Derek Jacobi

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0:00:02 > 0:00:04Actor Sir Derek Jacobi

0:00:04 > 0:00:07lives in north London with his partner Richard.

0:00:07 > 0:00:09Is he masking me?

0:00:09 > 0:00:11DEREK LAUGHS

0:00:11 > 0:00:12He's recently won viewers' hearts

0:00:12 > 0:00:15in the romantic comedy Last Tango In Halifax.

0:00:16 > 0:00:18Celia!

0:00:18 > 0:00:19How are you?

0:00:19 > 0:00:21Oh, I'm...not so bad.

0:00:22 > 0:00:25Derek made his name performing on stage

0:00:25 > 0:00:28and in television dramas like I, Claudius...

0:00:28 > 0:00:33I'm... I'm Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus.

0:00:33 > 0:00:35Oh, yes, Claudius.

0:00:36 > 0:00:39..and has starred in films like Gosford Park,

0:00:39 > 0:00:42Gladiator and Cinderella.

0:00:42 > 0:00:45I think one of the reasons that I've always been an actor -

0:00:45 > 0:00:47I wanted to be an actor -

0:00:47 > 0:00:50was that when you're acting, you know the plot,

0:00:50 > 0:00:52you know how it's going to end -

0:00:52 > 0:00:55there's a degree of security in that,

0:00:55 > 0:00:59whereas in real life, you don't know what's going to happen.

0:00:59 > 0:01:01That side's all right.

0:01:01 > 0:01:03I think we need to look at the back there.

0:01:04 > 0:01:07Mum predeceased Dad.

0:01:07 > 0:01:10Mum got to 70, Dad got to 90.

0:01:12 > 0:01:14She went too soon, really.

0:01:16 > 0:01:22I regret that I didn't ask enough questions when I was young.

0:01:22 > 0:01:24I didn't quiz my parents.

0:01:25 > 0:01:27But this programme, hopefully,

0:01:27 > 0:01:31is going to fill in some of the answers.

0:01:31 > 0:01:34That's the excitement of it and it's the trepidation of it -

0:01:34 > 0:01:37that I don't know the end of it, I don't know the plot.

0:01:37 > 0:01:42And that is very frightening,

0:01:42 > 0:01:44but also very exciting.

0:02:23 > 0:02:26Sir Derek Jacobi was knighted by the Queen

0:02:26 > 0:02:29at Buckingham Palace in 1994...

0:02:29 > 0:02:32HE CHUCKLES Looks very different.

0:02:33 > 0:02:36..but comes from more modest east London roots.

0:02:37 > 0:02:39It all started here.

0:02:41 > 0:02:43Were you actually born here?

0:02:43 > 0:02:45I was born in that room.

0:02:45 > 0:02:48I was born in '38. I was a mistake...

0:02:49 > 0:02:52..because they knew war was coming

0:02:52 > 0:02:55and they hadn't planned on having a baby at that time.

0:02:57 > 0:03:00I was an only child and spoiled rotten...

0:03:01 > 0:03:03..but survived it!

0:03:05 > 0:03:09It was a small family - very close, very loving.

0:03:09 > 0:03:12East London, a bit "cor blimey".

0:03:13 > 0:03:15Very ordinary, very ordinary.

0:03:19 > 0:03:23I was quite brainy in those days. I went to university.

0:03:23 > 0:03:26My subject was history and I got a state scholarship

0:03:26 > 0:03:28and I went to Cambridge,

0:03:28 > 0:03:32but really only as a way of having a second string to my bow,

0:03:32 > 0:03:34to please Mum and Dad.

0:03:37 > 0:03:40Derek knows that his father's family, the Jacobis,

0:03:40 > 0:03:43were bootmakers who had originally come from Germany.

0:03:43 > 0:03:47So, he wants to find out about his mother's side of the family.

0:03:47 > 0:03:51They were a Hackney family

0:03:51 > 0:03:55and they were very poor, I think.

0:03:55 > 0:03:59My mother's grandmother is the intriguing one.

0:03:59 > 0:04:03My mother said she was part French

0:04:03 > 0:04:06and she went by the -

0:04:06 > 0:04:08I think, the most wonderful name -

0:04:08 > 0:04:11her name was Salome Lapland.

0:04:12 > 0:04:13Salome Lapland.

0:04:13 > 0:04:16You couldn't make it up, could you, really?

0:04:22 > 0:04:26Derek is on the trail of his maternal family's origins.

0:04:26 > 0:04:30He's revisiting a childhood haunt on Walthamstow High Street.

0:04:31 > 0:04:35Saturday nights were always pie and mash time.

0:04:35 > 0:04:39Wednesdays was fish and chips, Saturdays was pie and mash.

0:04:39 > 0:04:42And I didn't really like the eels.

0:04:42 > 0:04:45They served eels and I didn't like that.

0:04:45 > 0:04:49But I loved the mash and the gravy that they put on it

0:04:49 > 0:04:51and here we are.

0:04:52 > 0:04:54Wonderful.

0:04:56 > 0:05:00Derek's arranged to meet historian Sarah Wise...

0:05:00 > 0:05:04- Hello. Nice to meet you. - Nice to see... And you.

0:05:04 > 0:05:06..to find out more about his maternal great-grandmother,

0:05:06 > 0:05:09Salome and her family.

0:05:09 > 0:05:11My mother said there was a French connection.

0:05:11 > 0:05:15- She was partly French, or she was French, or...- Yes.

0:05:15 > 0:05:16But that is all I know.

0:05:17 > 0:05:21Salome, for me, is covered with many veils.

0:05:21 > 0:05:23I want them to be uncovered.

0:05:23 > 0:05:25Right, well, here's the first veil coming off.

0:05:27 > 0:05:30- Oh...- Salome's 1859 birth certificate.

0:05:31 > 0:05:32"Salome...

0:05:35 > 0:05:38- "..Laplain"?- Laplain.

0:05:38 > 0:05:43Her father was called Armand Laplain. Laplain.

0:05:43 > 0:05:46- So, she was French?- She was indeed.

0:05:46 > 0:05:51So, if we go back further, to the 1841 Census,

0:05:51 > 0:05:55we can find her father, Armand, again here.

0:05:57 > 0:05:59He was 15.

0:05:59 > 0:06:01Don't know if you can spot there, he's...

0:06:01 > 0:06:04Although he's just 15, he's already working as a brazier,

0:06:04 > 0:06:06or a brass worker.

0:06:06 > 0:06:08And what...? Are these all...

0:06:08 > 0:06:10- They're all his siblings. - His siblings?

0:06:10 > 0:06:15So, we've got Hannah here, she's 13. David...

0:06:15 > 0:06:19- My God, there were a lot of them. - There was a lot of them.- Oh, yes!

0:06:19 > 0:06:22- And they're living in Hackney. - Oh, in east London.

0:06:24 > 0:06:27So, we've got more on Armand here.

0:06:27 > 0:06:30- Six years later.- 1847.

0:06:30 > 0:06:35This is his application for Relief from the Bethnal Green Parish.

0:06:35 > 0:06:36What, for Poor Relief?

0:06:36 > 0:06:38- Yes.- He's now a woodcutter.

0:06:38 > 0:06:39He's a woodcutter,

0:06:39 > 0:06:42which is much less skilled than being a brass worker.

0:06:42 > 0:06:46- Yes. Now, he's obviously fallen on hard times.- He has.

0:06:48 > 0:06:52Oh, God. I was hoping there'd be money in the past!

0:06:52 > 0:06:54DEREK LAUGHS

0:06:54 > 0:06:55Obviously not.

0:06:57 > 0:07:01He's living at 5 Digby Walk in Bethnal Green.

0:07:03 > 0:07:08Digby Walk turns up on a campaigning piece of literature

0:07:08 > 0:07:10by a doctor called Hector Gavin,

0:07:10 > 0:07:14who wrote a book called Sanitary Ramblings, all about how dreadful...

0:07:14 > 0:07:15Can't wait to read it!

0:07:15 > 0:07:17Well, here it is for you to read.

0:07:17 > 0:07:20If you see what he says about Digby Walk, there's this...

0:07:20 > 0:07:21"Sanitary Ramblings.

0:07:21 > 0:07:25"More than half of this horrid alley is covered with

0:07:25 > 0:07:31"a stagnant pool of most offensive and filthy slime and mud -

0:07:31 > 0:07:34"in some places, to the depth of a foot.

0:07:34 > 0:07:39"The refuse from a pigsty drains into this gutter

0:07:39 > 0:07:42"and adds pungency to its offensiveness."

0:07:43 > 0:07:46Oh... They had a tough time, didn't they?

0:07:46 > 0:07:49- They really did.- Really tough.

0:07:49 > 0:07:52- Yes.- But if we fast-forward to 1891,

0:07:52 > 0:07:55we can see another family member, his sister.

0:07:55 > 0:07:58Do you remember Hannah, from the 1841 Census?

0:07:58 > 0:08:00- Oh, yes.- Here she is.

0:08:00 > 0:08:02Hannah Sudbury.

0:08:02 > 0:08:03That's her married name.

0:08:03 > 0:08:05"Widow."

0:08:06 > 0:08:08She's getting on in years. She's been widowed.

0:08:08 > 0:08:11She's finding it hard, as many elderly women did,

0:08:11 > 0:08:14to make a living - and look where she's ended up.

0:08:15 > 0:08:17"The French Hospital."

0:08:17 > 0:08:20- The French Hospital. - The French Hospital?

0:08:20 > 0:08:22- In Hackney?- In Hackney.

0:08:22 > 0:08:25Her choice was to go either into the workhouse,

0:08:25 > 0:08:27or to go into the workhouse infirmary.

0:08:27 > 0:08:32But a charitable hospital like this is a much, much better bet.

0:08:32 > 0:08:34- Great building.- Gorgeous.

0:08:34 > 0:08:37Looks like a French chateau.

0:08:37 > 0:08:40- It's being used as a school building now.- Golly!

0:08:40 > 0:08:44And do we know why she was in the French Hospital?

0:08:44 > 0:08:46- We do.- Ooh!

0:08:47 > 0:08:49What we have here is her application,

0:08:49 > 0:08:52or her petition to be allowed in.

0:08:53 > 0:08:57"The Hospital For Poor French Protestants And Their Descendants."

0:08:57 > 0:09:03Now, the French Hospital was specifically for French Protestant,

0:09:03 > 0:09:06or descendants of the French Protestant refugees, the Huguenots.

0:09:06 > 0:09:11- So, it was her French-ness... - Exactly right.- ..that got her in?

0:09:12 > 0:09:14"Hannah Sudbury, widow."

0:09:16 > 0:09:21- Descended...- "Descended from Joseph de la Plaigne,

0:09:21 > 0:09:24"who refuged in the year 1702."

0:09:24 > 0:09:30So, Joseph is your great-great- great-great-great-great-grandfather.

0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Great-great-great-great... six greats?- Six of them.

0:09:33 > 0:09:36Six of them. Wow!

0:09:36 > 0:09:39He was one of the Huguenots who was fleeing persecution.

0:09:39 > 0:09:42- Ah, yes!- In 1685...

0:09:42 > 0:09:451685, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

0:09:45 > 0:09:49- That's...- Of course. Yes.- Yes.

0:09:51 > 0:09:53In 1685,

0:09:53 > 0:09:58Catholic King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes,

0:09:58 > 0:10:00which had previously given Protestants

0:10:00 > 0:10:03the right to religious freedom.

0:10:03 > 0:10:04By changing the law,

0:10:04 > 0:10:08Louis branded non-Catholics as heretics

0:10:08 > 0:10:10and sanctioned their persecution.

0:10:12 > 0:10:16As a result, thousands of French Protestants, or Huguenots,

0:10:16 > 0:10:18sought refuge in England.

0:10:18 > 0:10:20England had been a Protestant country

0:10:20 > 0:10:22ever since Henry VIII split with Rome,

0:10:22 > 0:10:24nearly 150 years earlier.

0:10:28 > 0:10:32Derek's mother Daisy had told him there was a French connection

0:10:32 > 0:10:34through his great-grandmother Salome.

0:10:34 > 0:10:37He's discovered that his family are indeed descended

0:10:37 > 0:10:41from a Huguenot refugee, Joseph de la Plaigne.

0:10:45 > 0:10:48The Huguenots were famed for their craftsmanship,

0:10:48 > 0:10:50especially silk weaving.

0:10:50 > 0:10:52Many settled around Spitalfields,

0:10:52 > 0:10:54not far from where Derek grew up.

0:10:57 > 0:11:00I know that Huguenots came to this part of London

0:11:00 > 0:11:04and lived here and worked here -

0:11:04 > 0:11:06nearly all silk weavers.

0:11:07 > 0:11:11Whether Joseph was one of them, I don't know.

0:11:19 > 0:11:22- Hello.- Hi. How are you? Come in.- Thank you.

0:11:22 > 0:11:25Derek's visiting a house which has been recreated to show

0:11:25 > 0:11:29what life for a Huguenot weaver would have been like.

0:11:29 > 0:11:34They were given safe refuge to settle in this district

0:11:34 > 0:11:37- and that, of course, brought the word "refugee"...- Yes.

0:11:37 > 0:11:40- ..into our language.- Yeah. It was used as a verb?- Yes.

0:11:40 > 0:11:42David Milne is the curator.

0:11:44 > 0:11:47Early 18th-century Spitalfields house.

0:11:47 > 0:11:52This gives you an idea of exactly how the weavers would have lived.

0:11:54 > 0:11:58God, it's like a stage set.

0:11:59 > 0:12:01They fled here with very little,

0:12:01 > 0:12:04apart from their skill - which was their hands -

0:12:04 > 0:12:07and the knowledge of how to make these textiles.

0:12:07 > 0:12:10And then, they were given passage to come and live

0:12:10 > 0:12:11just outside of the City,

0:12:11 > 0:12:15to work here, without the control of the City guilds

0:12:15 > 0:12:18and then, they made the most sensational textiles.

0:12:19 > 0:12:21- And they lived and worked in here? - Yes.

0:12:21 > 0:12:24There could have been a couple of...number of looms

0:12:24 > 0:12:26and then, the family, working and living

0:12:26 > 0:12:30within these tiny, cramped conditions.

0:12:30 > 0:12:35They were like factories, kind of tenements with endless looms.

0:12:35 > 0:12:39You can see there's a sensational image on the wall there.

0:12:39 > 0:12:42- I didn't realise how big the looms were.- Yeah.

0:12:42 > 0:12:4615,000 looms at work all day long, making this constant noise.

0:12:46 > 0:12:50- 15,000! - Well, there were 50,000 people here.

0:12:51 > 0:12:54It must have been incredible -

0:12:54 > 0:12:57in a foreign land, not speaking the language...

0:12:57 > 0:13:00- But they were not isolated. You know, they...- No.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04They came in such vast numbers and settled

0:13:04 > 0:13:07and then, they built this industry.

0:13:07 > 0:13:12I was told that my great-great- great-great-great-great-grandfather

0:13:12 > 0:13:16Joseph de la Plaigne came over in 1702.

0:13:16 > 0:13:19Right. Well, that's late for an arrival.

0:13:19 > 0:13:22Cos you think, all the weavers, the first wave of them,

0:13:22 > 0:13:24where they came in their thousands...

0:13:24 > 0:13:27Yes, the Revocation was 1685.

0:13:27 > 0:13:29He wouldn't have been in that first wave of...

0:13:29 > 0:13:31- Not the first wave, no. - ..people that fled.

0:13:31 > 0:13:34Would he not have been a weaver then, do you think?

0:13:34 > 0:13:38I don't think he would have been. The name's an indication.

0:13:38 > 0:13:44- Ah...- Cos "de la" is kind of a very grand name,

0:13:44 > 0:13:46where most of the people that came here - the weavers -

0:13:46 > 0:13:49- they had very simple names. - Oh, I see.

0:13:49 > 0:13:52He might have been something grander and posher than that?

0:13:52 > 0:13:55Oh, I... Yeah, with the name,

0:13:55 > 0:13:59I think what you need to do is head across the Channel to Paris.

0:13:59 > 0:14:01I think that's a very good idea!

0:14:14 > 0:14:17I've been to France and Paris many times,

0:14:17 > 0:14:20but never on the Eurostar.

0:14:20 > 0:14:22So, it's rather exciting.

0:14:24 > 0:14:29I'm going to find out who I am - makes it even more exciting!

0:14:31 > 0:14:33I'm going to relish every moment of it.

0:14:38 > 0:14:41Derek knows nothing about his six times great-grandfather,

0:14:41 > 0:14:45Joseph de la Plaigne, apart from his name and the fact

0:14:45 > 0:14:50that he arrived in England in 1702 as a Protestant refugee.

0:14:50 > 0:14:54Well, I don't know very much about the persecution of the Protestants.

0:14:54 > 0:14:57That's really the excitement of this journey.

0:14:57 > 0:15:00I'm going to find all these things out that I'm ignorant about.

0:15:01 > 0:15:04I shouldn't be, particularly, because

0:15:04 > 0:15:09I studied history at university, but that indeed was a long time ago.

0:15:11 > 0:15:13As far as persecution is concerned,

0:15:13 > 0:15:16I'm not religious. I have no religion

0:15:16 > 0:15:19and organised religion terrifies the bejesus out of me.

0:15:21 > 0:15:27I think so much that is awful in the world

0:15:27 > 0:15:31is because of religion.

0:15:33 > 0:15:36But we're now on the trail of Joseph -

0:15:36 > 0:15:38Joseph de la Plaigne -

0:15:38 > 0:15:42and we're starting off in Paris.

0:15:51 > 0:15:56Derek's visiting the Protestant Historical Society of Paris...

0:15:56 > 0:15:58- Hello, Derek. - Hello. Nice to see you.

0:15:58 > 0:16:01..where he hopes to find out more about Joseph

0:16:01 > 0:16:04with the help of historian Dr Frank Tallett.

0:16:04 > 0:16:08Through here and find out some more information about your ancestor.

0:16:08 > 0:16:11- It's a beautiful hall. - Isn't it? Isn't it scrumptious?

0:16:18 > 0:16:21Well, remarkably, we've been able to find

0:16:21 > 0:16:24quite a number of references to Joseph de la Plaigne

0:16:24 > 0:16:27- in the French archives...- Uh-huh.

0:16:27 > 0:16:31..and one of the earliest we've got is this, which is

0:16:31 > 0:16:37a listing of individuals who swore an oath in the town of Bordeaux.

0:16:38 > 0:16:42There he is, in 1667 on the 3rd December.

0:16:42 > 0:16:44Oh, yes, there he is.

0:16:44 > 0:16:49Joseph de la Plaigne, avocats - lawyers - and...

0:16:49 > 0:16:53What? "Greffiers en chef."

0:16:53 > 0:16:54What are "greffiers"?

0:16:54 > 0:16:57Well, "greffier" is normally translated as "clerk",

0:16:57 > 0:17:01but that would really be a mistranslation here,

0:17:01 > 0:17:06because he's got one of the top jobs in the royal bureaucracy

0:17:06 > 0:17:11that administered the royal lands in the province of Guyenne.

0:17:11 > 0:17:15So, he's really a financier who advanced the King money

0:17:15 > 0:17:18in return for the right to collect the taxes.

0:17:18 > 0:17:21He's clearly quite an important figure.

0:17:21 > 0:17:23And this is Louis XIV?

0:17:23 > 0:17:27This is... Yeah, 1667, so this is during the reign of Louis XIV, yeah.

0:17:27 > 0:17:29Ah... Wow!

0:17:29 > 0:17:31Ooh, we're going up in the world, aren't we?

0:17:31 > 0:17:34- He's clearly a wealthy man... - Yes.- ..and an important man.

0:17:34 > 0:17:36You see, I've always known it.

0:17:36 > 0:17:38- There you are. - I've always known it.

0:17:38 > 0:17:39All the kings I've played,

0:17:39 > 0:17:43all the thrones I've sat on in the course of my career - wonderful!

0:17:43 > 0:17:46- Yeah.- Yes. Do we know how old he was, then?

0:17:46 > 0:17:49He'd have been about 28 or 29.

0:17:49 > 0:17:52We think he's born in 1638-39.

0:17:52 > 0:17:55How interesting. My birthday's 1938.

0:17:55 > 0:17:57- So...- Well, what a remarkable coincidence.

0:17:57 > 0:17:59Yes, yes. Yes, wonderful.

0:17:59 > 0:18:01Well, the second document we've got

0:18:01 > 0:18:04sheds even more light on his status, as well.

0:18:07 > 0:18:09Oh, crests.

0:18:09 > 0:18:12This is... This is his.

0:18:12 > 0:18:17A white dog chasing an orange stag on a red background.

0:18:18 > 0:18:20It doesn't mean to say that he was a noble,

0:18:20 > 0:18:23but he's clearly got a lot of status.

0:18:23 > 0:18:25I mean, I'm so excited.

0:18:25 > 0:18:30We've gone from almost the poorhouse in the East End

0:18:30 > 0:18:34to this rather grand, very influential

0:18:34 > 0:18:38- crested gentleman in France. - Absolutely.

0:18:38 > 0:18:43I presume, since he was engaged in financing His Majesty,

0:18:43 > 0:18:47that he would have.... Do you think visited Versailles,

0:18:47 > 0:18:49even have known the King?

0:18:49 > 0:18:51Whether he knew the King personally we don't know,

0:18:51 > 0:18:53- we don't have any record of that. - No.

0:18:53 > 0:18:58But certainly, as a man who was high up in the world of finance,

0:18:58 > 0:19:01he would have had to be in Paris

0:19:01 > 0:19:05- and have attended the court at Versailles...- Yes.

0:19:05 > 0:19:09- ..because that's really where his contacts would have been.- Yes.

0:19:11 > 0:19:13Known as the Sun King,

0:19:13 > 0:19:17Louis XIV had established himself as an absolute monarch.

0:19:19 > 0:19:22He built a glittering court at Versailles

0:19:22 > 0:19:26and surrounded himself with loyal Catholic subjects.

0:19:26 > 0:19:29But this lavish regime was costly,

0:19:29 > 0:19:33so Louis had an army of financiers, such as Joseph,

0:19:33 > 0:19:34raising money for him.

0:19:39 > 0:19:43As a lawyer, he's got a top job in the royal bureaucracy.

0:19:43 > 0:19:45He's a well-to-do financier.

0:19:45 > 0:19:49But he also lives under a dark cloud,

0:19:49 > 0:19:52because we know that he's a Protestant

0:19:52 > 0:19:54and so, he's a man who is threatened

0:19:54 > 0:19:58with the loss of his social status and his wealth,

0:19:58 > 0:20:00because during the reign of Louis XIV,

0:20:00 > 0:20:04the Protestants come in for a good deal of persecution.

0:20:04 > 0:20:07And we have an engraving of some of this,

0:20:07 > 0:20:12which shows some of the elements of persecution...

0:20:13 > 0:20:16..the atrocities that are committed against young children

0:20:16 > 0:20:19in order to get the parents to convert.

0:20:19 > 0:20:20Oh, God!

0:20:21 > 0:20:22Oh, heavens...

0:20:22 > 0:20:26They're throwing a child out of the window.

0:20:26 > 0:20:31Yeah. In the background, they're dismantling a Protestant church.

0:20:31 > 0:20:34What particularly was it about the Protestant ethic

0:20:34 > 0:20:39that they were all so anti or afraid of?

0:20:39 > 0:20:43It seems to me that, certainly when they got to England,

0:20:43 > 0:20:46the Huguenots were hard workers, they were...

0:20:46 > 0:20:48Well, there's always a suspicion in France

0:20:48 > 0:20:52- that the Protestants are republican in some way.- Ah...

0:20:52 > 0:20:57And so, they're a threat, in this respect, to the French monarchy.

0:20:57 > 0:21:00- So, life became pretty difficult. - Very, very difficult.

0:21:00 > 0:21:04And they're not massacred in the 1680s,

0:21:04 > 0:21:07but the treatment of them is pretty dreadful

0:21:07 > 0:21:10and there's a second engraving here

0:21:10 > 0:21:13which shows some further aspects of this.

0:21:13 > 0:21:15Oh... Oh, my God!

0:21:17 > 0:21:19This looks like a massacre to me.

0:21:21 > 0:21:25They're burning them, they're hanging them...

0:21:25 > 0:21:29Oh... Shooting them, drowning them...

0:21:31 > 0:21:33Oh, how horrendous.

0:21:34 > 0:21:35And in the background here,

0:21:35 > 0:21:40you can see the desecration of Protestant cemeteries.

0:21:40 > 0:21:43So, how did Joseph survive all this?

0:21:43 > 0:21:48In order to survive, he must have converted, at least nominally...

0:21:48 > 0:21:50- Ah. Yes.- ..pretended to be a Catholic.

0:21:50 > 0:21:55And this would have meant him going to church on a few occasions.

0:21:55 > 0:21:57He's a cunning old thing, isn't he, this guy?

0:21:57 > 0:22:00- He is a cunning old thing...- Yes.

0:22:00 > 0:22:03..because at any moment, somebody could have pulled the rug on him,

0:22:03 > 0:22:07revealed that he was secretly a Protestant,

0:22:07 > 0:22:09that he was still a Protestant believer -

0:22:09 > 0:22:11and this would have been the end for him.

0:22:11 > 0:22:13We've got a couple of further documents -

0:22:13 > 0:22:17they're both dated 1699 -

0:22:17 > 0:22:21which show that he's still holding this office of Greffier.

0:22:21 > 0:22:24He's referred to as being a Counsellor of the King.

0:22:24 > 0:22:27And there's your ancestor's signature at the bottom.

0:22:27 > 0:22:30DEREK GASPS Oh, God!

0:22:31 > 0:22:34- Ooh, that's, that's... - It's thrilling, isn't it?

0:22:34 > 0:22:36It is, very thrilling. He actually wrote that.

0:22:36 > 0:22:39- That's actually what he wrote. - Yes.

0:22:39 > 0:22:42It is a very confident signature.

0:22:42 > 0:22:44It's very showy, with a line underneath.

0:22:46 > 0:22:50- He's no shrinking violet, is he? - He's no shrinking violet, no, no.

0:22:50 > 0:22:52Oh, how wonderful to have that.

0:22:52 > 0:22:54I think it's pretty remarkable

0:22:54 > 0:22:58- that there's so much in the archives about Joseph de la Plaigne.- Yes.

0:22:58 > 0:23:02Do we know who Joseph married?

0:23:02 > 0:23:07Well, there's no record that he got married, nor that he had children.

0:23:07 > 0:23:12But maybe he can't bring himself to marry in a Catholic church

0:23:12 > 0:23:15and swear to bring up children as Catholics.

0:23:15 > 0:23:17It's just a step too far.

0:23:17 > 0:23:22He's clearly a man who's tussling with his conscience.

0:23:22 > 0:23:24But he had to live a life of subterfuge, didn't he?

0:23:24 > 0:23:26- He does, yes.- Yes.- Yeah.

0:23:26 > 0:23:30We know that he's leading this very dangerous double life...

0:23:30 > 0:23:33- Yes.- ..until at least 1699.

0:23:33 > 0:23:37But I think you mentioned that you knew that he came to England.

0:23:37 > 0:23:41He came to England in 1702.

0:23:41 > 0:23:44- Right.- So, what happened in those last three years

0:23:44 > 0:23:49that persuaded him to give it all up here?

0:23:49 > 0:23:53Well, we've got another piece of documentary evidence

0:23:53 > 0:23:57which we can have a look at, which tells us what happened to him.

0:23:57 > 0:24:01And this is from a dictionary of Protestant families in Bordeaux.

0:24:01 > 0:24:05- 1700 or 1701, he was arrested?!- Yeah.

0:24:07 > 0:24:11"Imprisoned in Bordeaux, then at the Chateau of Loches."

0:24:12 > 0:24:14Ah, he was in prison.

0:24:14 > 0:24:16We don't know why he was arrested,

0:24:16 > 0:24:18but it's as a Protestant

0:24:18 > 0:24:22that he was transferred to this prison at Loches.

0:24:23 > 0:24:26And he would have been transferred there on the orders of the King,

0:24:26 > 0:24:28not by order of the court,

0:24:28 > 0:24:31but through a lettre de cachet which Louis XIV...

0:24:31 > 0:24:34- From Louis himself? - ..would have signed.

0:24:34 > 0:24:35Gosh.

0:24:35 > 0:24:40The castle that he was transferred to - the Chateau de Loches -

0:24:40 > 0:24:43- is that still with us, or...?- It is.

0:24:43 > 0:24:47It's an old medieval fortress which was turned into a prison

0:24:47 > 0:24:49and it's still there.

0:24:49 > 0:24:53It's preserved and you can visit the cells

0:24:53 > 0:24:56- and the dungeons where prisoners were kept.- Really?- Yeah.

0:25:04 > 0:25:07Joseph was taken from his home city of Bordeaux

0:25:07 > 0:25:10to the town of Loches, over 200 miles away in the Loire Valley.

0:25:21 > 0:25:23I wasn't expecting it to be so big.

0:25:23 > 0:25:25No, it's quite a dominant place, isn't it?

0:25:25 > 0:25:27Yes. Rather beautiful town, too.

0:25:27 > 0:25:29- It is beautiful, isn't it? - Yes. Gorgeous.

0:25:29 > 0:25:31The fortress is rather different.

0:25:35 > 0:25:37Now surrounded by a town,

0:25:37 > 0:25:39the castle complex of Loches is protected

0:25:39 > 0:25:42by five-metre-high stone walls.

0:25:43 > 0:25:48This fortified gateway is still the only way in - or out.

0:25:48 > 0:25:49It's pretty impressive, isn't it?

0:25:49 > 0:25:52- It is pretty formidable, isn't it? - Yeah.

0:25:52 > 0:25:54One just wonders how he came here.

0:25:54 > 0:25:56- Yes.- Presumably in chains.

0:25:56 > 0:25:59- In chains, do you think? - On a cart, maybe.

0:25:59 > 0:26:01Oh, dear. Poor old Joseph.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11The castle was once a home to kings and nobles,

0:26:11 > 0:26:15but in the 15th century, part of it was converted into a state prison.

0:26:16 > 0:26:19That looks nasty, doesn't it?

0:26:19 > 0:26:21Wow! It's huge!

0:26:23 > 0:26:25Pretty grim, isn't it?

0:26:25 > 0:26:27Grim is not the word.

0:26:29 > 0:26:31That's really dreadful.

0:26:32 > 0:26:36By the time Joseph was brought to Loches in 1701,

0:26:36 > 0:26:39it was notorious for its treatment of high-profile prisoners.

0:26:45 > 0:26:47Oh, my...

0:26:49 > 0:26:51Gets grimmer and grimmer.

0:26:51 > 0:26:53Gets worse the farther you go in, I think.

0:26:53 > 0:26:55Oh, God, look at this.

0:27:01 > 0:27:04- I'll go ahead and open the gate.- OK.

0:27:04 > 0:27:09Joseph was in his early 60s when he was locked up here,

0:27:09 > 0:27:10potentially for life.

0:27:14 > 0:27:16God, that looks ominous.

0:27:16 > 0:27:17What is that?

0:27:19 > 0:27:22Prisoners were singled out for special treatment.

0:27:22 > 0:27:24They might be put in this cage.

0:27:32 > 0:27:34Oh...

0:27:34 > 0:27:36I hope he wasn't a very tall man.

0:27:37 > 0:27:39I can only just stand upright.

0:27:43 > 0:27:46We know that Protestants in particular

0:27:46 > 0:27:48received special treatment.

0:27:48 > 0:27:51They have dead animals thrown into the cells with them.

0:27:51 > 0:27:53They're given food and drink,

0:27:53 > 0:27:55but it would be put just out of their reach,

0:27:55 > 0:27:58so they couldn't get to it.

0:27:58 > 0:27:59They'd be kept in chains.

0:28:01 > 0:28:02DEREK SHUDDERS

0:28:03 > 0:28:07Some of the Protestants were encouraged to convert and become...

0:28:07 > 0:28:10- That would get them out? - That would get them out.

0:28:10 > 0:28:12But it's not really an option for Joseph de la Plaigne,

0:28:12 > 0:28:16because he's lived so long as a nominal Catholic

0:28:16 > 0:28:19that if he was to say "I'm converting,"

0:28:19 > 0:28:21- who would believe him? - Who would believe?

0:28:21 > 0:28:24So when he's put in here, he knows he's here forever.

0:28:24 > 0:28:25- Yes.- Yeah.

0:28:26 > 0:28:29He's played a blinder so far, but it's tripped him up.

0:28:29 > 0:28:32- He's lost everything, really. - It's tripped him up.- Yeah.

0:28:32 > 0:28:34And of course, he's not a young man, is he?

0:28:34 > 0:28:36He's in his early 60s.

0:28:36 > 0:28:40So, he's a man now who's... He's got no alternative, really.

0:28:40 > 0:28:44He either comes to the end if he stays in the prison,

0:28:44 > 0:28:46or he tries to escape.

0:28:46 > 0:28:48But how?

0:28:48 > 0:28:51Can you imagine getting out of a place like this?

0:28:56 > 0:28:58Well, we've got a bit of a clue

0:28:58 > 0:29:01as to what happened to him in this book.

0:29:02 > 0:29:05It's a book on the prisoners of Loches

0:29:05 > 0:29:08and he's referred to here, in this paragraph.

0:29:08 > 0:29:13"In the same month of June a Lord Laplaigne

0:29:13 > 0:29:20"transferred from the prisons of Bordeaux towards the end of 1702.

0:29:20 > 0:29:27"He had succeeded in saving himself from the stranger."

0:29:27 > 0:29:28What does that mean? That's...

0:29:28 > 0:29:32- It's escaping and getting abroad. - Ahh!- So, that's...

0:29:32 > 0:29:36"He had succeeded in saving himself and getting abroad" -

0:29:36 > 0:29:38"a l'etranger."

0:29:39 > 0:29:43The archives are not very complete, but he's pretty unusual,

0:29:43 > 0:29:45pretty rare in being able to get away.

0:29:45 > 0:29:48Yeah. Do we know how?

0:29:48 > 0:29:52I guess bribery. He may have had contacts on the outside.

0:29:52 > 0:29:55Yes. Yes, I see. Yes.

0:29:55 > 0:29:57That seems the likeliest, doesn't it?

0:29:57 > 0:29:59- That seems the most probable thing. - Yes.

0:29:59 > 0:30:02Rather than kind of shinning down with the sheets tied together

0:30:02 > 0:30:05- and all that. They didn't have any sheets!- No.

0:30:05 > 0:30:08And he's 62, 63 -

0:30:08 > 0:30:12and the escape itself is not without danger.

0:30:12 > 0:30:16- No.- If he was caught while he was escaping, then...

0:30:16 > 0:30:20- That would be it?- Well, the penalty was to be sent to the galleys.

0:30:20 > 0:30:23Oh, God! And this is what he was risking?

0:30:23 > 0:30:27This is exactly what he was risking. It was pretty awful.

0:30:28 > 0:30:32He'd be chained to an oar 24 hours a day.

0:30:32 > 0:30:36We've got records of Huguenots being whipped on these ships

0:30:36 > 0:30:38and dying of their wounds.

0:30:38 > 0:30:40They're singled out for special treatment.

0:30:40 > 0:30:42There's a punishment called the "bastinado",

0:30:42 > 0:30:44where their feet are whipped.

0:30:46 > 0:30:50I'd have preferred to stay in prison actually, I mean, with risking this.

0:30:50 > 0:30:55Yeah. So, for a man like Joseph Laplaigne, who's in his early 60s,

0:30:55 > 0:30:57this would have been an absolute death sentence.

0:30:57 > 0:31:00- Absolute death sentence.- Yeah. - And this is what he was risking?

0:31:00 > 0:31:04- That's absolutely what he was risking.- By escaping. Yeah.

0:31:04 > 0:31:06He's a brave fellow, Joseph.

0:31:06 > 0:31:08He was a brave old fellow.

0:31:08 > 0:31:10And a genius and brave, yes.

0:31:11 > 0:31:14What's the next step? How did he get out of the country?

0:31:14 > 0:31:19Well... Again, we're not sure, but the most likely way

0:31:19 > 0:31:23is that he managed to escape down the River Loire -

0:31:23 > 0:31:26and the river is guarded by customs officers...

0:31:26 > 0:31:29- Ah, yes.- ..and he'd have had to navigate around those officers.

0:31:29 > 0:31:32- More bribing, do you think? - More bribing, yeah.

0:31:32 > 0:31:36And boarded a ship and got away to England.

0:31:36 > 0:31:42It must have been pretty daunting to arrive on the English coast,

0:31:42 > 0:31:45- disembark from his ship across the Channel...- Absolutely.

0:31:45 > 0:31:47I mean, it's mind-boggling, really.

0:31:47 > 0:31:50And all at the age of 60-odd!

0:31:59 > 0:32:02I'm beginning to admire Joseph very much indeed.

0:32:04 > 0:32:06He'd lived a kind of double life.

0:32:06 > 0:32:09One of Louis XIV's financiers,

0:32:09 > 0:32:12while at the same time being a Protestant.

0:32:13 > 0:32:17Life must have been pretty edgy for him.

0:32:19 > 0:32:24His whole story zings with resourcefulness.

0:32:24 > 0:32:27To escape and leave the country -

0:32:27 > 0:32:31that required courage, that required resolve.

0:32:33 > 0:32:37I do hope that we discover

0:32:37 > 0:32:39the bond that links me to Joseph...

0:32:41 > 0:32:46..because I do admire him and I want to be part of his family.

0:32:56 > 0:33:00In 1702, Derek's six times great-grandfather

0:33:00 > 0:33:02Joseph de la Plaigne arrived in London.

0:33:10 > 0:33:13Derek wants to find out whether Joseph was able to continue

0:33:13 > 0:33:16his career as a financier and lawyer in England.

0:33:16 > 0:33:17- Hello again.- Hello.

0:33:20 > 0:33:23He is meeting legal records expert Susan Moore

0:33:23 > 0:33:27at one of London's oldest centres of law, Lincoln's Inn.

0:33:30 > 0:33:35It's been fascinating, hunting down my ancestor,

0:33:35 > 0:33:37called Joseph de la Plaigne.

0:33:37 > 0:33:42And I'm wondering if he resumed his lawyer's life,

0:33:42 > 0:33:44or what became of him, in fact.

0:33:44 > 0:33:47Well, it seems he didn't take up a legal career.

0:33:47 > 0:33:52However, he was involved in a legal case in the Court of Chancery.

0:33:52 > 0:33:54And the Court of Chancery was occasionally held

0:33:54 > 0:33:56here in this building.

0:33:56 > 0:33:59People didn't have to appear in court to give evidence,

0:33:59 > 0:34:00it was all written down.

0:34:00 > 0:34:03So, from our point of view now, it's excellent,

0:34:03 > 0:34:05because we have these big documents.

0:34:05 > 0:34:09Right, if we look, we've got Joseph de la Plaigne.

0:34:09 > 0:34:11- Oh, yes, yes, yes. - There's his name.

0:34:11 > 0:34:14We've got the date there, the 1st May, 1703.

0:34:14 > 0:34:17And he's bringing the case against Jane De Beynac,

0:34:17 > 0:34:19- and we have her name there. - Jane De Beynac.

0:34:19 > 0:34:22- Reading the original is quite difficult...- Yes. Oh, I see.

0:34:22 > 0:34:24..so if you'd like to have a look at the transcript...

0:34:24 > 0:34:28"In the year of our Lord 1690,

0:34:28 > 0:34:32"one Jane De Beynac, single woman,

0:34:32 > 0:34:34"a French Protestant,

0:34:34 > 0:34:37"acquainted your orator of her intentions to make her escape

0:34:37 > 0:34:40"as soon as she could..." Now, your orator is Joseph.

0:34:40 > 0:34:41The orator is Joseph.

0:34:41 > 0:34:45"Your orator assisted her in making her escape first

0:34:45 > 0:34:49"and laid out several sums to take care and manage."

0:34:49 > 0:34:51It's talking about his money

0:34:51 > 0:34:56and he's going to work together with Jane.

0:34:56 > 0:34:59- He's giving her money and lodging money with her...- Yes.

0:34:59 > 0:35:02- ..for his future use, yes. - For his future use, yes.

0:35:02 > 0:35:05- That's the point that he's trying to make.- Yes.

0:35:05 > 0:35:06It's being done in secret.

0:35:06 > 0:35:10- He can't legally send money out of the country.- Yes.

0:35:10 > 0:35:14So, he did start kind of filtering it away early on,

0:35:14 > 0:35:17foreseeing that he might, at some point, have to leave.

0:35:17 > 0:35:21- Yeah, yeah. He had no idea it was going to take ten years.- No.

0:35:21 > 0:35:22Because these are very long documents,

0:35:22 > 0:35:25it's not sensible to read the whole thing word-for-word,

0:35:25 > 0:35:29but what we do discover is that in June 1691, she goes...

0:35:30 > 0:35:35..and we then get a long list of the money that he gives to her,

0:35:35 > 0:35:39via various other merchants and financiers.

0:35:39 > 0:35:42Then we come on to this bit here,

0:35:42 > 0:35:44where he sort of sums up what he's done.

0:35:44 > 0:35:47"Your orator is very well assured

0:35:47 > 0:35:55"the said Jane De Beynac received the sum of 13,500 livres,

0:35:55 > 0:35:58"your orator's own proper money,

0:35:58 > 0:36:02"and so remitted and sent for your orator's sole benefit."

0:36:02 > 0:36:06Now, the amount of money, the 13,500 -

0:36:06 > 0:36:10if you calculate that in today's terms, that's about £80,000.

0:36:10 > 0:36:12- I mean, that's...- Wow, that's a lot of money.- Yeah.

0:36:12 > 0:36:15So, you know, his relationship with her...

0:36:15 > 0:36:17There's obviously a lot of trust.

0:36:17 > 0:36:22Yes. I just hope his trust is in the right place.

0:36:22 > 0:36:25I've got a feeling that she's going to do the dirty on him.

0:36:25 > 0:36:28- Something's going to happen. - Something's going to happen.

0:36:28 > 0:36:30This is a court case, after all.

0:36:30 > 0:36:33Yes, he might trust her, but I am having my doubts about her.

0:36:33 > 0:36:36Yes. He's obviously going to arrive and expect, well,

0:36:36 > 0:36:38to get his money, do we think? Yes.

0:36:38 > 0:36:42"Jane De Beynac sometimes pretends

0:36:42 > 0:36:46"your orator never remitted any money at all to her.

0:36:46 > 0:36:49"At other times, Jane pretends

0:36:49 > 0:36:54"that the money so sent to her by your orator was her own money."

0:36:54 > 0:36:58- Oh! She's a case, isn't she, is Jane? - She is, yes.

0:36:58 > 0:37:00Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

0:37:00 > 0:37:03But you could... You could see it coming.

0:37:03 > 0:37:07Strangely, for a lawyer and a financier,

0:37:07 > 0:37:11knowing what money does to people,

0:37:11 > 0:37:13to trust her from that distance, you know?

0:37:13 > 0:37:16- Yes. And for that length of time. - And for that length of time is...

0:37:16 > 0:37:20Yes. I mean, it's ten years. 1691, it starts.

0:37:20 > 0:37:23So, that's his side of the story.

0:37:23 > 0:37:25- The next document...- Is this her?

0:37:25 > 0:37:27This is her response.

0:37:27 > 0:37:28And we get here, it's called,

0:37:28 > 0:37:32"The Answer of Jane De Beynac, Defendant."

0:37:32 > 0:37:37"In the year of our Lord 1690 or thereabouts, she came to Paris.

0:37:39 > 0:37:42"The complainant made her frequent visits..."

0:37:43 > 0:37:46Ah, it's warming up.

0:37:46 > 0:37:49"..and at one time, gave her to understand

0:37:49 > 0:37:53"that he would procure her to make her escape into another kingdom..."

0:37:55 > 0:37:58Ah. "..if she would promise to marry him."

0:38:01 > 0:38:03- Oh, she's something else.- Yes.

0:38:05 > 0:38:07He comes, Joseph comes with his servant...

0:38:07 > 0:38:10"..with his servant, came to this Defendant's lodgings

0:38:10 > 0:38:13"and the Defendant was surprised to be arrested

0:38:13 > 0:38:17"in an Action of above £2,000,

0:38:17 > 0:38:22"upon which said arrest, she has been a prisoner in the Queen's Bench."

0:38:22 > 0:38:24He's actually got her put in prison

0:38:24 > 0:38:28and it was a debtors' prison, rather than a criminal type of prison.

0:38:28 > 0:38:31He's trying to bring a case in the Court of the Queen's Bench.

0:38:31 > 0:38:35At that court, you have to have written proof of your debt.

0:38:35 > 0:38:37When you were gathering your evidence,

0:38:37 > 0:38:39your opponent was put into the debtors' prison.

0:38:39 > 0:38:41So, she went to prison for four months?

0:38:41 > 0:38:44- Yeah. At his instigation.- Yes.

0:38:47 > 0:38:48Good on you, Joe.

0:38:48 > 0:38:52It's no more than she deserves, because I don't believe her.

0:38:52 > 0:38:55She's the one who's been lying

0:38:55 > 0:38:58and taking him for a ride.

0:38:58 > 0:39:01We then find that the case didn't proceed in the Queen's Bench.

0:39:01 > 0:39:04Presumably, he couldn't get enough evidence -

0:39:04 > 0:39:06that's why it comes to the Court of Chancery,

0:39:06 > 0:39:08where it's one person's word against the other.

0:39:08 > 0:39:10So, who finally decides?

0:39:10 > 0:39:14Well, most Chancery cases don't ever reach any judgment.

0:39:14 > 0:39:16- Any decision?- No.

0:39:16 > 0:39:19So, Joseph will have been the one in charge, because he brought the case.

0:39:19 > 0:39:22He will have either settled or dropped, we don't know.

0:39:22 > 0:39:24But certainly, it doesn't proceed any further.

0:39:24 > 0:39:26- It's not very satisfying, is it, really?- No.

0:39:26 > 0:39:29- I mean, it's just dropped and... - But it... I don't know, you...

0:39:29 > 0:39:32These records, they give you such a personal side of the people.

0:39:32 > 0:39:35- They do. Well, they do, absolutely.- Yeah.

0:39:35 > 0:39:41I don't yet know how much longer he survived and what he did.

0:39:41 > 0:39:45We know that he didn't marry and they didn't have children in France.

0:39:45 > 0:39:49Well, we assume he married, because otherwise, how would you be here?

0:39:49 > 0:39:51Well, exactly. I mean, that is...

0:39:51 > 0:39:54That is the question that's been bugging me all the time.

0:39:54 > 0:39:57- Yeah.- How do we find out that?

0:39:57 > 0:40:01I think probably the next stage would be for you to go to Soho.

0:40:01 > 0:40:04A lot of people know about the Huguenots, who were silk weavers

0:40:04 > 0:40:06and ended up in Spitalfields, places like that.

0:40:06 > 0:40:09- That's where I started this search. - Yeah.

0:40:09 > 0:40:12Actually, these financial-type Huguenots

0:40:12 > 0:40:15were based much more round Soho

0:40:15 > 0:40:18and there is still a Protestant church in Soho,

0:40:18 > 0:40:20which may well have some records

0:40:20 > 0:40:23which might throw some light on what happened next.

0:40:23 > 0:40:25Get me a taxi at once! SHE LAUGHS

0:40:37 > 0:40:41I long to find out how long Joseph lived -

0:40:41 > 0:40:43what he did in the latter part of his life,

0:40:43 > 0:40:47because he must have had children.

0:40:47 > 0:40:49But I still don't know anything about that

0:40:49 > 0:40:53and that's the next thing that I must know -

0:40:53 > 0:40:56exactly where I fit into the whole scheme of things.

0:41:00 > 0:41:02In the early 18th century,

0:41:02 > 0:41:06Soho in central London was so full of Huguenots

0:41:06 > 0:41:10that it was known as "Petit France" or "Little France".

0:41:10 > 0:41:14Now, the only remaining French Protestant church is in Soho Square.

0:41:16 > 0:41:19Derek's meeting historian Tessa Murdoch.

0:41:21 > 0:41:26I'm here to find out more about Joseph's personal life.

0:41:28 > 0:41:32We've discovered quite a lot about him until now -

0:41:32 > 0:41:35what he was up to, things that happened to him -

0:41:35 > 0:41:37but I'm longing to find out...

0:41:39 > 0:41:41..ultimately, where I come in.

0:41:41 > 0:41:45Well, I think this is a rather exciting bit of information.

0:41:45 > 0:41:47There's the name.

0:41:47 > 0:41:50There's the huge signature that he had.

0:41:50 > 0:41:53"30th July, 1708.

0:41:54 > 0:41:56"Which day approved formally

0:41:56 > 0:42:00"Joseph Laplaigne of the Parish of St Giles-in-the-Fields,

0:42:00 > 0:42:02"in the County of Middlesex,

0:42:02 > 0:42:07"aged 70 years and a bachelor,

0:42:07 > 0:42:11"who allegeth that he intendeth to marry

0:42:11 > 0:42:17"with Salome Labastide of the Parish of St Martins-in-the-Fields

0:42:17 > 0:42:22"in the County of Middlesex aforesaid, 25 years and a spinster."

0:42:22 > 0:42:24God -

0:42:24 > 0:42:2770 and she was 25!

0:42:29 > 0:42:31And her name was Salome...

0:42:32 > 0:42:34..like my mother's grandmother.

0:42:34 > 0:42:37- It's a family name? - It is a family... Yes.

0:42:37 > 0:42:38How exciting!

0:42:38 > 0:42:41Wow... As they say,

0:42:41 > 0:42:43there's a turn-up for the book.

0:42:43 > 0:42:46Salome Labastide.

0:42:46 > 0:42:48Almost as good as Salome Lapland.

0:42:49 > 0:42:51Oh, that's wonderful.

0:42:52 > 0:42:54Oh, I'm so glad he got married at last.

0:42:54 > 0:42:56I'm so glad he made it.

0:42:56 > 0:42:58You've got lots of other things there, haven't you?

0:42:58 > 0:43:01Yes. This is something rather special, actually. It's...

0:43:01 > 0:43:03Oh, and there's his crest!

0:43:04 > 0:43:08The hound chasing the stag.

0:43:08 > 0:43:10But it's developed now,

0:43:10 > 0:43:14it's got this other side to it, this tree and...

0:43:14 > 0:43:19Well, we think that is the coat of arms of the Labastide family.

0:43:20 > 0:43:24"Je meurs pour revivre." I...

0:43:24 > 0:43:27- Oh! "I die in order to live again." - Exactly.

0:43:27 > 0:43:32The phoenix is born again in fire.

0:43:32 > 0:43:34And perhaps, that could be a reference

0:43:34 > 0:43:38to Joseph de la Plaigne's new life,

0:43:38 > 0:43:40leaving France behind him...

0:43:40 > 0:43:43- Oh, yes... - ..and starting again in London.

0:43:43 > 0:43:47Yes. That's a nice thought. A very nice thought.

0:43:47 > 0:43:52Yes. You know, suddenly, I'm feeling close to him.

0:43:54 > 0:43:58I've found out all sorts of things that happened to him,

0:43:58 > 0:44:05and what he did, but now I'm getting a feel of Joseph himself.

0:44:05 > 0:44:09And also, I'm getting a feel of where I fit into the picture.

0:44:10 > 0:44:12I can't lay claim to it.

0:44:13 > 0:44:15- Well, I think you can.- Could I?

0:44:15 > 0:44:20Yes. It's the coat of arms of your ancestors.

0:44:20 > 0:44:22Yes, you're quite right.

0:44:22 > 0:44:25So, that's the marriage -

0:44:25 > 0:44:28and nine months later...

0:44:28 > 0:44:29DEREK GASPS

0:44:31 > 0:44:35"Madame Salome de la Plaigne..."

0:44:35 > 0:44:38Oh. Have you got the translation?

0:44:38 > 0:44:41- This is the English translation. - Yes, that helps me.

0:44:41 > 0:44:45"I certify that on the 28th of May

0:44:45 > 0:44:48"in the year 1709,

0:44:48 > 0:44:52"I baptised Guillaume de la Plaigne..."

0:44:52 > 0:44:54- That is William?- Yes.

0:44:54 > 0:44:56Yeah, William de la Plaigne.

0:44:56 > 0:44:58"..the legitimate son of his parents,

0:44:58 > 0:45:03"Monsieur Joseph de la Plaigne and Madame Salome de la Plaigne.

0:45:03 > 0:45:06"He was presented at the baptism by his godparents,

0:45:06 > 0:45:11"the very Honourable Guillaume - William - Kendish,

0:45:11 > 0:45:14"My Lord Duke of Devonshire,

0:45:14 > 0:45:18"and by Madame Marie de la Bastide."

0:45:18 > 0:45:21Who is Salome's sister-in-law.

0:45:21 > 0:45:24It's worth looking at the witnesses of the baptism,

0:45:24 > 0:45:28because they include Armand de la Bastide,

0:45:28 > 0:45:32who is the brother of Salome.

0:45:32 > 0:45:34Ah...

0:45:34 > 0:45:37And his godfather was very grand.

0:45:38 > 0:45:41The Duke of Devonshire, no less.

0:45:41 > 0:45:43Here is the Duke,

0:45:43 > 0:45:48painted in his robes as a Knight of the Order of the Garter,

0:45:48 > 0:45:51which I think he was awarded in that very year.

0:45:52 > 0:45:54I'm sort of lost for words, at the moment.

0:45:54 > 0:45:58Here he is, mixing with the nobility of England,

0:45:58 > 0:46:00fathering a child at the age of 71.

0:46:01 > 0:46:04Now, what happened to Joseph?

0:46:04 > 0:46:07Did he live happily ever after?

0:46:07 > 0:46:09Well, the next document...

0:46:09 > 0:46:11It's rather sober.

0:46:11 > 0:46:14- I think his hourglass has run dry. - Oh.

0:46:16 > 0:46:17This is a will.

0:46:18 > 0:46:20When did he die?

0:46:20 > 0:46:23I think he died in January, 1710.

0:46:23 > 0:46:26- Oh...- So, about eight months later.

0:46:26 > 0:46:28Yes.

0:46:28 > 0:46:31Oh, that is...

0:46:31 > 0:46:32That's very sad.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35The young mother is a widow.

0:46:35 > 0:46:38Obviously taken out of him, with all that...

0:46:38 > 0:46:40DEREK LAUGHS

0:46:40 > 0:46:43But she is now a widow, with a son.

0:46:45 > 0:46:47What happened to them?

0:46:47 > 0:46:52Well, fast-forward some 20 or more years

0:46:52 > 0:46:56and here is an exciting announcement in Reed's Weekly Journal

0:46:56 > 0:47:01from March 6th, 1736, in Shropshire.

0:47:03 > 0:47:05"The Reverend Mr Laplain,

0:47:05 > 0:47:09"Chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire,

0:47:09 > 0:47:14"Vicar of Wrockwardine in the County of Salop,

0:47:14 > 0:47:17"was lately married to Mrs Sandford,

0:47:17 > 0:47:21"a well-accomplished young gentlewoman of a great family

0:47:21 > 0:47:22"and a good fortune."

0:47:24 > 0:47:27This is William, who would have been

0:47:27 > 0:47:31my great-grandfather five times removed.

0:47:31 > 0:47:33He's a Reverend -

0:47:33 > 0:47:35Chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire.

0:47:35 > 0:47:41Which indicates that he must have been properly educated,

0:47:41 > 0:47:44and we are excited to discover

0:47:44 > 0:47:48that he attended Cambridge and was at Trinity Hall.

0:47:48 > 0:47:50DEREK LAUGHS

0:47:50 > 0:47:53I was next door, in St John's.

0:47:53 > 0:47:55- There you are.- Oh, gosh! And he's...

0:47:55 > 0:47:57Already, the name is changing.

0:47:57 > 0:48:00"The Reverend Mr Laplain."

0:48:00 > 0:48:02So, he's based in Shropshire,

0:48:02 > 0:48:05but described as Chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire.

0:48:05 > 0:48:08Wonderful. Wonderful.

0:48:08 > 0:48:11So, they kept up the connection with the Duke of Devonshire.

0:48:11 > 0:48:14- It seems to have been a family affair.- Yes.

0:48:14 > 0:48:19The connection must, I think, have come through...

0:48:19 > 0:48:22Salome de la Bastide.

0:48:22 > 0:48:27Well, we do have a clue to the connection.

0:48:27 > 0:48:32This is a letter from Salome and Armand's father,

0:48:32 > 0:48:35dated September, 1691.

0:48:37 > 0:48:43"Sir, I thought it necessary to get acquaintances of some great Lords,

0:48:43 > 0:48:48"whose friendship I have procured by a thousand dangers of war.

0:48:48 > 0:48:53"These Lords had the goodness to present me and my son to the King,

0:48:53 > 0:48:56"your great monarch,

0:48:56 > 0:48:59"who had the goodness to promise me

0:48:59 > 0:49:01"that he would take care of him -

0:49:01 > 0:49:04"and my intentions have always been

0:49:04 > 0:49:07"that he should follow the martial life."

0:49:09 > 0:49:10So...

0:49:12 > 0:49:15..this is Salome's father...

0:49:15 > 0:49:17Yes.

0:49:17 > 0:49:19..promoting his son...

0:49:19 > 0:49:21Presumably Armand.

0:49:21 > 0:49:24..Armand, to be in the Army, to be...

0:49:24 > 0:49:30Yes. In the service of, at this stage, William III.

0:49:30 > 0:49:34- Cos it's dated...- 1691.- ..1691.

0:49:34 > 0:49:36That's three years after the Glorious Revolution.

0:49:36 > 0:49:39Exactly. So, maybe that Devonshire connection

0:49:39 > 0:49:43is very closely linked with loyalty and support for the new monarch.

0:49:43 > 0:49:45For the new monarch, yes.

0:49:48 > 0:49:49Originally from Holland,

0:49:49 > 0:49:53King William III had been invited to take the English throne

0:49:53 > 0:49:55by a group of Protestant Lords,

0:49:55 > 0:49:58which included the Duke of Devonshire's father.

0:49:59 > 0:50:04When King James II had been crowned three years earlier in 1685,

0:50:04 > 0:50:07English Protestants became worried.

0:50:07 > 0:50:11James was the first Catholic monarch for well over a century

0:50:11 > 0:50:14and a cousin of Louis XIV.

0:50:14 > 0:50:15So, English Protestants feared

0:50:15 > 0:50:19they would suffer the same fate as the French Huguenots.

0:50:20 > 0:50:22William's bid to overthrow James

0:50:22 > 0:50:25would become known as the Glorious Revolution.

0:50:28 > 0:50:32Derek's come to William III's London residence, Kensington Palace,

0:50:32 > 0:50:35to meet historian Dr Gabriel Glickman.

0:50:35 > 0:50:36Very nice to meet you.

0:50:36 > 0:50:39You too. Love your house! THEY LAUGH

0:50:39 > 0:50:41It's... It's not bad, is it?

0:50:44 > 0:50:46Derek wants to find out what role

0:50:46 > 0:50:50his six times great-grandmother's family, the de la Bastides,

0:50:50 > 0:50:52had in William's army

0:50:52 > 0:50:55and whether they were involved in the Glorious Revolution.

0:50:57 > 0:51:02Salome's father Jean and her brother Armand are professional soldiers

0:51:02 > 0:51:04and they're fighting in the wars

0:51:04 > 0:51:08that break out across Europe in the later 1680s.

0:51:08 > 0:51:10And they're quite literally fighting for their faith.

0:51:10 > 0:51:12William sends out the call of recruitment

0:51:12 > 0:51:14across Protestant Europe,

0:51:14 > 0:51:16and we can see here that his army

0:51:16 > 0:51:20was beginning to assume a very international composition.

0:51:20 > 0:51:23"The Huguenot cavalry were provisionally enrolled

0:51:23 > 0:51:26"in two regiments of blue and red dragoons.

0:51:26 > 0:51:31"The officers of the blues included la Bastide."

0:51:31 > 0:51:33Armand de la Bastide!

0:51:33 > 0:51:36- And William really values the experience of these men.- Yes.

0:51:36 > 0:51:42So, when the army sets sail from the Netherlands in October 1688,

0:51:42 > 0:51:47it's been estimated that roughly 10% of William's army

0:51:47 > 0:51:49was composed of Huguenots.

0:51:49 > 0:51:52And they land at Brixham Harbour in Devon

0:51:52 > 0:51:55on the 5th November, 1688.

0:51:56 > 0:51:59As William's army marched on London,

0:51:59 > 0:52:02Catholic King James II's regime collapsed

0:52:02 > 0:52:04and James himself fled to France.

0:52:05 > 0:52:08Protestant William and his wife Mary

0:52:08 > 0:52:12were crowned as joint monarchs in 1689.

0:52:12 > 0:52:14And this Glorious Revolution

0:52:14 > 0:52:17seemed to secure England as a Protestant country.

0:52:19 > 0:52:22But the threat is not over, because very soon,

0:52:22 > 0:52:27James II is sailing back with an army funded by Louis XIV -

0:52:27 > 0:52:29and they land in Ireland.

0:52:29 > 0:52:32William knows that he can rely absolutely on his Huguenots.

0:52:32 > 0:52:35- On the Huguenots?- Because they had everything invested.

0:52:35 > 0:52:37Of whom Armand is one. Yes.

0:52:37 > 0:52:39William starts assembling his troops,

0:52:39 > 0:52:41giving them passes to move into Ireland.

0:52:41 > 0:52:43And here we have...

0:52:43 > 0:52:48"Lieutenant Armand de la Bastide, his servant and one horse,

0:52:48 > 0:52:50"with his goods and necessaries

0:52:50 > 0:52:54"to go to High Lake and thence to Ireland,

0:52:54 > 0:52:57"dated the 18th of June, 1690."

0:52:58 > 0:53:02- So, Ireland...- Now, this is going to be the Battle of the Boyne, isn't it?

0:53:02 > 0:53:05This all leads up to the Battle of the Boyne.

0:53:05 > 0:53:09- The famous Battle of the Boyne. - The critical encounter.

0:53:09 > 0:53:14Ireland had long been a battleground between Catholics and Protestants,

0:53:14 > 0:53:17but the fight between James and William's armies at the River Boyne

0:53:17 > 0:53:20was for more than just the British crown -

0:53:20 > 0:53:22it was for the balance of power in Europe.

0:53:23 > 0:53:27It results in a spectacular victory for the Protestant forces.

0:53:27 > 0:53:29It's a tremendous triumph for William.

0:53:29 > 0:53:31It's also a tremendous triumph for Armand,

0:53:31 > 0:53:34that he's proved his mettle in one of the most dangerous

0:53:34 > 0:53:37and unpredictable conflicts in British history.

0:53:39 > 0:53:42Wow! What relation would he be to me?

0:53:42 > 0:53:44Something very complicated?

0:53:44 > 0:53:47- So, he would be great-uncle seven times over, I think.- Yes!

0:53:47 > 0:53:50Great-uncle seven times over.

0:53:50 > 0:53:52In December 1691,

0:53:52 > 0:53:55an Act is passed in Parliament,

0:53:55 > 0:53:57naturalising as Englishmen

0:53:57 > 0:54:01a handful of William's most trusted, most loyal followers.

0:54:01 > 0:54:03- And here...- And it includes...

0:54:03 > 0:54:09"Armand de la Bastide, Son of Colonel John de la Bastide."

0:54:09 > 0:54:11Now, that was a huge honour, wasn't it?

0:54:11 > 0:54:13A huge honour. Tremendous accolade.

0:54:13 > 0:54:17So, Armand is now really part of the England created

0:54:17 > 0:54:19in the Glorious Revolution

0:54:19 > 0:54:24and we can see him rising through the ranks.

0:54:24 > 0:54:26"Armand de la Bastide,

0:54:26 > 0:54:29"to be Exempt and Eldest Captain -

0:54:29 > 0:54:33dated Whitehall, 20th January, 1694."

0:54:33 > 0:54:361694. The regiment is very significant.

0:54:36 > 0:54:38This is the Life Guards,

0:54:38 > 0:54:40it's the traditional protectors of the monarchy

0:54:40 > 0:54:43on the battlefields and in times of peace.

0:54:43 > 0:54:45It's also highly socially exclusive.

0:54:45 > 0:54:48It's very difficult to get into that regiment

0:54:48 > 0:54:50if you are not of noble or gentry blood.

0:54:50 > 0:54:56So, my great-grandfather six times removed, Joseph,

0:54:56 > 0:54:57when he married Salome,

0:54:57 > 0:55:00he was marrying into a very high-class family.

0:55:00 > 0:55:02Socially and professionally -

0:55:02 > 0:55:07and we see here again in 1705,

0:55:07 > 0:55:10much later, another promotion.

0:55:10 > 0:55:11Oh, here he is.

0:55:11 > 0:55:15"Armand de la Bastide to be Guidon..."?

0:55:15 > 0:55:18Guidon. And the Guidon was the man

0:55:18 > 0:55:23who bore the standard of the Third Troop of Horse Guards.

0:55:23 > 0:55:28And this regiment is the forerunner to the Queen's Household Cavalry,

0:55:28 > 0:55:31the mounted bodyguards of the royal family.

0:55:31 > 0:55:33And he was the standard bearer of that regiment?

0:55:33 > 0:55:36- He is the standard bearer.- He's going up and up and up, isn't he?

0:55:36 > 0:55:38- It's an extraordinary summit to a military career...- Yes.

0:55:38 > 0:55:41..for a man who came into England as part of an invading army

0:55:41 > 0:55:43and as a Protestant refugee.

0:55:43 > 0:55:49Yes. I had no idea that this journey was going to end up here

0:55:49 > 0:55:55and with somebody quite so close to the Sovereign.

0:55:55 > 0:55:58Gosh. That's wonderful. Wonderful.

0:56:28 > 0:56:31What is surprising for me - and quite astonishing -

0:56:31 > 0:56:36is the journey from my immediate forebears,

0:56:36 > 0:56:39who were very ordinary, very working class.

0:56:39 > 0:56:42I thought we were going to go back on that level,

0:56:42 > 0:56:49but no way, we've ended up with friendships in very high places -

0:56:49 > 0:56:55dukes and duchesses and even a foot into a royal palace.

0:56:58 > 0:57:01I mean, there was Armand de la Bastide,

0:57:01 > 0:57:05standard bearer of the Household Cavalry,

0:57:05 > 0:57:10fighting fantastically at the Battle of the Boyne with William III.

0:57:12 > 0:57:13And Joseph -

0:57:13 > 0:57:18Joseph de la Plaigne was a man I would love to have met...

0:57:21 > 0:57:24..a man who lived a double life.

0:57:25 > 0:57:26Very brave.

0:57:28 > 0:57:31It's been wonderful.

0:57:31 > 0:57:33It's been a revelation to me.

0:57:33 > 0:57:39And I've discovered the people from whom I have emerged...

0:57:41 > 0:57:44..are admirable people.