Sheridan Smith Who Do You Think You Are?

I found it a bit overwhelming being down here in London.

You know, coming from up north and not speaking proper,

and doing plays like Hedda Gabler, which I hadn't even heard of,

Everyone was going, "How embarrassing,

"you shouldn't admit that you didn't know that play."

But I don't know Hedda Gabler.

And so...that was quite hard to adapt to really.

And I do feel a bit like kind of Alice in Wonderland

who's fallen down this rabbit hole

and come to this mad world here in London.

In 1997, at the age of 16,

Sheridan Smith left home to become an actress in London.

Over more than a decade since,

she's become a star on both stage and screen.

There has been that thing that I'm like, "No, come on you can do it."

And I don't know if it's the working class in me,

but I must have a bit of determination.

Just a little something in my belly that...keeps driving me,

but it's terrifying at the same time.

-Excuse me, I'll just put me lash on.

-SHE LAUGHS

Sheridan has performed since she was a child,

singing alongside her parents in the workingmen's clubs

near their home in North Lincolnshire.

My dad did always say that I could sing from when I was little,

they used to put on me on this stool

and then I used to whack this massive voice out.

And people would be like,

"How's that big voice coming out of somebody so small?!"

That's probably why I'm so gobby now.

But I love singing. I've always loved singing.

SHE CLICKS HER FINGERS

I love my dad. I'm such a daddy's girl.

I absolutely adore him and...

he's been the one who's always wanted to find out about his family.

-Here she comes.

-My dad is somehow just so musically talented.

I've always thought my dad must have musical bones.

There must be musicians in my family. There's got to be.

Lovely. Thank you, my darling.

Cos otherwise where's my dad's talent come from?

-SHE SIGHS

-Ready.

I'm so grateful to be working all the time,

but, you know, you kind of go from job to job

with meeting new little families and then you're off on to the next one,

so you're never kind of stable.

And the one thing I've got is my family up north.

Yeah, that is like my little safe haven.

This is my home stretch this bit.

And...I just get really excited.

I get excited about seeing them and...

So tonight, I'm going to my mum and dad's club that they gig at,

Bentley Top Club.

But, yeah, this...this stretch here is just...

I love it, it's beautiful.

My mum and dad are a country and western duo.

They've always been musicians, that's their living.

My dad plays guitar, Hawaiian steel guitar, banjo.

My mum plays mandolin, bass guitar.

I mean, I remember at school, when I used to go to school,

and dad would turn up to pick me up

with his 'tache, looking like a cowboy.

SHE LAUGHS

But this country and western scene was huge up north.

This is going to be great.

I'm so excited! We're here.

Here we are, Bentley Top Club.

SHE CHUCKLES

Here we go.

MUSIC PLAYS INSIDE

-Ah!

-SHE LAUGHS

-WOMAN:

-# You won't be late tonight Will you, mamma?

# You won't be late tonight Will you, mamma? #

-APPLAUSE

-I used to go to the clubs with them

since I was four, till like 16.

And even now when I go home,

I'll get up and sing, do a number with them.

WHISTLING AND APPLAUSE

It's our little family thing that we do when I go back.

And now...the highlight of the evening.

I'm going to bring my little girl...

Sheridan Smith, ladies and gentlemen. Sheridan!

Our Sheridan! Our very own Sheridan! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I don't think I've ever met anyone else's parents

who were a country and western duo.

It's quite surreal, really.

They're from Doncaster! Like, a little village in Doncaster

and they're singing songs from Nashville.

I'm going to sing you a song.

# I met him in a bar room

# He was a thousand miles from home

# He said I just can't settle down

# I always need to roam... #

My mates don't believe me down in London when I tell them,

until I take them back and then they're like,

"Wow! OK. This really happens up here."

# Now he's back on the road a loner... #

We love a Wednesday night down at the Bentley Top Club.

SHE LAUGHS

# Come home with me Romany Cowboy

# I'll keep you warm tonight... #

Sheridan's back home in the house where she grew up,

not far from Doncaster.

It's 16 years since she left here for London

and until now she's never found the time

to ask her parents about the family background.

Right...I want to know everything.

-Remember that?

-Mark and Madeleine, yeah. Oh, my God!

-Your legs, Mother!

-Well, my skirt, look, is over my shoulder

because we used to do song and dance then.

-Oh, and you used to rip it off?

-Yeah.

-Oh, like... # Making your mind up! #

-Yeah.

-I was a dance man.

-Did you dance?

-Yeah. Tap dancing, yeah.

-You did not tap dance!

-I did.

He's still got his tap shoes upstairs.

How did I never know that you tap danced?

-Oh, yeah.

-I love a bit of a tap.

So this was before the country and western?

-Oh, yeah.

-You looked like me, Mum, didn't you?

I mean, I look like you.

THEY LAUGH

You were clean shaven then, you didn't have any... Yeah.

And then that's when we moved to country and western.

See his cowboy hat on there?

Oh, yeah. You've got the instruments now. But why country music?

Started in the army, when I was in the army in Egypt in the '50s.

And I walked in the NAAFI...

A NAAFI's like...a big concert room with a bar.

You know, you can have a drink or a cup of tea, a pint.

And there was a kid, a lad, sat on a high stool with a guitar

and he's playing country and western.

-I thought it was the most wonderful thing I'd ever heard.

-Aw!

I thought, "I must get a guitar."

And, of course, my dad was a professional musician.

-He was a cellist, wasn't he?

-Yeah.

-He was classical music, you see, classical music.

-Was he?

He looked down a bit on guitars and things like that, you know.

-You're self-taught?

-Self-taught.

-That's amazing.

-Play In A Day, Bert Weedon. LAUGHTER

-And you're a brilliant banjo player, aren't you?

-Well, no...

-You are.

-I wouldn't say that.

-You are.

-HE LAUGHS

-That's...my dad.

-See, I've not seen any of this.

-My dad with his... It's an orchestra, really.

-I never met Grandad, did I?

No. So that's me dad.

Absolutely lovely man.

-Loveliest man you could ever wish, my dad.

-Like you.

Oh, he was really placid, you know.

Me dad used to play at the Mansion House in Doncaster

when the Queen came...for the St Leger racing. SHERIDAN GASPS

-Really?!

-A little string quartet in the corner,

you know, playing mood music, all dressed up in a bow tie and...

-Blooming heck!

-He used to come back plaiting his legs. LAUGHTER

Yeah, cos he was only a little fellow

and he used to strap his cello on his back

and from the back it looked like a cello walking down road.

-LAUGHTER You could just see his feet, you know.

-Was he really small?

-Yeah, very small, yeah.

-That's why I'm so diddy.

And he'd come back with a bunch of flowers for me mum

and a box of cigars under his arms.

-And Nana used to play the organ, didn't she?

-Piano.

-Piano.

-And sing.

-And sing. I remember...

-Oh, she could knock out a tune.

I really remember when I was little

-that I used to go round and she'd play.

-She loved her Guinness.

And she'd put a pint of Guinness on piano.

Well, people used to buy 'em for her, you know, to keep her playing.

And she'd be banging away and this Guinness would be...

Piano'd be moving and this Guinness would be moving about on top.

I used to stand there as a kid.

I were watching it thinking, "It's going to fall in a minute." SHERIDAN LAUGHS

That's like me coming and watching you two gigging when I was little.

Oh, she could rattle the piano.

Like Winifred Atwell, she could play in all these different styles.

Ah, there's Nana.

-And your mother's called...?

-Hettie.

-Hettie.

-Hettie.

-Yes. And that's me mum's dad.

-Doubleday.

-Ah!

William Doubleday. He was the boss in the steelworks.

He's your great-grandfather.

-Used to frighten me, very strict.

-Oh, yeah?

-Oh, God, yeah.

He'd got a little baby grand in his room

and that's probably why me mum took it up as well, you know.

-So that's Doubleday?

-Yeah.

-And that's me Nana's dad?

Yes. But...have a look at this.

This is amazing.

-Ohh!

-These are Doubledays.

-These are The Three Darrells.

-It was just a stage name?

It was their stage name as far as I know.

-So where were they from?

-From Sheffield.

-Ah, right.

-Yeah.

-We're all Sheffield family.

-The whole family, as far as you can remember?

Yeah, we're all Sheffield.

I wonder why it was banjos that they played?

It's an amazing shot that.

-I love it! I've never seen that.

-I'd love to know...

-More about this picture?

-Yeah.

-It's fantastic.

I've definitely got to find out who this guy is.

Yeah.

Sheridan's on her way to Sheffield

where the Doubleday branch of her family was from.

She's meeting genealogist, Eileen Butcher,

hoping to discover more about the banjo player in her father's photo.

-There's this picture.

-Oh!

Which is amazing! It's the best thing I've ever seen.

So these are the Doubledays.

OK. So the furthest you've got back is William Doubleday.

-Which was my dad's grandfather, my great-grandfather.

-Yeah. OK.

I've done some research and we've got his father's birth certificate,

-so we're going back another generation.

-Yeah.

So this is your great-great-grandfather,

Benjamin Doubleday.

Wow!

"Benjamin, boy. The year is 17th February, 1856."

So this tells you where he was born.

It tells you in the first column.

"Union Workhouse, New Sleaford."

Probably what's happened in this case

is that the family are in the workhouse

because of monetary worries and so on,

so they've ended up in the workhouse.

-Really?

-Yeah. So it's very humble beginnings.

-Ah, so he was born in the workhouse?

-Yeah.

-That's amazing.

And so this is a marriage certificate.

Eileen reveals to Sheridan

that her great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Doubleday,

went on to marry Sarah Jane Collins.

It gives you the date of marriage.

"27th March, 1883."

Sheridan discovers that Benjamin and Sarah Jane had four children.

Her great-grandfather William had three sisters,

May Fanny, Harriet and Caroline.

And her birth certificate holds a clue about Benjamin.

"5th April, 1890.

"Caroline...Maud, a girl by Benjamin Doubleday

"and Sarah Jane Doubleday.

"Occupation of father - Teacher of music."

-SHERIDAN GASPS

-We've got one other little...

-Oh, gosh! It's getting so exciting.

Now, this is from a newspaper.

Yeah. "The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, November 25th, 1886.

"Concert at the Parish Room, Sharrow.

"A most successful entertainment took place on Tuesday evening

"in aid of the funds of the workingmen's club

"in connection with St Andrew's Church.

"One notable feature was the banjo playing of Mr B Doubleday,

"whose remarkable power over that instrument

"proved it capable of much greater resources

"than are generally attributed to it.

"His rendering of Home Sweet Home with..."

Oh, God! I'm getting all emotional. Can't believe this!

"His rendering of Home Sweet Home

"with variations was received with enthusiastic applause."

Oh, God! I can't... Don't!

-Ah! It's like a little review, isn't it?

-It is.

I can't read it now, cos I can't see!

Idiot! Oh, gosh! It's amazing!

"His rendering of Home Sweet Home with variations

"was received with enthusiastic applause

-"and merited the determined encore which followed."

-Yeah.

-So he was a banjo player?

-Yes.

-An amazing one by the sounds of it.

-That explains the banjos.

-It does.

And my dad plays the banjo, brilliantly.

Well, I don't know about as well as Mr Benjamin Doubleday!

Wow! It's so brilliant!

I can't wait for my dad to find this all out.

Honestly, I'm so... This is going to be such a journey.

I want to figure out now where his banjo playing came from.

Where Benjamin Doubleday... How he became a teacher of music.

So was he self-taught...like my dad's done? I don't know.

I just want to know more about the Doubledays now.

The fact that like a century ago

that he got a review saying he was astonishing is just so exciting.

-I'm so chuffed. This is amazing!

-SHE LAUGHS

An hour down the motorway at Leeds University is Professor Derek Scott,

a specialist in music from the period

when Benjamin Doubleday played the banjo.

Hello, Professor Derek.

-Well...

-It's an honour to meet you.

-It's an honour to meet you, too.

Really? Well, thank you for having me.

-So, Professor Derek, I've got a review to read you...

-OK.

..that made me cry.

So it says,

"Mr B Doubleday, his rendering of Home Sweet Home with variations

"was received with enthusiastic applause

"and merited the determined encore which followed."

-I mean, what a review!

-That is amazing, yeah.

-Isn't that amazing?

And so how would he have learnt to play the banjo?

Well, I think that he had something like this, a banjo instructor.

-So do you think he was self-taught?

-I think he was self-taught.

-Yes!

See, my dad is, my dad's self-taught.

Where did this banjo come from, do you think?

The banjo came to Britain when a kind of entertainment

we now know as Black Face Minstrelsy arrived in 1843,

the Virginia Minstrels.

They were all white but they used burnt cork,

they pretended to be plantation African Americans playing.

And this was the normal style.

-Let me just show you the kind of banjo at this time.

-Wow!

-What a great instrument!

-Um...

It doesn't have a resonator on the back, so it's not as loud.

-It's got the...nylon strings.

-HE STRUMS

It would have had gut strings.

-It's a very different sound, isn't it?

-And no frets on it at this time,

it was like a violin.

-The kind of minstrel style was just...

-HE PLUCKS THE BANJO

It just went like...

You'd simply put a thimble on your finger, and strummed the banjo.

-If I played a tune...

-HE PLUCKS THE BANJO

-..it's too abrupt.

-Yeah.

So a style of banjo developed,

and your great-great-grandfather would have been part of this,

where you just used the thumb, index finger, middle finger

and try to keep the banjo going all the time.

HE PLAYS MORE FLUIDLY

-I mean it's not...

-That's amazing!

I'm not a banjoist, but that's the kind of style.

And this became known as the classic banjo style,

-which is still used today.

-Like my dad does.

So that review, saying that he...

Where was it? Let me read it, that last bit where it says,

"..whose remarkable power over that instrument

"proved it capable of much greater resources

"than are generally attributed to it."

-It's that... So he...

-Yes, I think...

-That's his plucking and everything?

-I think so, yes.

BANJO PLAYS

Benjamin Doubleday was a trail blazer in this new style of finger-picking.

By the time he performed Home Sweet Home in 1886,

the banjo was moving beyond minstrel shows,

which had been popular with the middle and upper classes.

This respectable audience

now became interested in the banjo in its own right.

They elevated it to the height of fashion

with concerts and parlour performances.

I think we've got another clipping in here

that will show just how talented...

-SHERIDAN LAUGHS

-..your great-great-grandfather was.

Look at...this.

-The Bohee Brothers.

-"The Bohee Brothers at the Albert Hall."

-It's the Sheffield Albert.

-Oh.

-Wait a minute, I should say...

I know people go, "Oh, it's not the real one then."

The Sheffield Albert Hall

-was a wonderful, wonderful hall.

-That's even better.

-Of course.

-It burnt down in 1937, unfortunately.

-Oh, no!

-But it was a grand hall. It was an impressive concert hall.

-Wow!

It held over a thousand people, it was...

And who are the Bohee Brothers?

They came to Britain in the 1890s

and established themselves as the great banjo players of the day.

Wow! So they've come over.

"A special programme was provided

"for the last evening at the Albert Hall,

"but owing to the extremely unfavourable weather..."

The weather was a nightmare!

-Well, this is the grim north.

-This is, isn't it?

We're used to it up here.

"..the unfavourable weather,

"the attendance was not so good as it otherwise would have been.

"In addition to the clever playing, acting and singing

"of the Bohee Brothers and the members of their company,

"Mr and Mrs Doubleday and several of their banjo pupils

"attended and greatly delighted the audience

"with a display of their skill

"and proficiency on that now popular instrument."

Wow! Mr and Mrs Doubleday!

Both he and his wife are playing, but also they're playing

with the greatest banjo players of the 19th century.

-Ohh!

-The Bohee Brothers,

they were African American but they were from Canada.

James Bohee was THE number one banjo player.

It would be like...playing violin with Yehudi Menuhin.

He was the outstanding player.

Playing for respectable audiences, the self-taught Benjamin Doubleday

had come a long way from his working-class roots.

His earliest performances would most likely have been in public houses,

in rooms used as music halls.

CHATTER They were noisy places, crowded with working men

expecting to hear bawdy songs,

not the ideal venue for an accomplished musician.

But as Benjamin Doubleday became more ambitious,

he took advantage of the banjo's popularity

with a very different audience.

If you think of a pub song of the 19th century like...

My name it is Sam Hall

# Chimney sweep, chimney sweep... #

And it ends, it has choruses with...

# And I hate you one and all Damn your eyes! #

You wouldn't sing that in a middle-class drawing room.

-No.

-But Home Sweet Home, let me give you...

Oh, getting a rendition.

..an example of this like your great-great-grandfather played.

PIANO PLAYS

# 'Mid pleasures and palaces

# Though we may roam

# Be it ever so humble

# There's no place like home. #

SHE LAUGHS

You don't get more respectful than that.

You're singing about the virtues of home, the family and all that.

-Yeah.

-So, of course, people would applaud very loudly,

-thinking, "Victorian values."

-HE LAUGHS

Right. Oh, wow!

Now, cos I keep doing these blooming plays in London

that are so out of my depth,

he must have been nervous

playing with these posher audiences, mustn't he?

He must have been, because people knew who the trades people were,

who the working people were, who the upper-middle-class were,

who the aristocracy were, just an accent would give him away.

-"Oh, we've got a working man in our drawing room!"

-Really?

-So how...?

-"But don't worry, he's a very good banjo player."

But it's incredible, cos my mum and dad

work all the workingmen's clubs up north

playing country and western music.

And my dad is fantastic on the banjo, so this is just...

-But that is remarkable, isn't it?

-It's just incredible.

Because, you know, it was country and western music

that saved the banjo really.

That kind of five-string banjo was enabled to survive

by early country musicians, Charlie Poole was an early example,

but then in the 1940s people like Earl Scruggs

in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys...

-And bluegrass develops with the five string banjo..

-Bluegrass, that's it.

I've heard my dad talking about bluegrass.

And that's a three-finger style as well.

-Right! So that's where the country and western link has come.

-Yes!

-I cannot tell you...

-This song, you must play it.

I can't say how excited I am to tell him all this.

I'm so proud of how talented he is.

This link is so special for me.

I wonder, because when it comes to music,

it's amazing how often a family seems to pass musical ability down.

You know, more and more on this journey,

I'm wanting to learn to play.

I feel like I've got to, I have to carry on the tradition.

It's becoming compulsory now, yeah.

-Look, here it is.

-Is this where we're going?

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

-I'm so excited!

-Let's get in here.

-OK.

-Yes, I'm a gentleman.

-Oh, excited. Thank you.

-You are a gentleman.

-Let's go. Hi, Nick.

I've brought someone to see you.

-Hello.

-Sheridan.

-Very nice to meet you. How are you?

-I'm good. How are you?

-I'm very excited.

She's suddenly become interested in the banjo.

-Got plenty of 'em.

-Have you? Can I have a look, please?

-Yeah.

-Head over this way.

-I've got the Prof with me.

-Fellow expert.

He's brought me to you. And...yes.

-Oh, wow!

-Quite a few.

-There's quite a lot of different types.

So something like this.

-Wow!

-Check the tuning. BANJO PLAYS

-There you go.

-It sounds amazing!

-Nice and loud.

-So...

-Can I ask you a question?

-Certainly.

-Please. You know...

-See my nails.

-Uh-huh. SHERIDAN LAUGHS

Now, I'm a massive Dolly Parton fan

and she has big talons and can play,

but she's got a certain way of doing it,

now, is it best to have one hand with nails?

On one hand it's brilliant, yes.

On one hand it's really good, because it adds volume and attack.

To the plucking, yeah.

So it's really good, really useful to have.

-On this hand, it's best to get rid of them.

-OK.

-If you can cope with it.

-Dolly Parton doesn't.

-But Dolly's amazing.

-Dolly can do what she wants.

-She keeps them long, I'll bet.

-Yeah.

-What if I can't play it?

I'm sure you'll be fine.

I shall bring a stool across, cos it's best to sit. I'll hand you that.

-Oh, my God! I'm going to do it now?

-Yeah. SHE SCREAMS

I'm getting all hot under the collar cos it's pressure.

My great-great-grandfather was amazing and so is my dad.

-It will run in the family. You'll be fine.

-You better be right.

OK, do you want me to sit on here? Yeah, if you perch there

and I will bring another stool through to...across there.

Oh, my God, I've never even held a banjo before.

It's amazing, my dad's going to love this.

That's fine the way you're holding it.

If you try having that finger just there on that string,

-there...

-Yeah.

-..and the other one on the final string.

Here? No?

-Yeah. Yes, that will do, yeah.

-Or is that one I'm meant to do?

Yeah, that's it. Now try...

Right. And now take them off and play that.

Now put them on again.

-Now we could play a tune.

-Could we?

-We could do

your great-great-grandfather's favourite - Home Sweet Home.

Oh, stop it!

If you just strum at first on those, first that chord...

# Mid-pleasures... #

Change chord. Open.

# And palaces... #

Open.

# Though we may roam

# Be it ever so humble

# There's no place like home. #

That's brilliant! That's amazing.

-There you go. Playing the banjo.

-I played the banjo!

The first time you've ever picked up a banjo.

Well, you helped by going duh-duh, duh-duh...

I felt really proud of him. To go from workingmen's clubs and go,

"These people aren't listening to my skill"

and then going to all these posh venues with these posh people

and fit in because of his talent, you know...

That was like, yeah, good on you, great-great-grandpa.

And he was going and rubbing shoulders with all these kind of

elite types and doing it with confidence.

It's scary, but it didn't stop him, did it?

So, I kind of love that. I love that he's...

He had that kind of fighting spirit in him.

Sheridan's great-great-grandfather was only a young man in his early 30s

when he performed in Sheffield's most prestigious concert hall in 1889.

To find out how Benjamin followed up on this extraordinary success,

Sheridan has returned to his home town.

At the Sheffield Archives,

she's meeting historian Dr Ann Featherstone.

I think the thing about Benjamin Doubleday is,

even though he is a virtuoso performer on the banjo,

there are certain limitations to that.

Performers have always been vulnerable

and certainly in the 19th century, you know, you worked to eat,

that was it. The idea that everybody was a star and was making loads

and loads of money is not so cos most of the people were just about

making enough to keep going.

And he is an excellent banjoist.

-But he wants to do a bit more.

-Right.

I think he has aspirations and ambition.

Here's an advert from the trade paper

of the stage profession of the era.

"Wanted, to complete Mr B Doubleday's ladies choir,

"pianiste." Pianiste?

Pianiste. Yes, um, a lady pianist, I would say.

"Must be brilliant soloist, RAM preferred." What...?

-Royal Academy of Music.

-Wow!

-So, again, want it...

They don't want a pub pianist.

They want somebody who can play properly.

"Also a solo harpist, young lady or youth, and solo violinist."

Wow. That's not what I expected to hear.

-That's really interesting.

-Yeah. And he's got sort of two years

engagement in expectation that this is going to take off.

And this is before it had started,

so he just presumed it's going to be a success.

-He knows he's got that drive.

-Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

-I love that.

Here he is again, look. This is a review.

"The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent, February 19th, 1891.

"The Royal American Choir."

The Royal American Choir?

Why have they called it that? Cos for one, they're not American,

and Royal - my dad did say we might be royalty.

So, even my great-great-granddad's pretending he might be.

But they weren't, they were working class.

So, why would they call themselves the Royal American Choir?

-It's that exoticism, isn't it? It's a tag.

-Oh, is it?

What, to get people to sound slightly more upmarket than you are.

-Yeah.

-Royal American Choir, and he talks like that.

-Yeah.

At least I can tell me dad we've got a bit of royalty in us,

but it's not real. The word "royal", at least!

"There is not much doubt that the choir will become popular,

"the enthusiastic applause which greeted the efforts of

"each performer being an encouraging augury of future success."

-Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

-So, they're flying already.

-Well, yes.

"Mr B Doubleday gave a banjo solo in a way which showed

"that he was master of the instrument.

"As if the programme did not contain variety enough,

"the entertainment concluded with a sketch."

With his show, Benjamin Doubleday was hoping to profit

from a boom in entertainment.

As the wage earning populations of industrial cities expanded

in the late 19th century,

entrepreneurs created purpose-built music halls

to keep them entertained.

And to attract the growing middle classes -

keen to maintain respectability - proprietors began to offer

a less bawdy version of music hall entertainment billed as variety.

It was this audience that Benjamin Doubleday was chasing.

I get a sense of Benjamin's ambition

to be an impresario, if you like.

To take, er, music out to the masses and make some money.

That's really interesting. And then at the end it says:

"Doors open at seven to commence at eight."

Mmm, what's that tiny bit?

Um, one shilling.

Sixpence..

-And threepence.

-And threepence.

-Yeah.

Now, was that cheap or was that quite expensive?

Well, that's quite expensive.

I mean, that's not a cheap evening out. And a shilling

-is what you'd expect to pay for a good seat in the theatre.

-Really?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's refinement. You don't want any riff-raff.

It's more than you would expect to pay in a pub music hall.

We're moving now to Sangers' Circus.

"Sangers' Circus tonight. B Doubleday's American Choir."

It could seat up to 2,000 people there

-and he was going to do a month in Sheffield.

-A month in Sheffield.

-It's a massive venue...

-Yeah.

-..for a whole month.

Will he have packed that out every night?

Well, we can see what's happening here.

Because if we look here - so this is April 15th...

-Halfway through the run.

-Halfway through the run.

"Doubleday's American Choir is not attracting as large audiences

"to Sangers' Circus as might be expected."

-First bad review I've read.

-Mm.

"The entertainment provided is certainly above the average -

"the singing is good, there are one or two clever recitations

"and the programme finishes up with a laughable sketch."

So, they were... That's really sad.

-They're still saying they're brilliant.

-Yeah.

-They just weren't getting the crowds in now.

-Yeah.

But I think what you've got to do is look at what else was going on.

So, if you look at the reviews and also the ads at the same time.

So, here's Sanger, yeah, but look, there's...

There's something going on at the Theatre Royal,

there's something going on at the Alexandra,

there's something going on at the Albert Hall.

-A full orchestra and ballet in Romeo and Juliet.

-Yeah.

So they were up against a lot of things.

Lots and lots of competition, yeah.

Even the Sheffield Industrial Expedition has got:

"the celebrated Anglo Viennese Ladies Orchestra."

So there's an added attraction.

Right.

-So, it's a bit like competition became stiff then?

-I think so.

And if you look where it is, there are other entertainment venues.

-Venues, yeah.

-Cambridge Hall.

-Past up there, you'll see there's a music hall.

-Grand Circus.

-Music hall there.

-Music hall.

-Over here is the Albert Hall.

-Wow!

Public houses - all public houses would have singing...

and a lot of it would be free.

To pack out a 2,000 seater, with all that competition's...

Yeah.

-..pretty...

-Yeah.

-..tough going?

-Very tough. Very tough.

Cos if you look on here...

"Sangers' Circus: Come and hear

"B Doubleday's American Choir tonight at 7.30.

"Give what you please."

-Yeah.

-Pay anything now.

-Anything, yeah.

-So, they're desperate now.

-I think so.

He's gone from charging to,

say, to asking for donations.

-God, it's cut throat. It's like it is nowadays.

-Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

But that's so devastating because he's all the way along he's grafted

and grafted and grafted, and he's had great reviews,

he did with banjo, and he took a risk putting on this massive show.

But then he just came up against the competition and made a bad decision.

That could actually send things disastrously wrong in the way

that you wouldn't be able to recover from if you weren't careful.

But luckily, I mean, he can teach, he can play himself.

It's recoverable from, but this looks like a body blow.

It was amazing to just find out about, you know, that

my great-grandfather went from banjo playing to suddenly

running this troupe. And then he went for the circus venue

and it didn't work.

I'm a bit nervous about what's to come now

and I hope it's not anything sad.

Cos it's been so fun, you know, and I really admire him

and I still will whatever happens

but I hope it's not anything that's going to break my heart.

At Sheffield's local history library,

Sheridan hopes archivist Tim Knebel can help her find out what happened

to her great-great-grandfather next.

I know that my great-great-grandfather,

Benjamin Doubleday,

he took a blow career-wise and financially in 1891.

And I want to know what happens after that,

-I'm hoping it's good news.

-OK.

Right, well, to find out what he was doing and where he was living

at the time, we could have a look at local trade directories.

-So, it was 1891 you said, wasn't it?

-Yes.

Unfortunately, we don't have one for 1892.

-The next available one we have is 1893.

-OK...

So, in these directories there should be the alphabetical list

of names of people living in Sheffield at the time.

And it tells you what jobs they were doing.

-If you want to find the...

-Doubleday.

-..D section.

Come on, where are you, great-great-grandpappa?

There.

"Doubleday, Benjamin. Vict." What's "vict" mean?

That's an abbreviation for victualler. So, a publican.

-Basically a pub landlord.

-A pub landlord?!

That's right. And it gives the name of his pub just next to it.

-The Woodman. Woodman.

-Yeah. The Woodman Inn.

South Street, Moor.

Unfortunately, the Woodman Inn is no longer still standing.

It was demolished in 1928, but we do have a couple of pictures of it

if you'd like to see what it looked like.

Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to. Thank you.

I don't know what that means.

-OK. So here are the pictures.

-OK. Yeah.

-So, firstly there's a...

-Wow!

-..photograph here.

Now, this photograph was taken probably turn of the 20th century

when they were laying the tram tracks in Sheffield.

This is the Moor area.

And on the left there, that is the Woodman Inn.

-That's his pub.

-Yeah, that's his pub.

-Wow!

And there were lots of back-to-back houses again in that area,

so it was very crowded.

Obviously the picture, you can only just see a section of it there,

-but...

-Yeah.

-..in this old sketchbook,

which was compiled in the early 1900s,

there was a clearer sketch of the Woodman, a really nice sketch there.

-So, you can see the front.

-The full thing.

-Yeah.

-It's a lovely pub, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

It's quite a change from doing 2,000 seater venues to running a pub.

Yeah, you wonder if he carried on the music alongside

-when he went in the pub.

-I really hope he did, Tim.

-Yeah.

It is quite a tough old industry, you know,

and it's good to take risks like he did, which I've always done that.

But at the same time, this has confirmed that

one wrong choice and it could end.

Sheridan wants to know if in his late 30s, running a pub,

and with four children to provide for,

her great-great-grandfather's banjo playing days were over.

She's meeting an expert on Sheffield history, Dr Helen Smith.

We have got some information about his life with the pub.

This is from the Sheffield Evening Telegraph.

-This was from the 7th February, 1894.

-Oh, my goodness!

"About half past five o'clock this morning, Mr and Mrs Doubleday

"of the Woodman Inn, South Street, were awakened by a loud crash.

"Their alarm was heightened by the screaming of the children

"who occupied an adjoining room.

"It was found that a large chimney stack had fallen through the roof,

"part into the bedroom and part into the bar.

"Mr Doubleday's loss is estimated at £50."

Which is the equivalent of £3,000 in today's money.

-So, it's quite a significant amount of money that he actually lost.

-OK.

We have another article from the same newspaper,

and this is from a year later.

"Fire on Sheffield Moor.

"Shortly before four o'clock this morning a fire broke out

"on the premises of Mr Doubleday, Woodman Inn, Sheffield, Moor."

-Oh, my God!

-Yeah.

So, this is just like it was his pub was kind of cursed.

It seems like that in a way, doesn't it? We have another spell

of bad luck as well. This is July 5th, 1895.

-So, this is a few months after this fire.

-Not another fire.

SHE GASPS

"About half past one this morning Police Constable Whitehouse,

"perceiving that the seat of the outbreak was in the upper storey,

"Whitehouse went upstairs meeting on his way

"Benjamin Doubleday, the landlord, who appeared in a dazed condition."

SHE EXHALES

"In what..."

SHE SNIFFS

Sorry.

No, no, take your time.

"There was scarcely any furniture in any of the rooms.

"Doubleday was the only person on the premises.

"He was leaving the house this week having removed

"most of his belongings."

So, there was nobody there?

-There's no family there, no belongings there.

-No.

I don't understand now.

I'm really confused as to why...that would happen?

And why there'd be two fires within a few months, you know?

-Yeah. It seems unlikely, doesn't it, that...

-Strange.

-..that would happen.

-Yeah.

But we have got another article from the 26th November that gives us

a lot more information about that situation.

I'm not sure I want to read it.

Yeah, I had a bad feeling in my tummy this might be it.

"Serious Charge Against An Ex-Publican.

"The fire at the Woodman Inn.

"At the Sheffield City Police Court this morning..."

SHE EXHALES

SHE SNIFFS

Oh! God, I did not see any of this coming.

-Is this quite a shock then for you?

-A real shock.

Cos like you say, it's been such a positive story.

-Yeah. It's all been...

-And he'd done so well.

All been about theatre and, you know,

what an incredible talented man he was, you know, and I've been

learning the banjo and I can see what a difficult instrument it is,

and he taught himself, to bring up his kids and everything he's done

for his family, that this, now it just seems like a different person.

-Yeah.

-Sorry.

"A Serious Charge Against An Ex-Publican.

"At the Sheffield City Police Court this morning before the stipendiary

"magistrate, Benjamin Doubleday was charged with attempted arson.

"The charge against Doubleday was that on the 5th July, 1895,

"he did set fire to the Woodman Inn, South Street, Moor,

"with intent thereby to defraud the Royal Insurance Company.

"About one o'clock on the morning of Friday, the 5th July,

"Police Constable Whitehouse was near the Woodman Inn

"when he detected a strong smell of fire.

"He found the gas burning in every room downstairs.

"On the landing at the top of the stairs

"he saw the prisoner who had a box of matches in his hand.

"He was fully dressed

"and seemed worse for drink."

-Yeah.

-He was drunk.

It was just an insurance scam, was it? Or was he just...

I mean, where's the family?

Had he told them to get out while he sets fire to the place to get money?

What is it?

Well we've got information, um, a little bit later on in the article

as well, that Sarah Jane has actually left him

-and taken the children.

-Oh.

And it looks like she's taken the furniture,

so he's on his own in the pub.

So, it might not have been anything to do with trying to get

insurance money. And if his music career had flopped -

well, you know, hate saying the world flopped about him now -

but if his music career hadn't gone the way he wanted it to after

everything he strived to do, and it was all for the sake of his family,

and then his family left him, he's obviously going to be depressed.

This last sentence really on this article is key to just give us

a little bit of an insight into how he was feeling at that time.

"Mr Howe applied for bail but prisoner said

-"he did not care for bail and he was remanded in custody."

-Yeah.

-He didn't even want bail.

-No. So to me that...

-He's depressed, he's down.

-..quite important, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That's heartbreaking.

-Yeah.

A few weeks later we actually get to see what happened to Benjamin.

If I can just draw your attention to the last line.

-"The prisoner was found not guilty and discharged."

-Yeah.

Yeah, Benjamin is found not guilty and he's discharged and that's it.

I want to hug you.

That was such the information I was hoping for.

Oh!

'I didn't expect such a reaction. I didn't expect myself to just feel

'so immediately attached to my great-great-grandfather,

'but it's real life and it's what people have gone through.

'It's the reason I'm here.'

That's good. I might be able to play the...

That shouldn't catch the other string, should it?

I just want to know what happened after the fire and being in prison.

What happened to Benjamin?

And what happened to Sarah Jane and all the rest of them?

There's so many unanswered questions

and a lot of kind of loose ends that need tying up.

Sheridan's learned from genealogist Eileen of a second cousin

who's been researching their shared family history.

'I'm hoping it's going to be nice and not quite so heartbreaking.'

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi.

Louisa Gingell's also a great-great-granddaughter

of Benjamin Doubleday.

Nice to meet you.

-Oh, family!

-I know.

-How are you?

-Very well. How are you?

-I'm good.

-Thank you for coming to see me.

-No, it's an absolute pleasure.

-Oh, I've got so much to talk to you about.

-I know.

Oh, shall I sit down here with you?

Ah, I'm quite emotional.

-I know. It is, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yes.

I've got so much I want to ask you.

There's so many kind of question marks now over what...

happened around that time and where did Sarah Jane and the kids go?

Right. Well, I can tell you what happened to Sarah Jane.

This is the Census from 1901.

-So, that's what, five or six years after they left the pub...

-Right.

..in Sheffield. And she's gone to Birmingham.

She's in Birmingham?

Yes. If you have a look. Here she is.

And she's only got two of the children with her.

SHE GASPS

What, so which children has she got with her?

She's got William, so our great-grandfather,

and their youngest sister, Caroline.

Wow. So what happened to May and Harriet?

They're actually in Sheffield, down here.

"Benjamin Doubleday, May and Harriet."

-Yes, they're all living together.

-They stayed with Benjamin?

-Yes.

Wow! My goodness!

Mm. So, there's Benjamin, listed as a music teacher.

So, after his arrest and after everything else

and being found not guilty, he's still teaching music?

-Yes, he's teaching music.

-Oh, brilliant!

-And if you look underneath...

-Yeah.

..his two daughters, May is listed as a professional pianist

and Harriet, who's also called Ettie,

is listed as a professional vocalist.

So, Harriet and May stayed with him

and they were all just still doing music.

-Can I show you a picture?

-Yes. Yes.

Have you ever seen this picture?

-Is that them?

-It's them, yeah. Yes.

So, this is May.

-Yeah.

-And this is Ettie.

She's Harriet, but known in the family as Ettie.

Ettie. So they did keep doing music?

Yes, they did.

And you know, not just here, but if you have a look here...

there's a play bill which shows you they're performing in...

The vaudeville circuit, wow. In London, Bradford, Leeds...

-And that's from the...

-The Palace, West Hartlepool. Wow!

-And if you have a look inside...

-My goodness, look how old that is.

How have you found all this? The Darrell Trio!

-That's what my dad said they were called, the Darrell Trio.

-Yes.

-Wow! Oh, gosh, it's all kind of coming together.

-Yes.

-Finally.

And, here's some of their publicity.

Gosh, look.

Father and two girls.

Wow!

"The world's greatest lady banjoist."

-And that's May Fanny. That's May?

-Yes.

And Darrell. Where would the name Darrell come from?

-I really don't know.

-But they would have changed it?

After all the notoriety, maybe they didn't want to remind people

that they were associated with that.

Oh, gosh, what a relief that it didn't knock him completely

-and he got back on the banjo, shall we say.

-Yes.

-And there's May with Benjamin.

-With Benjamin.

-Oh, what a beautiful picture, the two of them there.

-Yes.

-I feel like that's like me and me dad - it's so weird.

-Yeah.

-Oh, gosh, how amazing.

-Yes.

But unfortunately, all of this didn't last for very much longer.

-And, um...

-Oh, no.

I've got something now to show you.

It's a death certificate.

"Benjamin Doubleday. Teacher of music

-"age..."

-50.

-.."50" 50?!

-Mm.

"Cause of death..."

-That's heart disease.

-Heart disease.

-Yes.

-50 years of age.

-Yes.

Oh, no.

Did it say where or what caused it? Just, just that's just...

There is a harder, more difficult story

that was passed down through the family,

that my grandmother repeated to me, was that he always had a problem

with alcohol and that, um, when he died

he actually collapsed and was drunk.

Whatever his problems with drink,

he was very highly respected.

And I've got here a transcription of an obituary

that was written about him when he died.

"We regret to announce the death of Mr B Doubleday of Sheffield,

"the well-known teacher of the banjo, mandolin and guitar.

"He was professionally known by the name of Darrell,

"the Darrell Trio including himself and his two clever daughters,

"Miss May Darrell, being an exceptionally fine banjo player.

"Mr Doubleday's death removes one from the ranks of banjo,

"mandolin and guitar devotees,

"and who was at all times a thorough teacher and gifted artist.

"He will be much missed by many friends in the profession

"who mourn his loss."

SHE INHALES

-"Banjo World, May 1907."

-Yes.

What a nice thing to be said about him really, though, isn't it?

-Yes, yes.

-Well respected and highly skilled artist that he was.

Well, that's beautiful to keep, isn't it?

-Yes. I think it's best to remember him like that.

-Definitely.

Wow!

Aye up, daddy.

Hello, baby.

Oh, you look lovely. What you got on your back?

-What's that?

-Banjo.

-I don't know shape...

-It's a banjo.

-I'll explain it all. I'll explain it all.

-You look lovely.

-How are you? Mm.

-I love you.

-You all right?

-Yeah.

-Hello, Daddy.

-We've missed you.

-Oh, I love you so much.

-I can't wait to tell you everything.

-Oh! I can't wait to hear it.

-Oh, I've got the most amazing story to tell you.

-Come on in.

Oh, good girl, come on in.

Remember you showed me the picture that you sent me

-off on my journey with? That's Benjamin.

-That's Benjamin.

-And that's his daughters...

-Oh, right.

-..Ettie, and that's May.

-Oh, that's May?

Yeah, that's May, that's Ettie. And that's Benjamin Doubleday.

-And they're the Darrell Trio.

-Right.

Benjamin taught himself the banjo.

-You know like you taught yourself guitar and everything else?

-Yeah.

Benjamin taught himself over those years

and he became, like, incredible on it.

Like, he started gigging around Sheffield.

-But how mad that they were an act together like we were.

-Yeah.

And also that Sarah Jane played with him.

-This is this is history repeating itself, innit?

-Completely.

But without us realising it and you said

when you heard that music, that country music,

which is banjo based, isn't it, really, bluegrass and all that.

Yeah, I loved it, you know? I fell in love with the sound.

So, that all makes sense now, don't it, that it's come from, like,

-this over a century ago without us even realising.

-That's fantastic.

I've got more pictures here, look. That's Benjamin Doubleday.

-And that's May.

-Yeah.

And this, I think, looks like me and you.

-I mean, it's a lot sterner version of me and thee but...

-Yeah, yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

-Awww.

I'm getting a bit emotional myself.

Oh, don't! You never get emotional.

I know I've never met him, but I've got a picture of him in my mind now

-when you're talking about him.

-Yeah, cos he's your great-grandfather,

and you imagine him probably looking like your grandfather.

-Cos I had an Uncle Ben and I imagine he'd look something like him.

-Yeah.

But I reckon me and you should recreate that pose,

-because I've bought a banjo.

-Aye, good.

-Have you?

-I have been learning.

-Have you?

-Have you?

-Look.

-What's that?

I've been learning a little song.

I've learnt Home Sweet Home on the banjo.

But really, like, a novice, so you can teach me from here on in.

-Oh, well done.

-Shall I play you it?

-Oh, you're going to play it now?

-It won't be very good, but I'm going to have a go.

-It'll be great.

# Mid pleasures and palaces

# Wherever we may roam

# Be it ever so humble

# There's no place like home

# There's no place like home

# There's no place like home

# There's no place like home

# There's no place like home. #

-Well done!

-That was terrible!

-No, no, well done.

-I'm so proud of you! Oh, look at me!

-That were great.

-It's not very good though, is it?

And you're playing the proper chords, you're playing banjo chords.

-Am I?

-Yeah.

-But what I'd like to learn to do is do that.

-You know, like you do it.

-Ah, finger-picking, yeah.

-Four finger roll, yeah.

-I bust me finger.

There's little gadgets - finger picks.

I started practising it but I can't do it.

BANJO MUSIC CONTINUES

This is always what I've wanted to do for my dad,

to kind of give something back to him.

And I have my family to thank for everything now, I realise.

You know, growing up as a kid, singing with them,

and getting that bug from them, and the gene passed down

from my great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Doubleday.

I just wish I could have met him.

I now want to learn to play instruments

and go the country music route that my mum and dad have a bit.

And maybe...have a baby of my own.

I might be feeling a little bit broody right now.

But don't tell anyone cos you'll ruin my street cred!

SHE LAUGHS

SONG: "Romany Cowboy"

# With kind and gentle eyes

# Come home with me Romany Cowboy

# I'll keep you warm tonight

# Be alone with me Romany cowboy

# And everything'll be all right

# Everything'll be all right. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

-Well done, babe.

-I love you, Daddy.

-Well done.