0:00:07 > 0:00:10Eddie, good boy. There you go.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Actor Martin Shaw was born and brought up in Birmingham.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21He now lives in Norfolk.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Go on, good boy.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Martin's career spans almost 50 years.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37He's performed in over 100 film, stage and TV roles,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40from Shakespeare to The Professionals,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and most recently as Inspector George Gently.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48I was born in Birmingham in the closing months
0:00:48 > 0:00:52of the Second World War - January, 1945.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57My parents were very young, that was the great thing.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00My mum was 19, my dad was 21.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And this is my mum and dad and my brother
0:01:03 > 0:01:08and myself on my grandmother's red velvet Chesterfield sofa.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13There's a kind of a not entirely accidental resemblance,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16I always think, between my mother at this age and Ginger Rogers.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20It looks like a happy picture, doesn't it?
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Now by contrast...
0:01:23 > 0:01:26This is, er, my dad's side of the family.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31This is my Aunt Lily, my dad and my grandmother Alice.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33I had a very close relationship with her.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39It is a mysterious and...and rather a painful photograph.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45They do look sad, all three of them in this picture.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48My dad's hands are folded, you know, just sort of like,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50just looking at the camera.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52He's just a young, very, very young boy.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59There's a significant person missing - my grandfather, Edwin.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04As far as I know, at about - you know -
0:02:04 > 0:02:071930 or the beginning of the '30s, Edwin vanished.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11So that's the mystery for me.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15I don't know very much, if anything at all, about Edwin.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55My grandfather Edwin is a bit of a mystery
0:02:55 > 0:02:58because he was kind of persona non grata.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Nobody talked about him very much.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08There was always a kind of, um, painful silence
0:03:08 > 0:03:10and a painful information blackout about Edwin.
0:03:10 > 0:03:16It's as though this huge tragedy went into my, my father's family.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23I think my dad said that Edwin left them for another woman.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27My grandmother never said anything about him at all,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31other than a, you know, a turn of the head.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36And my dad's... Any questions to my dad were sort of answered with a
0:03:36 > 0:03:40sort of a, a sadness and a "I don't want to talk about it," you know.
0:03:43 > 0:03:49My father had been damaged by not having a father at the time
0:03:49 > 0:03:50when he needed one most.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I've only got one picture of Edwin, which is this one here.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03He was referred to as Ted, if he was referred to at all,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05which wasn't very much.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09My dad said when I asked him about this picture,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13that Edwin was 17 when this was taken, and it's a military
0:04:13 > 0:04:19uniform, and we had no idea what the uniform was until my brother
0:04:19 > 0:04:23very cleverly zoomed in, cos he's clever with computers.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25He zoomed in on the cap badge
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and he determined that it was the Royal Marines,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31so we're almost sure that Edwin was in the Marines.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34But that's it. The rest of it is a complete blank.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Grandparents are usually there in your memory.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42But I don't know what kind of man he was.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49It would be wonderful to find out now who he was, what he did -
0:04:49 > 0:04:51mysterious Edwin.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04So we're heading to my local pub to meet a military historian,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06and he's going to tell me some more about
0:05:06 > 0:05:11the photographs that we were looking at, which... It's very exciting.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Er, I have no idea what sort of information is coming my way.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Right, Chris, this is my grandfather Edwin Shaw...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26about whom I know nothing. Well, next to nothing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28It's a fantastic photo.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Um, what I CAN confirm for you is that he is wearing
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- a Royal Marines uniform. - That's good. That's what we thought.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Yeah, for the First World War period.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40We think that he was about 17 when this was taken.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42- Um, I can be a little bit more precise...- You can?- ..than that.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Um, almost to the day, I suspect.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I have managed to find, or we've managed to find,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53your grandfather's Service Record.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Wow! "Born on the 24th December, 1899."
0:05:57 > 0:06:02- Yes.- So his age at enlistment was 18 years, five months and ten days -
0:06:02 > 0:06:03that's precise.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07- And what have we got here? Gosh, it's tiny writing.- Well, here...
0:06:07 > 0:06:08That's his date of conscription.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12So he joined 3rd June, 1918.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16June, July, August, September, October, November...
0:06:16 > 0:06:19so six months before the end of the war.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23But by the time he'd completed his training the war was over, presumably.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25The war was over and in fact...
0:06:25 > 0:06:29"Demobilised 11th March, 1919." Oh, yeah, 1919.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32So yeah, he wasn't there very long.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37At the end of the First World War,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40after four years of gruelling combat across the globe,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43hundreds of thousands of British veterans returned home.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50But 18-year-old Private Shaw could only look on from the sidelines.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53He never entered the theatre of war.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55There is something that's very interesting. What's this?
0:06:55 > 0:06:59"Enlisted the 5th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01- "15th July, 1921."- Yes.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03- So he re-enlisted?- He re-enlisted.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Wow, he went back.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07That's a territorial unit.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10That was probably the very first opportunity Edwin had to
0:07:10 > 0:07:14rejoin the Army and he took it. He maybe felt like he missed out.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Wow. So the first chance he got he was back...
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- He was back in. - ..in the Army, wow.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22THAT I didn't know either.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Interesting that he pretty much entirely missed
0:07:36 > 0:07:40the First World War, which is lucky for him,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44but also interesting that he chose to re-enlist as fast as he could.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48So that tells us a little something about his character.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50It's fascinating.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Martin's come to the Imperial War Museum in London to investigate
0:07:55 > 0:07:58Edwin's career with the Territorial Army.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Edwin's never had a chance to tell his side of the story.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Maybe he re-enlisted to get away from something!
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- Hello there.- Terry. - Pleased to meet you, Martin.
0:08:14 > 0:08:15Hello, Terry. I'm Martin.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19I'm trying to find out about my grandfather Edwin
0:08:19 > 0:08:25and he was demobbed from the Royal Marines in 1919.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29And the first available opportunity, he joined the Territorial Army.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32The Territorial Army reformed in 1920
0:08:32 > 0:08:38and there was quite a large, er, recruitment campaign
0:08:38 > 0:08:43launched by the Government to bring the Territorial Army up to strength.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The inducements, as we can see, were to have sports,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50the summer camp, sailing - a rather idyllic picture of life.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- Spend the night in a bell tent with a dog!- Dog, yes.- Yeah.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55- It's a nice poster, isn't it?- Mm.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59- And there they're all having a wonderful time by the sea.- Fabulous.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08In the 1920s, the Government began a recruitment campaign to
0:09:08 > 0:09:12attract working men like Edwin to bolster the Territorial Army.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Times were tough and the promise of a two-week-long paid summer
0:09:18 > 0:09:21training camp was highly appealing.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26These part-time volunteers were trained just like regular soldiers,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29but primarily for home defence.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33They proudly called themselves The Terriers.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38So here is a copy of your grandfather's Service Record.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39Oh, look at that!
0:09:39 > 0:09:45He clearly didn't miss an annual training from 1921 right
0:09:45 > 0:09:48the way through to 1932. He never missed one.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49And beyond.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50What does that say?
0:09:50 > 0:09:54"Re-engaged for four years on the 6th July."
0:09:54 > 0:09:57That was the day before my father's birthday.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58The day... Oh, really?
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Mm. Maybe he just enjoyed being a soldier.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Maybe it was just as simple as that.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05He just liked being a soldier, he liked the life.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09But you could argue from his wife's point of view that this man
0:10:09 > 0:10:10- had a family.- Yes.- Yeah.- Yes.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13And what is interesting, and of course, we get nothing of it
0:10:13 > 0:10:18from here is that here, round about 1930, is approximately
0:10:18 > 0:10:21when he left my grandmother and my father and my aunt.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24- He just went off. - Mm.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27My father never spoke of him, or hardly ever.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34When Edwin signed up for four more years of military
0:10:34 > 0:10:40service in 1930, he and his wife Alice, had two young children -
0:10:40 > 0:10:44nine-year-old Lily and Frank, who was just seven.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Martin believes it was around this time that his grandfather
0:10:49 > 0:10:51left the family.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Martin can track Edwin's movements through his Service Record.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00- Now it says here "embodied".- Yes.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01What does that mean?
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Well, it means, it means he was called up for service.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09- For actual military service? - Yes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13And you see the ominous date there, the 1st September, 1939, the
0:11:13 > 0:11:17day that the Germans invaded Poland and two days before we declared war.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23Yes. Now what's...? What's this one here? 378 SL.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Which now reveals that he was a member
0:11:25 > 0:11:30of a Searchlight Detachment, the 378th Searchlight Battery.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33"Mustered in the Royal Artillery at Sheldon",
0:11:33 > 0:11:35which is a suburb of Birmingham.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36Suburb of Birmingham, yes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37So he was really keen.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40I mean, he was 40 years old here.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Once war comes, I mean, the importance of men
0:11:43 > 0:11:47like your grandfather was the fact that they had served for so long...
0:11:47 > 0:11:49- Sure.- ..had acquired so many military skills.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Yes. Fascinating.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55It sort of begs the question - what did that entail?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Martin's heading to his home town - Birmingham -
0:12:06 > 0:12:11to investigate 40-year-old Edwin's role in the defence of the city.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Growing up in Birmingham, you just got used to bomb damage,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19you didn't even think about it.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21The war was everywhere in my consciousness
0:12:21 > 0:12:24for the first...probably ten years of my life.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30My first acting experiences were with a group called the
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Pied Pipers, where we did improvisation on the bomb sites.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34Pied Pipers was glorious fun.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37We would just go through the streets and gather up
0:12:37 > 0:12:41a train of children and passers-by, and when we'd got enough to
0:12:41 > 0:12:45constitute an audience we'd sit them down on the bomb site and perform.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49If you could improvise for an audience of children on a bomb site,
0:12:49 > 0:12:51you can handle almost anything.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53PHONE RINGS
0:12:53 > 0:12:56That's me, I'm afraid.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Yeah, it's my phone.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04And here we are - city of my dreams.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Typical Birmingham day.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11"Train manager speaking.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14"We will shortly be arriving into Birmingham New Street,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17"where this service will terminate."
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Martin's come to the Library of Birmingham to meet
0:13:29 > 0:13:31military historian Spencer Jones.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37- Hello. - Hello, Martin.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- Spencer.- Good to meet you.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41What have we got here?
0:13:41 > 0:13:46Well, we have here some copies of the War Diary for 378 Battery,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48to which your grandfather was attached.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Wow, that's brilliant.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55This is the Order forming his troop into a special detachment.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And there he is, Troop Sergeant Major Shaw, EJ. Edwin James.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Troop Sergeant Major means he was the senior non-commissioned
0:14:02 > 0:14:04officer of the entire Battery.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06- Right. Yeah.- He'd have also had responsibility
0:14:06 > 0:14:09to visit the Searchlight and Gun Detachments
0:14:09 > 0:14:12to convey orders and ensure all was operational.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14And does the Battery consist of all of these people here?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17- Yes, it does.- That's... Well, that's a lot of people, yeah.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19It is. About 60 men.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Your grandfather Edwin would have been on the front lines
0:14:21 > 0:14:24of the defences of Birmingham itself,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28particularly in defending Birmingham's war industries.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Birmingham was one of Britain's most important industrial centres,
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and at the start of the war, many of its factories had switched to
0:14:36 > 0:14:38military production.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42But this concentration of war industry made the city
0:14:42 > 0:14:45a prime target for the German Air Force.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48To defend the city,
0:14:48 > 0:14:53anti-aircraft guns were deployed to protect the most likely targets.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59And Searchlight crews, like Edwin's, worked alongside them.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05It was their job to pinpoint enemy bombers in their powerful beams
0:15:05 > 0:15:11so they could be shot down or forced to change direction.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13The Battle of Britain was at its height and we actually
0:15:13 > 0:15:16know what target your grandfather Edwin's detachment was defending.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18- Oh, right.- The Castle Bromwich factory
0:15:18 > 0:15:21had been turned over to Spitfire production,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23and we have here this wonderful album of photographs
0:15:23 > 0:15:25of the factory in operation.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27- Look at the size of that.- Mm.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28Amazing.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Absolutely enormous, that factory, isn't it?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35- Oh, yes.- Incredible.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39What great photographs.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Extraordinary. And all these people, of course,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48would have been in grave danger of being bombed.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Must have been terribly frightening.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00On the 13th August, 1940, 30 German bombers
0:16:00 > 0:16:03took off from northern France,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05each loaded with two tonnes of bombs.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Shortly before midnight, the enemy planes were spotted
0:16:12 > 0:16:15approaching Birmingham from the south-east.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20The German aircraft were heading straight towards Edwin's
0:16:20 > 0:16:24position in Sheldon, guarding the Castle Bromwich Factory.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31This is an air-raid map for the raid of the 13th August with bomb sites
0:16:31 > 0:16:34marked for high explosives, bombs that didn't explode
0:16:34 > 0:16:38- and incendiary bombs.- Oh, right.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- Your grandfather's Battery would have been deployed in the Sheldon area here.- Right.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44The German bombers would have been coming in from the south
0:16:44 > 0:16:48and south-east aiming at the Castle Bromwich Factory,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50which was in this vicinity here.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53So they'd have been passing right over the head of him and his men.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55- So they were right in the thick of it.- They certainly were.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57They were right under the bomber stream.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59So presumably the Battery would be trying to intercept them
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- before they got to the target? - Absolutely right.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04This would have been quite harrowing
0:17:04 > 0:17:05for your grandfather and his men
0:17:05 > 0:17:08that they knew that these bombs were landing in their city
0:17:08 > 0:17:11where they had family, where they lived themselves.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13That must have been extremely stressful.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15- Very trying on the nerves. - Yeah, it must have been, yeah.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19It's incredibly interesting to me that Edwin, our Ted,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22is here in Sheldon with this Battery.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28This cluster of activity here for this particular raid,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32this is where my mother lived with my other grandparents, right there.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34And there's Alleyne Grove, right there,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36right in the middle of all this bombing.
0:17:36 > 0:17:42And over here in Winson Green, not that far away,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46is where my grandmother Alice lived, Cuthbert Road.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48And this is where my father would have been
0:17:48 > 0:17:52living as a teenager at the time of this raid.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56So you've got my father here, you've got my mother here,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and you've got Ted over here in Sheldon.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Extraordinary.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06SIRENS
0:18:06 > 0:18:10Edwin and his crew of approximately 60 men worked at their posts
0:18:10 > 0:18:12all through the night.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15But despite the brave efforts of the anti-aircraft Batteries,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18some enemy bombers still got through.
0:18:19 > 0:18:2311 high-explosive bombs fell on the Castle Bromwich factory
0:18:23 > 0:18:27that night and many more on the surrounding area.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35German bombers scored some hits on the Castle Bromwich factory,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38which are recorded in this photograph album.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Oh, right. OK. Ooh, yeah, that's quite messy, isn't it?
0:18:42 > 0:18:45It seems to have been quite a night.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49- Now these look like military personnel here.- Mm.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52So I suppose there's some kind of remote possibility
0:18:52 > 0:18:55that my grandfather could be in one of those photographs?
0:18:55 > 0:18:56Yes, absolutely.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Edwin's city was under siege.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Over the next three years, Birmingham was raided
0:19:05 > 0:19:09by the German Air Force 77 times.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16But despite the devastation, the efforts of the anti-aircraft
0:19:16 > 0:19:20crews did much to raise morale at this time of crisis.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30What I find really fascinating is that Ted was defending
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Castle Bromwich aerodrome, which is a quarter of a mile from where
0:19:34 > 0:19:37my mother was living at the time and where my father was soon
0:19:37 > 0:19:39to meet her.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And geographically, everybody was so close.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Ted's much less of an enigma now.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49So it would be good to fill in some of the personal blanks,
0:19:49 > 0:19:51now that we have his military service.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Martin's heading to Winson Green,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01the area of Birmingham where his grandparents once lived.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06I'm really interested in finding out the background to his leaving
0:20:06 > 0:20:08the family around about - anecdotally -
0:20:08 > 0:20:12round about 1930, when my father was eight or nine.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15I think he left Alice for another woman...
0:20:17 > 0:20:19..and I'd love to know what happened.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- Hello.- Hi. Good to meet you.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31Martin's meeting legal expert Rebecca Probert at a local church,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34where his grandparents were married.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38So we have here the Register of Marriages for Christ Church
0:20:38 > 0:20:41and there's one here you might be interested in.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42OK.
0:20:42 > 0:20:48"November 8th, 1919, Edwin James Shaw, Alice May Eaborn,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50"aged 21, both 21."
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Does that fit?
0:20:58 > 0:21:03- Edwin said he was born Christmas Eve, 1899.- Mm.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06So he wasn't 21.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09- He wasn't 21.- He's 19.- Mm.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10Wow!
0:21:10 > 0:21:15Yeah, so he's not telling the truth about his age.
0:21:15 > 0:21:21We've also got the birth certificate for Alice.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22OK.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Gosh.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33So "28th February 1900, Cuthbert Road."
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- Her father is also called Edwin. - Yes.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42And her mother is Mary Ann Eaborn.
0:21:42 > 0:21:4628th February...
0:21:46 > 0:21:481900.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Well, that doesn't stack up either, really.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Wow, so she's 19.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56How extraordinary.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00- So they both lied about their age. - Mm.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Well, I'm flabbergasted. I didn't know anything about that.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- OK.- Well, there's a... There's a reason
0:22:08 > 0:22:12why they might have upped their ages.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- Well, they probably... Maybe they didn't have permission to marry. - Absolutely.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18That would be the only reason for putting yourself down as 21...
0:22:18 > 0:22:20- Sure.- ..if you weren't.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22- The age of majority. - Yeah. Yeah.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26So if they claimed to be 21, then they avoided awkward questions
0:22:26 > 0:22:29about whether your parents have consented.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35So why wouldn't their parents consent?
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Well, there's a possible clue, perhaps.
0:22:38 > 0:22:44There's actually here another birth certificate for...
0:22:44 > 0:22:47- Auntie Lily, yes.- ..Lilian, yes.
0:22:47 > 0:22:519th June, 1920. 1920.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57You might want to count back to the date of the marriage!
0:22:58 > 0:23:03Interesting! OK. Yes. November 8th, all right.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07- That doesn't quite stack up either, does it?- No, it doesn't.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11- Alice is clearly a couple of months pregnant...- Yes.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- ..at the time of the marriage.- Wow!
0:23:17 > 0:23:20See, THAT I never knew about my grandmother.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22Mmm.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25OK.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27So we've got a very young couple...
0:23:27 > 0:23:32- Yeah, a very young couple, kind of a shotgun wedding.- Mm.- Yeah.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36They went to some lengths to disguise this.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37Mm. Mm.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Well, presumably that was to avoid the disgrace
0:23:44 > 0:23:46of the child born out of wedlock.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52- I mean, it's just so sad that it was so stigmatised then.- Mm, yeah.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55And there's something else that suggests they were...
0:23:55 > 0:24:00They were trying to keep that particular indiscretion quiet.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05- Go on.- We've got here the Register of Baptisms for the church
0:24:05 > 0:24:08in which they got married.
0:24:08 > 0:24:09This is 1920.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Well, I can't see them. No Shaws there.
0:24:26 > 0:24:27No, she's not there.
0:24:28 > 0:24:33- They didn't bring her back to the church to be baptised.- Mm.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37We haven't found a record of her baptism anywhere.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41- So they had to register the birth, you had to do that by law...- Yeah.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43..but they perhaps didn't want to bring to the attention
0:24:43 > 0:24:46of the community just how soon after the marriage she had been born.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52How interesting.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56The fear that they must have undergone.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04- The sort of shame and pain that must have existed in the family, you know.- Mm.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05It explains a lot.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Family secrets. It's just...bizarre, isn't it?
0:25:18 > 0:25:21A lot happens in a very short space of time.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Yes.
0:25:23 > 0:25:24And as far as I know, anyway,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28they...they separated round about 1930,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31so maybe they were just
0:25:31 > 0:25:36forced together, you know, when they didn't really want to be.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Who knows what they were like together?
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Well, we've got some additional evidence
0:25:44 > 0:25:48of where they were living around 1932.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50So this is the...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- ..electoral roll...- Uh-hm.- ..for Cuthbert Road.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- Right, well, there's... There's my grandmother...- Hm-mm.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03..Alice May with her mother, Mary Eaborn.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10And then...over in Winson Street,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12not very far away...
0:26:12 > 0:26:15There he is. Edwin James Shaw.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I didn't realise they were living so close together.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Obviously, when the marriage broke down they each went back
0:26:22 > 0:26:25- to their respective parents. - Yes.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29So this raises the question of what happens next.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33Because the family history says that Ted went off with somebody else...
0:26:33 > 0:26:38but we don't know when or whether they married.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43I mean, that's all in the, the fog of war, of marital war.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47So, we need to look first to see whether there was a divorce.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Absolutely.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51Well, I'm assuming there was unless...
0:26:51 > 0:26:53CHUCKLING: Unless they compounded
0:26:53 > 0:26:56the felony by living in sin thereafter, I don't know, but...
0:26:57 > 0:27:01- Well, we can look into that.- OK. - It'll take a few days to find
0:27:01 > 0:27:02out from the Royal Courts of Justice.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Oh, great. Well, thank you very much, Rebecca.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Well, I do feel a great deal of sympathy for Edwin and Alice.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23I just feel very sorry for them.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28They tried hard to make it work, they were together for ten years.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32What made them separate? We don't know.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Certainly this... This photograph...
0:27:39 > 0:27:41..none of them look very happy,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and Edwin's not here, and we know now that Edwin was gone by 1931...
0:27:45 > 0:27:49and they were just living almost within yards of each other.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56And that explains my father saying it was painful for him
0:27:56 > 0:27:59to see his father with another woman, you know.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02But then he would because he would have seen them
0:28:02 > 0:28:05almost daily, I'd have thought, cos they were living so close together.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15My grandmother Alice, I knew her very well and was close to her,
0:28:15 > 0:28:18and I'm sad that she clearly had so much pain to contend with.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26My grandmother would come from here on the bus and visit us
0:28:26 > 0:28:29once a week and bring me a Mars bar.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34A Mars bar was an ENORMOUS treat, a massive treat.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36I would be thinking about that for a long time.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38And they were bigger then, too,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41unless it was me that was smaller, I'm not sure.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43But a Mars bar was something very special.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45She always had it with her.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50I'd love to find out more about Alice and the Eaborns.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53I'd like to find out more about all of them now.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54You've got me really intrigued.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08So I'm trying to find Edwin Eaborn who was my great-grandfather,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10my grandmother's father.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Search.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Search.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23AMERICAN ACCENT: Ain't nothing happening here!
0:29:23 > 0:29:25It's me!
0:29:25 > 0:29:27CHUCKLES
0:29:27 > 0:29:28IMITATES SPITTING
0:29:28 > 0:29:30IMITATES KNUCKLES CRACKING
0:29:33 > 0:29:37So...search...search...
0:29:41 > 0:29:43A photograph.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45Edwin Eaborn.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47It's quite an elaborate one.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52It's a very fashionable Victorian moustache.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55I recognise that photograph, funnily enough.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01Because now I remember that my grandmother had this photograph
0:30:01 > 0:30:04and one of her mother, um, on the wall.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13And there she is, Mary Ann.
0:30:13 > 0:30:14How extraordinary.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The beautiful black lace that she had on and the earrings.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24I remember these photographs, I mean, literally, literally,
0:30:24 > 0:30:26as if it was yesterday.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31They always seemed very grand in this little terraced house
0:30:31 > 0:30:32in Winson Green.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38They almost look like paintings because they've been colorized.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45It's probably more than 50 years, getting on for 60 years,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47since I've seen these photographs.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Ha! I'd forgotten that.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Martin's discovered that his great-grandfather,
0:31:06 > 0:31:11Edwin Eaborn, was born in Birmingham in July, 1857.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16He and his wife, Mary Ann, had 12 children,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19including Martin's grandmother, Alice.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30To try to find out more about the Eaborns, Martin's arranged to
0:31:30 > 0:31:32meet historian Chris Upton.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38So, Chris, this is my great-grandfather, Edwin.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Yes, he worked in the brass industry in, in Birmingham, and brass
0:31:42 > 0:31:47was one of the biggest trades, particularly brass bedsteads.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48That's sort of it.
0:31:48 > 0:31:53There's not a great deal to be said about Edwin.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56But, in looking for Edwin and his story, er,
0:31:56 > 0:32:00the generation before that becomes much more interesting.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02Oh, go on, then.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04So this would be your great-great-grandfather.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07- OK.- And...
0:32:08 > 0:32:12..here's a document I think you'll be interested in.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16And this is a census entry, 1851.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Right, I need to go...
0:32:19 > 0:32:22..even more...magnified.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25Oh, that's better.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27OK.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30The challenge of Victorian handwriting.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34Yes. That's calligraphy, that's not handwriting, it's lovely.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39- OK. So, we've got an Edmund Eaborn here...- Hm-mm...
0:32:39 > 0:32:45Edmund... Edmund's 33, Eliza was his wife, was 31, and one, two,
0:32:45 > 0:32:47three, four children.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Four children, plus...
0:32:49 > 0:32:51um...if you can see this last one...
0:32:51 > 0:32:54- A servant?! - Yes. So they have a...
0:32:54 > 0:32:56- Hannah Lawrence. - ..they have a domestic.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59- They're not doing too badly, then? - Yes.
0:32:59 > 0:33:00It's somebody who's going places
0:33:00 > 0:33:05and can now afford a live-in servant as well as a growing family.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08For Edmund here, it says, "Rank or profession",
0:33:08 > 0:33:09and I can't read that one.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Can you see what that one says?
0:33:11 > 0:33:17Machinist, that's somebody with an expertise of handling steam engines.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22And anyone with mechanical skills like that would be perfect for this,
0:33:22 > 0:33:27this city which was industrialising at breakneck pace.
0:33:27 > 0:33:28Of course.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Well, 1851 was when it was all happening big-time, wasn't it?
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Absolutely, yeah.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Upsurge of the Industrial Revolution.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38They called it a "city of a thousand trades".
0:33:38 > 0:33:42Come to Birmingham. If they're not paved with gold, the streets
0:33:42 > 0:33:44show promise, so...
0:33:44 > 0:33:46- Paved with brass! - Paved with brass.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Victorian Birmingham was expanding fast.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Located at the centre of a network of new canals and railways,
0:33:58 > 0:34:01its population and economy boomed.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07And this created opportunities for young men like Edmund Eaborn,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09eager to make their name.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13- Then...- More?- ..this turned up.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18This dates from 1855 and it's an advertisement from a newspaper.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Oh, wow! Gosh.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24"Eaborn and Robinson, Engineers, Millwrights and Machinists.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26"Clement Street, Birmingham.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29"Manufacturers of all kinds of steam engines."
0:34:29 > 0:34:31How wonderful.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34So he's... He's top man, he's got his... He's got his own company now.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36Got his own business.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39"These are the best construction of engines made, occupying little
0:34:39 > 0:34:44"space, are most effective and least liable to DERANGEMENT or wear."
0:34:44 > 0:34:47- Had a slightly different meaning, then.- Yes, yes.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49"All kinds of machinery,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52"repairs and jobbing work expeditiously executed."
0:34:52 > 0:34:56- That's great, isn't it? - Marvellous.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59So, to follow on from that I've got another
0:34:59 > 0:35:04document from the London Gazette, which was obliged to publish
0:35:04 > 0:35:10all patent applications, and this is just the year after that advert.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14"To Edmund Eaborn and Matthew Robinson, Engineers, trading as
0:35:14 > 0:35:18"co-partners and carrying on business in Clement Street, Birmingham
0:35:18 > 0:35:22"in the County of Warwick, for the invention of, quote:
0:35:22 > 0:35:24"Certain improvements in machinery
0:35:24 > 0:35:27"to be used for confectionary purposes."
0:35:27 > 0:35:31There's a specialism that's developed here,
0:35:31 > 0:35:35- which is engines for a sweet factory.- Oh.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38So that's where my Mars bar came from
0:35:38 > 0:35:42that my grandmother brought me every week - how lovely.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45It just goes to show that your great-great-grandfather hasn't
0:35:45 > 0:35:51just set up in business, he's bought into the full entrepreneurial dream.
0:35:51 > 0:35:52That is brilliant.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56Good for him.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02By the 1850s, the "city of a thousand trades"
0:36:02 > 0:36:04was one of the most dynamic in Britain -
0:36:04 > 0:36:07its steam-powered factories and workshops
0:36:07 > 0:36:12producing everything from brass bedsteads to chocolate bars.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14It would be great to go to Clement Street and see
0:36:14 > 0:36:17if there's anything left of Eaborn and Robinson.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20I mean, what are the chances? Negligible I would have thought.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23But it would be really nice just in case there's some wonderful
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Victorian place there.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Anything that's an actual tactile connection, you know,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31with the ancestors, that would be nice.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38Edmund Eaborn and partner Matthew Robinson
0:36:38 > 0:36:42established their steam engine factory at 10 Clement Street,
0:36:42 > 0:36:44just behind the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Obviously not much in the way of Industrial Revolution
0:36:54 > 0:36:57architecture here, but...
0:36:58 > 0:37:01..I can see an old building down here...
0:37:02 > 0:37:03..so I've got high hopes.
0:37:06 > 0:37:07I know it's number ten.
0:37:10 > 0:37:11Wow!
0:37:13 > 0:37:14That's number ten.
0:37:19 > 0:37:20How incredible!
0:37:27 > 0:37:33That's brilliant. It's the only one left - how brilliant.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37I'm just absolutely deeply thrilled for a variety of reasons.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Not just because, you know, it's my...
0:37:40 > 0:37:45ancestor's business which is top of the list, but also because some
0:37:45 > 0:37:48of old Birmingham has survived the ravages of...
0:37:48 > 0:37:50Hitler and architecture.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52I love it.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59See that's... That's what I'm looking at there, letters.
0:38:01 > 0:38:02How amazing.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05It's even got the same...
0:38:07 > 0:38:10It's even got...even got the cobblestones.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Oh, wow!
0:38:13 > 0:38:16Look, I mean, this was clearly a yard where...
0:38:18 > 0:38:20..where the horses would
0:38:20 > 0:38:24have brought the goods out and taken them on the canal and to distribute.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28I love it that all this is still here.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Big horses' hooves have being...clopping on that.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39Now, that's absolutely thrilling, isn't it?
0:38:42 > 0:38:45Eaborn and Robinson must have been doing incredibly well.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47This is a really substantial building.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57It would be fascinating to know what happened next.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04To find out more about the fortunes of Eaborn and Robinson,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Martin's going to meet historian Jennifer Aston.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Well, we've found this, which might fill in the next part of the story.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16OK, so that's Matthew Robinson.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21Oh, Matthew Robinson died...
0:39:21 > 0:39:24on the 3rd August, 1858...
0:39:24 > 0:39:26aged 32.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Oh, he actually died in Clement Street.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32- He died actually at work. - Died at work.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35Tubercular disease of lung and bowels.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37That's a shame.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40- This was a really common illness at the time.- Right.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43And you see that although we sort of associate tuberculosis with
0:39:43 > 0:39:45- being a breathing disease...- Yeah...
0:39:45 > 0:39:48..actually can spread throughout the whole body.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- Terribly young - 32. - Mm, 32.- Yeah.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55So what happened to Edmund Eaborn? Do we know?
0:39:55 > 0:39:57- Yep. - I suspect you're going to tell me.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Well, this is the next, the next clue.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03A notice here, it's in the Birmingham Mercury...
0:40:03 > 0:40:05right down at the bottom.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Wow, that's tiny writing.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11"On the 26th inst..."
0:40:11 > 0:40:15So, we're in June, OK, 1857.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17"..after 12 months' illness,
0:40:17 > 0:40:22"Mr Edmund Eaborn of the firm of Eaborn and Robinson in this town."
0:40:22 > 0:40:23Wow!
0:40:26 > 0:40:28Wow! So they both died.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32How sad.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36- If we look here, this gives a few more clues.- Yeah.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Edmund's death certificate.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42He was 39.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45Cause of death...
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Phthisis. Wow.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51- Yeah, phthisis is another name for tuberculosis.- OK.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Um, but in this case it's pulmonary tuberculosis,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57so Edmund just had the disease in his lungs. Um, but...
0:40:57 > 0:40:59Do you think one might have infected
0:40:59 > 0:41:01the other or did just everybody have tuberculosis?
0:41:01 > 0:41:03It's entirely possible. They...
0:41:03 > 0:41:05There are some estimates that up to 90 percent of the urban
0:41:05 > 0:41:07- population actually carried... - 90 percent?!
0:41:07 > 0:41:10- ..the bacteria that causes tuberculosis.- Really?
0:41:10 > 0:41:13But it could remain dormant for years and years and years.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16It does suggest from the newspaper notice that says that Edmund
0:41:16 > 0:41:20was ill for 12 months, that he gradually became sicker and sicker.
0:41:20 > 0:41:21Yes.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29It's such a tragedy, isn't it? That two young men, one 39,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31one 32...
0:41:33 > 0:41:35..should be just cut down like that,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39all that talent and inventiveness and forward-thinking just gone...
0:41:40 > 0:41:44..with a bacterial disease, which could so easily be treated...now.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50And the impact on the families as well.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56- Do we know where Edmund was buried? - Yes.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59Edmund is buried at Key Hill Cemetery, which is in Birmingham.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01All right.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04- And we've also managed to find Edmund's last will and testament... - Oh, Lord!
0:42:04 > 0:42:07We thought you might want to take, take with you.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08Gosh.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Well, thank you.
0:42:11 > 0:42:12It's going to be the next quest.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18With the untimely deaths of both its founders,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22the Eaborn and Robinson stock was auctioned off in 1859.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25Martin's heading to Key Hill Cemetery
0:42:25 > 0:42:30where his great-great-grandfather Edmund was buried.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33I can see we're heading into the Jewellery Quarter.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36This is interesting because...
0:42:37 > 0:42:40..not only is it around by Clement Street
0:42:40 > 0:42:45where Eaborn and Robinson was, but I also worked here when I left school.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50I worked at Hockley Chemical Company Limited in Hockley Hill,
0:42:50 > 0:42:53which is around here somewhere.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56And I worked in the sales office.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Now...
0:42:58 > 0:43:00I think that might have been it there.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Yeah, that's it. I think that was it there.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10I think we just drove past. Or was it there?
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Hang on.
0:43:12 > 0:43:13We were very close to it.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15I think that even might be it.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Well, that's...
0:43:19 > 0:43:21OK, now that's really spooky
0:43:21 > 0:43:22because I've just seen Key Hill.
0:43:24 > 0:43:25You are kidding me!
0:43:27 > 0:43:30That's, like, 100 yards from where I was working.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34Come on.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37And there's the cemetery.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39HE CHUCKLES
0:43:42 > 0:43:43OK, thank you.
0:43:47 > 0:43:48Thanks.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03Key Hill Cemetery opened in 1836.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08Edmund's grave no longer survives, as part of the cemetery was
0:44:08 > 0:44:11later cleared to make way for a new tramline.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15But Edmund's life IS remembered here.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20There he is.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26Well, there's lots of Eaborns here.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35So...
0:44:38 > 0:44:39Eaborn, Edmund.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41We know he died on the 26th,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44so that must have been the date of the funeral.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49And here's his wife Eliza, 1896.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51She survived him a fair while.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54Well, there they all are.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57They seemed to have been all put in the cemetery, the same cemetery.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02And all of their graves gone, which is a shame, really.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18So, this is a copy of the will that Jennifer gave me.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21"In the name of God, Amen.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24"I, Edmund Eaborn, machinist,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26"being of sound and disposing mind,
0:45:26 > 0:45:30"memory and understanding, do this 24th day of June,
0:45:30 > 0:45:32"1,857."
0:45:34 > 0:45:37He made this will on the 24th June...
0:45:38 > 0:45:40..and died on the 26th.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43So, he knew. He knew he was going.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45He made the will two days before he died.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54And then there's poor old Edmund's signature, which is very, very shaky.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02And that's one of the most touching things about it... He's...
0:46:02 > 0:46:04He's very, very ill.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09And you can see how ill he is from his signature.
0:46:15 > 0:46:16What a time they lived in, eh?
0:46:18 > 0:46:22"I give, devise and bequeath unto my dear wife Eliza Eaborn the half of
0:46:22 > 0:46:27"my share of the trade or business, tools, stock and assets thereof
0:46:27 > 0:46:30"in the business and partnership firm of Eaborn and Robinson.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34"And at, and after her death, the residue thereof..."
0:46:34 > 0:46:35HE CHUCKLES
0:46:35 > 0:46:37That's hopeful!
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"..that shall then be and remain,
0:46:39 > 0:46:41"shall be distributed between my children,
0:46:41 > 0:46:46"and the child or children of which my dear wife now travaileth."
0:46:48 > 0:46:52What does travaileth mean? It should mean "working".
0:46:54 > 0:46:56Does it mean...? Does it mean pregnant?
0:46:58 > 0:46:59She was pregnant.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05Wow! "And of which I pray God in safety to deliver her."
0:47:05 > 0:47:06Of course.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12So she was pregnant - God Almighty.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16And he made this two days before he died.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25When 39-year-old Edmund Eaborn died of tuberculosis on the
0:47:25 > 0:47:3126th June, 1857, he left a pregnant widow, Eliza,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33and four children.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37Their fifth child was born a week later.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40His name was Edwin - Alice's father.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49I mean, poor Eliza. She must have been devastated.
0:47:51 > 0:47:52She lost everything.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07And that's, er, that's my grandmother's grandmother, isn't it?
0:48:07 > 0:48:08Yes.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And my grandmother Alice never knew her grandfather.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Martin's now returning to his investigation into his
0:48:40 > 0:48:44grandmother Alice's separation from her husband, Edwin Shaw.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50Their marriage broke down around 1931,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53but what happened next remains a mystery.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59When we left off, Alice had gone back to live with her mother...
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Edwin was 100 yards away.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03HE CHUCKLES
0:49:03 > 0:49:05And my father often talked
0:49:05 > 0:49:09about seeing his father "walking out", as he said, with another woman.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14What other circumstances there are, I've no idea.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Martin has come to the Law Courts to meet up again with Rebecca.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Ha! Hello, Rebecca.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27- Hello again. - Nice to see you again. Wow!
0:49:30 > 0:49:33- The Cathedral of the Law! - Fantastic stained glass.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35Mm. Now where do we go from here?
0:49:35 > 0:49:37- Over in Court 3.- Thank you.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42So, the last time we met we saw that Alice
0:49:42 > 0:49:45and Edwin were living separately in 1931,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48and I was going to look into whether there was a divorce.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51Right.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54- And we now have the evidence. - Right.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58In the High Court of Justice. High Court! Wow.
0:50:00 > 0:50:05"On the 28th day of January, 1935,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08"Shaw, AM against Shaw, EJ"
0:50:10 > 0:50:12So it was adversarial.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15"Whereby it was decreed that the marriage had solemnized
0:50:15 > 0:50:19"on the 8th day of November 1919 be dissolved by reason that since the
0:50:19 > 0:50:23"celebration thereof the respondent had been guilty of adultery."
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Ah, naughty Edwin.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29Well, that confirms the family legend.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Well, at the time the only ground for divorce was adultery.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36- Was adultery, yes.- So we know they were living separately, we know
0:50:36 > 0:50:40the marriage had broken down. If there was going to be a divorce...
0:50:40 > 0:50:41That was it.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44..one of them had to allege that the other was guilty of adultery.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46Hm-mm.
0:50:46 > 0:50:51In the early 1930s, the law did not allow divorce by mutual consent.
0:50:51 > 0:50:55Instead, it required proof of adultery.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59Sometimes it suited both parties for one to admit infidelity,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02whether or not the act had ever taken place.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06So then we need to look at what happened...
0:51:06 > 0:51:09- What happened next? - ..to them next.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Um...
0:51:12 > 0:51:16So I think this is Alice.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18There you go.
0:51:18 > 0:51:24On the 20th June, 1936, Alice gets married.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27So Arthur was 42, Alice was 36.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31- It's got... It's quite interesting how they describe her here.- Yes.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35"Formerly the wife of Edwin James Shaw from whom
0:51:35 > 0:51:37"she obtained a divorce."
0:51:37 > 0:51:42- It's very much positioning her as the innocent party.- Yeah.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44And we also have...
0:51:45 > 0:51:47..this for Edwin.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49OK. Oh, right.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53Ah. Now, this I knew nothing about at all.
0:51:55 > 0:52:01So Edwin James Shaw married Annie May Walker.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Children's nurse.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08And Edwin by now was a gas meter inspector.
0:52:09 > 0:52:14And Edwin married in 1935.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17Yeah, so slightly before Alice.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Yeah, a year before Alice, just a year and a month before Alice.
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Well now, there you go.
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And there was one final development.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- Oh, come on, a birth certificate. - A birth certificate.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35I guessed this was coming.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38OK.
0:52:38 > 0:52:44On the 17th March, 1937, Gabrielle Ann Patricia -
0:52:44 > 0:52:45what a nice name.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Wow, that's amazing.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51Well, well, well.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54So this would be your father's half-sister.
0:52:54 > 0:52:55Yes.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59- Well, Gabrielle is still alive. - Is she really?
0:52:59 > 0:53:00She is.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02Wow, how extraordinary.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05And she would like to get in touch but privately.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07All right.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Well, that would be lovely. Yeah.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14Well, she might be able to tell me something about Edwin.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16Yeah.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18OK, that would be interesting.
0:53:42 > 0:53:43It's been very interesting.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46There's been a lot of things that I didn't know about
0:53:46 > 0:53:51because Edwin on my father's side was hardly ever mentioned,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53and even then very briefly.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57And now I gather I've got a half-aunt.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04So this is from Gabrielle Shaw.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08It says, "Dear Martin, I am very pleased that
0:54:08 > 0:54:11"you are looking into my father Edwin's life.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16"From what I remember of him he was a very popular and loving man."
0:54:16 > 0:54:17That's nice.
0:54:19 > 0:54:25"I was told that my dad's first wife fell in love with a neighbour
0:54:25 > 0:54:27"who died...
0:54:28 > 0:54:30"..before she could marry him."
0:54:33 > 0:54:38"And then she wanted my dad back, but he had met my mother by then."
0:54:43 > 0:54:47That's really not the family history that I know.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51Um, my father was absolutely clear about,
0:54:51 > 0:54:54and my grandmother as well, is that he left.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Also, from what I remember of my grandmother...
0:54:59 > 0:55:02I mean, you can never tell, you don't really know people, do you?
0:55:02 > 0:55:05Not really, really, really, but from what I remember or
0:55:05 > 0:55:09know of my grandmother, she absolutely wasn't the type to
0:55:09 > 0:55:12do what Edwin said that she did.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14Fell in love with a neighbour.
0:55:16 > 0:55:19Gabi's story is extraordinary.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21I mean, that comes as a huge, huge surprise.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27And I'm... You know, I'm tempted to say, "No, no,
0:55:27 > 0:55:29"that's not the way it was,"
0:55:29 > 0:55:32but how can we ever know that?
0:55:32 > 0:55:33You know?
0:55:41 > 0:55:42I mean, who are we to judge?
0:55:42 > 0:55:44I have a totally different story.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49It's kind of like a novel, isn't it?
0:55:55 > 0:55:58"I'm enclosing some family photos for you to see
0:55:58 > 0:56:03"and I've included one from their wedding taken in my grandad's
0:56:03 > 0:56:08"garden and one taken in my dad's arms not long after I was born.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11"Also one of him in uniform during the war.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13"I would love to keep in touch with you
0:56:13 > 0:56:16"and tell you what I remember about him.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19"Love, Gabi."
0:56:19 > 0:56:22So these are photographs, presumably, of my grandfather.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28So all I've ever seen of him are those...
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Is that, yes.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35That's all I've ever known, Edwin in his uniform at the age of 18
0:56:35 > 0:56:37at the end of the First World War.
0:56:43 > 0:56:44Wow!
0:56:49 > 0:56:50That is so weird!
0:56:50 > 0:56:55Extraordinary to have a grandfather you've seen for the first time!
0:56:59 > 0:57:00Yeah, you can kind of...
0:57:02 > 0:57:06You can kind of see the grown-up version of that.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16And this one is Edwin with Gabrielle when she was a baby.
0:57:20 > 0:57:23He seems like a happy and a contented man, which is lovely.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30There he is...
0:57:30 > 0:57:34Ted, during the Second World War, doing his anti-aircraft duty.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41There's a slight sense of my father there.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45A serious frown on that one, it's a bit like my dad.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Well now, bugger me, as they say,
0:57:51 > 0:57:53how amazing is that?!