigg.

0:43:100:43:15

Yep.

0:43:150:43:16

-Well, good on him?

-Absolutely.

0:43:160:43:18

In fact, he didn't stop there, because we can pick him

0:43:180:43:21

up again ten years later in the 1861 Census, still living in Brigg.

0:43:210:43:25

So there he is, Jabez Blessed.

0:43:250:43:27

Oh, yes, Jabez Blessed, and he's a licensed hawker.

0:43:270:43:31

Uh-huh. So, he's still a seller of goods.

0:43:310:43:33

All the glasses and china and so forth, and four children, very enterprising.

0:43:330:43:38

Well, let's look again at the four children

0:43:380:43:39

because he's still living with his wife Ellen...

0:43:390:43:42

-Yes.

-..then we have Elizabeth...

0:43:420:43:44

-Elizabeth...

-..who's 18, and again, if you turn over the page...

0:43:440:43:47

I can't wait! Here we go. No!

0:43:470:43:50

Look at this. William Blessed, Emma, Charles...

0:43:500:43:53

Uh-huh.

0:43:530:43:55

..which, of course, is his brother's name, isn't it?

0:43:550:43:57

Anna, Alice, George and another Jabez!

0:43:570:44:00

-Uh-huh.

-And Ellen. That's...

-A baby.

0:44:000:44:04

-How many's that?

-Ten altogether.

0:44:040:44:06

-Ten!

-The oldest must have left home.

0:44:060:44:08

Well, he was a randy lad, wasn't he?

0:44:080:44:10

SHE CHUCKLES

0:44:100:44:11

And a healthy wife. My goodness me!

0:44:110:44:14

A runaway boy from the age of 11,

0:44:140:44:16

he goes all over the country to Northumberland,

0:44:160:44:18

then he goes to Brigg and then he has ten children, gets married.

0:44:180:44:21

And he must have been doing reasonably well for himself

0:44:210:44:24

because all of the children, apart from the baby, are labelled as being scholars.

0:44:240:44:27

-And you had to pay for education.

-Believes in education.

-Yeah.

0:44:270:44:31

What a great guy.

0:44:310:44:32

His story was so sad, I was almost in tears.

0:44:320:44:35

You know, all the people dying and so forth.

0:44:350:44:37

I wonder what Brigg is like now.

0:44:370:44:39

-It's not very far from where I grew up.

-Maybe you should go and take a look.

0:44:390:44:42

I think I should. I think I should go to Brigg.

0:44:420:44:45

HE LAUGHS

0:44:450:44:47

The journey to Brigg takes Brian back to

0:44:520:44:55

within 50 miles of where he was born in South Yorkshire.

0:44:550:44:59

Jabez, he's becoming quite a hero to me.

0:44:590:45:02

Cos an interesting thing was,

0:45:020:45:03

I mean that, of course, he was 12 years of age

0:45:030:45:06

and then sent on the coal ships, really tremendously hard work.

0:45:060:45:11

But it just wasn't something that was grim. Oh, no.

0:45:110:45:14

And you cannot emphasise enough about the sea.

0:45:140:45:17

"I long to go to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

0:45:170:45:21

"A cry that may not be denied, and all I ask is a tall ship

0:45:210:45:26

"and a star to steer her by."

0:45:260:45:29

Think of the nights - the stars would shine.

0:45:290:45:32

Be still sometimes and then stormy.

0:45:320:45:35

Wonderful scenery as well.

0:45:350:45:37

So it would have opened his heart up.

0:45:370:45:39

So I'm now going to Brigg. I'm really excited about it.

0:45:470:45:49

This is where he came.

0:45:490:45:51

I mean, it's a tremendous surprise to me that he

0:45:510:45:53

should come here as a hawker and get married and have a large family.

0:45:530:46:00

I'm intrigued!

0:46:000:46:01

-Hello, Ian. Well, well, well.

-Hello, Brian.

0:46:110:46:13

Brian has come to ask historian, Ian Packer,

0:46:130:46:16

how hard it would have been for Jabez to make his living in Brigg.

0:46:160:46:20

I mean, my great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed,

0:46:200:46:23

he was a china and glass hawker. What would that have involved?

0:46:230:46:28

And to be a successful hawker I think the greatest asset you

0:46:280:46:31

could have is a charismatic personality,

0:46:310:46:34

somebody who's a natural salesman who can draw people in.

0:46:340:46:37

Yeah, and would it be a good place to do business?

0:46:370:46:40

Yes, it definitely would.

0:46:400:46:41

That time when Jabez is here, is just at the moment

0:46:410:46:44

when Brigg is really starting to grow and to thrive.

0:46:440:46:48

This is the main market town for this area of Lincolnshire.

0:46:480:46:52

It's where people come to buy and sell.

0:46:520:46:54

Well, Ian, I've got a census here, I mean, with this address on it.

0:46:540:46:58

There we are, you hold it with me - there, me ducks.

0:46:580:47:02

And I've got there, look,

0:47:020:47:04

-Jabez Blessed, there he is.

-Calvin Chapel Yard.

0:47:040:47:08

Calvin Chapel Yard, I mean, that's where he lived.

0:47:080:47:11

-Does it still exist?

-Yes, it does. Would you like to go and take a look at it?

0:47:110:47:16

Marvellous! Wonderful! You're a star!

0:47:160:47:18

-Let's go and do that.

-Thank you.

0:47:180:47:20

And this, of course, would have been the main street in

0:47:270:47:30

19th-century Brigg, as it is now, with the shops on either side.

0:47:300:47:35

Pork butcher, as we have here.

0:47:350:47:38

And here is Calvin Chapel Yard where your ancestor lived.

0:47:380:47:41

-Well, that's marvellous.

-Shall we go and take a look?

0:47:410:47:44

-Marvellous. Within, yes, indeed.

-Yes.

-Gosh.

0:47:440:47:48

Well, this is atmospheric, isn't it, eh? Amazing.

0:47:480:47:53

And this is... These buildings are more or less as they would

0:47:530:47:56

have been when your ancestors lived here.

0:47:560:47:59

-So, it's not changed much?

-No.

0:47:590:48:00

Look at this! Ah, it's amazing.

0:48:000:48:03

And this one here is undergoing restoration at the moment,

0:48:120:48:15

-so we can go in and take a look if you like.

-Wonderful. Wonderful.

0:48:150:48:18

HE HUMS

0:48:190:48:22

Oh, well I never!

0:48:230:48:25

I mean, if Jabez lived here, I mean, this is akin to me as a child.

0:48:250:48:29

This is very like the room we had.

0:48:290:48:31

And you had the fireplace here, look,

0:48:310:48:33

and you cooked all your stuff in here, and you had your kettle there,

0:48:330:48:38

all black-leaded and so forth, but it was a happy way of living.

0:48:380:48:43

Ah, memories. But it was this kind of atmosphere.

0:48:430:48:46

If Jabez lived in a place like this, it would actually be fine here,

0:48:510:48:54

with ten children because little single beds, etc,

0:48:540:48:57

double beds, they'd make it work.

0:48:570:48:58

Well, actually, Brian, we know from looking at later censuses

0:48:580:49:03

that Jabez and his wife finally had 13 children.

0:49:030:49:06

-13 children.

-Hm-mm.

0:49:060:49:08

-He was... There was nothing wrong with him, was there?

-Certainly not.

0:49:080:49:11

He didn't need the purple pill, did he?!

0:49:110:49:13

He was a real...a randy lad.

0:49:130:49:15

Really, he served his country well.

0:49:150:49:17

HE LAUGHS

0:49:170:49:19

Marvellous. Terrific.

0:49:190:49:21

And it looks like all 13 of those children grew up to be adults.

0:49:210:49:24

It's very unusual in the late 19th century.

0:49:240:49:27

People thought it was astonishing that all

0:49:270:49:29

nine of Queen Victoria's children grew up to be adults.

0:49:290:49:33

But the... So for 13 of Jabez's children to grow into adulthood,

0:49:330:49:37

-it's quite extraordinary.

-Marvellous!

0:49:370:49:39

I'm sick of hearing about, you know, horrible death

0:49:390:49:41

and disease from Portsmouth and all that, that they

0:49:410:49:45

actually came to Brigg and had good health.

0:49:450:49:47

Well, I'm damned.

0:49:470:49:50

I feel we've found him.

0:49:500:49:52

Jabez - we've found you!

0:49:520:49:54

UNDER HIS BREATH: "I know!"

0:49:540:49:56

Could you hear that? No, that was him.

0:49:560:49:58

But I'm sure we've found him.

0:49:580:50:00

You can, I find, you can feel your ancestors.

0:50:160:50:19

I can feel him. I can feel them.

0:50:190:50:21

I can feel the children.

0:50:210:50:23

I can feel the happiness and the health.

0:50:230:50:26

And all these chapels and everywhere they were,

0:50:260:50:28

they were baptised, it starts to sink into your DNA molecule.

0:50:280:50:32

You're not... It's not just looking at something of a dead past,

0:50:320:50:36

but a past that is a present and the future, all one,

0:50:360:50:39

and you can feel it growing within you.

0:50:390:50:42

I feel part of them.

0:50:440:50:46

Not just the blood, the somehow...

0:50:460:50:49

their very presence.

0:50:490:50:50

Obviously a very happy family.

0:50:550:50:58

And obviously healthy. Led a healthy life.

0:50:580:51:00

Well, it obviously was a very healthy life for the family

0:51:000:51:03

because the first death that we know of is actually Jabez's wife

0:51:030:51:08

Ellen, who dies in 1875 after 35 years of marriage.

0:51:080:51:13

(Gosh, gosh.)

0:51:130:51:15

Did Jabez outlive her by much or very much longer?

0:51:150:51:18

Well, on that, there's something more I'd like to show you.

0:51:180:51:21

I don't believe it. Yes, lead on, lead on!

0:51:210:51:24

This is something I thought might interest you.

0:51:380:51:40

This is Jabez's

0:51:410:51:43

second marriage certificate...

0:51:430:51:46

in 1876.

0:51:460:51:48

Second?!

0:51:490:51:50

After Jabez's first wife died, he married again.

0:51:510:51:55

He got married again.

0:51:550:51:57

What is it? "Jabez Blessed." Yes.

0:51:570:52:00

"When married - August 1st."

0:52:000:52:02

Does it give the wife's name?

0:52:020:52:05

Yes. Yes, here she is.

0:52:050:52:06

It's Sabina Johnson.

0:52:070:52:09

Sabina! That's very glamorous. Johnson.

0:52:090:52:13

-Of course.

-So he married again.

0:52:130:52:15

We can see here he gives

0:52:150:52:17

the residence at the time of his marriage as 463 Coldharbour Lane.

0:52:170:52:23

Coldharbour Lane? I mean...

0:52:230:52:26

It's London.

0:52:260:52:28

Yes, as you can see, the Parish of Brixton.

0:52:280:52:31

Brixton. What's happened to Brigg? I am totally mystified.

0:52:310:52:35

I haven't a clue where I am.

0:52:350:52:37

I thought, "This is it. The circle is complete.

0:52:370:52:40

"I've been to his room, I've been to the house." You know,

0:52:400:52:44

the 13 children, the wife died and heroic man and colourful man,

0:52:440:52:48

charisma and all this, that and the other,

0:52:480:52:50

-and getting married again and he's in London!

-That's right.

0:52:500:52:54

Bloody hell! What's he doing in London?

0:52:540:52:57

Well, he may not be living there, he may just be staying there

0:52:570:53:01

because we know that Jabez

0:53:010:53:03

and his new wife Sabina end up back here in North Lincolnshire.

0:53:030:53:08

Oh, God.

0:53:080:53:09

And so she lived then, did she? In Brixton, until... No?

0:53:090:53:13

The address for her is Winterton in Lincolnshire.

0:53:130:53:17

That's about ten miles from here, in Brigg.

0:53:170:53:19

Well, that's even more extraordinary.

0:53:190:53:22

What possessed them to go and get married down there then?

0:53:220:53:25

Well, I've got something here which may give us a clue.

0:53:250:53:28

BRIAN CHUCKLES

0:53:280:53:29

-What we have here is the census from 1881...

-Yes.

0:53:290:53:33

..so it's as closest in date to the marriage,

0:53:330:53:35

and as you can see here, this is the register for Coldharbour Lane.

0:53:350:53:39

Yes, Coldharbour Lane, yeah.

0:53:390:53:40

And this will tell us who the occupier is of 463 Coldharbour Lane.

0:53:400:53:46

So, here we go 463...

0:53:460:53:48

So, it says - "Barnabas C Blessed..."

0:53:480:53:52

Oh-ho...

0:53:530:53:55

God. "Shoemaker"!

0:53:570:53:59

No!

0:54:020:54:04

-No, it's not, it's not his brother?

-Yes.

0:54:040:54:06

Well, I'm damned! It's Charles.

0:54:060:54:08

-Yes, it is.

-I wondered what had happened to him.

0:54:080:54:11

I thought he'd died, I didn't dare inquire.

0:54:110:54:14

Well, I'll be damned!

0:54:140:54:16

I wouldn't have put any money on that.

0:54:160:54:19

So, his brother!

0:54:190:54:20

But is that why he goes down there to be married? I mean...

0:54:210:54:25

Well, he's certainly staying with his brother at 463 Coldharbour Lane,

0:54:250:54:29

and if we look back at the marriage certificate

0:54:290:54:33

we can see who is witnessing the marriage -

0:54:330:54:35

"Barnabas Charles Blessed" who witnessed the marriage.

0:54:350:54:39

The last time I was acquainted with them

0:54:390:54:42

they were six and eight years of age, I mean, you know,

0:54:420:54:44

they were there in the workhouse, and separated.

0:54:440:54:48

I mean, you're talking... This is over 50 years later!

0:54:480:54:52

And now they're together again.

0:54:520:54:54

How do you think they managed it?

0:54:560:54:58

How does the story seem to you? I mean...

0:54:580:55:00

It's very difficult to know HOW they got back in contact

0:55:000:55:04

with each other or how they kept in contact with each other.

0:55:040:55:06

Utterly extraordinary.

0:55:060:55:08

We just don't know.

0:55:100:55:12

My God!

0:55:120:55:14

It's a beautiful, beautiful conclusion.

0:55:140:55:16

How romantic.

0:55:160:55:18

I mean, just amazing. And brotherly love.

0:55:180:55:21

I mean, after all that they suffered as children,

0:55:210:55:23

all those separations, this is really a miracle.

0:55:230:55:26

I mean, I'm just thinking that, er, their father, you know,

0:55:280:55:31

my great-great-great-grandfather Barnabas Blessed,

0:55:310:55:35

and his wife, would be so proud of them.

0:55:350:55:38

And it's turned out well.

0:55:380:55:40

I mean, I wanted to find guts and courage and imagination,

0:55:410:55:46

and I've found it.

0:55:460:55:48

This is what life's about.

0:55:480:55:49

HE EXHALES

0:56:110:56:12

(Ah, well...

0:56:270:56:29

(There's a George...

0:56:290:56:31

(That's it. There you are.)

0:56:310:56:35

Ah. Gosh.

0:56:360:56:39

"Jabez Blessed.

0:56:390:56:41

"Died June 20th, 1890. Aged 73 years of age."

0:56:430:56:49

Ah, dear, Jabez.

0:56:510:56:54

I was just hoping

0:56:540:56:56

and praying that it would end up like this, a successful life.

0:56:560:56:59

My God, you lived life, Jabez, you lived it.

0:56:590:57:04

A tremendous example. A real Blessed.

0:57:040:57:08

I feel a great affinity with you, Jabez.

0:57:080:57:11

Same kind of spirit.

0:57:110:57:13

I just think he was a great survivor and adventurer.

0:57:150:57:20

No coward.

0:57:210:57:22

Yeah, reminds me of Emily Bronte's words, Jabez -

0:57:240:57:29

"No coward soul is mine,

0:57:290:57:32

"No trembler in the earth's storm-troubled sphere;

0:57:320:57:36

"I see Heaven's glories shine

0:57:360:57:40

"and faith shines equal...

0:57:400:57:42

"..arming me...

0:57:430:57:45

"..from fear."

0:57:460:57:48

HE EXHALES

0:57:500:57:52

HE SOBS

0:57:540:57:56

I don't think I've ever cried in my life.

0:57:570:57:59

SOBBING: I've never cried in my life.

0:57:590:58:02

Never cried.

0:58:030:58:05

Not even as a baby.

0:58:050:58:06

I'm proud of you. I'm proud to have found you.

0:58:130:58:16

I had a really great-great-grandfather.

0:58:160:58:19

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