0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is Albert Square. This is Walford. This is my manor.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08This is where I work every single day. And I love it.
0:00:10 > 0:00:15Danny Dyer is an actor most famous for his role as Mick Carter,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18the pub landlord of the Queen Vic in EastEnders.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20This is the Vic.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22The beautiful Vic.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27Here she is.
0:00:28 > 0:00:29My baby.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Danny began acting while he was at school,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37and has gone on to work on countless TV and film productions.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42EastEnders comes along, they gave me this massive opportunity,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and I knew I had to relish every second of it.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50People watching, the stereotype and all that,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52they're going to expect me to be related to criminals.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Maybe I am related to a few criminals.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58You know, I want the opposite to that.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Who knows where it's going to take me?
0:01:00 > 0:01:02I want to freak a few people out, you know,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05be related to aristocracy or something.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Something completely left field to what I'm known for.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12You know, that's what I'd like. I'd like to freak a few people out.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Danny was born in Custom House in the East End of London in 1977,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51and now lives in Essex with his family.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55Growing up, you either had to make people laugh,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57or you had to be able to hold your hands up...
0:01:58 > 0:02:00..or you'd get walked all over, to be fair.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02So I was a bit of a tearaway as a kid.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04I was heading, probably, for prison...
0:02:05 > 0:02:08..until I found my calling, which was acting.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14I'm from a broken family, if that's what you want to call it,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17in the respect that my mum and dad split up when I was quite young.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18But...
0:02:18 > 0:02:20It was just my mum that brought me up,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22which is where I get my feminine side from.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28My dad wasn't really around that much, really, as a father figure.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32So I've never really asked about what my ancestry is.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I'd like to, maybe, discover
0:02:35 > 0:02:40there are some strong male relations to me,
0:02:40 > 0:02:41back in the day.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Danny is off to meet his father, Tony Dyer,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51to find out about his paternal line.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55- East Londoners.- Proper geezer.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Danny Dyer.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Old school. That's us, yeah.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01- Love you.- Pleasure.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05THEY ALL SPEAK AT ONCE
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Watch. Push that one, whip it round, it's called a selfie.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17He's meeting his dad for a pint in an East End pub
0:03:17 > 0:03:19to see what he knows about his ancestors.
0:03:21 > 0:03:22Here he is, look, the old man.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- All right, son?- All right, Pop?
0:03:24 > 0:03:26- Have a sit down.- What are you on?
0:03:26 > 0:03:28I'll have one of them, go on.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Give us a couple of whatever the old man's drinking.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Right, let's have a look at some of these smudges.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37That one, I remember well.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Cos we had that up on our wall.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43One thing you and Mother did get right,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- is you've got beautiful-looking kids, haven't you?- That's it.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50- I've got some more here. Here we are.- Let's have a look.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Right, have a look at this.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54There's your nan and grandad and me.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56So there they are, the old man, look,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58there's me nan there. Nanny Joyce.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Grandad John.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02With Nanny, what was her parents like?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Well, I remember my grandad, but not my nan,
0:04:05 > 0:04:06because, obviously, she died.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09She died of kidney failure.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11How old was she, Nan, when her,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13- when her mother died? - About nine years old.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15- Nine.- Yeah.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Never knew. Never knew.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20No. Granny there, and Auntie Silv.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22They brought my mother up.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24That was Sylvia, was it?
0:04:24 > 0:04:26She's beaut, and all, Sylvie, look.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Absolutely stunning, but Mary Ann, she looks naughty.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32She looks like she could swing a right-hander, you know what I mean?
0:04:32 > 0:04:35- Yeah, yeah.- It's a strong face.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36Fascinating...
0:04:37 > 0:04:39That's your great-great-grandmother,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and that's your great-great-great-grandmother.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Great-great-great-grandmother.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44On the back, look.
0:04:46 > 0:04:471851.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51See, I love all this.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53- I love all this.- A few years ago, son, weren't it?
0:04:53 > 0:04:551851.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56Hard face, wasn't it?
0:04:56 > 0:05:00- Really hard. - Albert and Anne Buttivant.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04My aunt Sylv said they ran the workhouse down in Mile End.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05Them two.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07They ran the workhouse?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09That's what I was told.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11So, anything going past
0:05:11 > 0:05:13- Albert and Ann...- No, I don't know no further than that.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15You don't go no further than that?
0:05:15 > 0:05:19- No. No.- This seems to be the route I'm going to be going down.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Albert and Ann Buttivant.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26That's near here, then, isn't it?
0:05:26 > 0:05:28Mile End?
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Danny's learned that his paternal grandmother, Joyce, whose mother,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Mary Ann Wallace, died young,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37was brought up by her grandmother, Mary Ann Buttivant.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41Danny knows nothing about the Buttivant family except that his
0:05:41 > 0:05:45father, Tony, has told him Albert and Ann,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47his great-great-great-grandparents,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49ran a workhouse in London's East end.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57For my dad to tell me about my nan losing her mum at nine...
0:05:58 > 0:06:01..you know, it's freaked my head out little bit. I didn't expect that.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03You know, I feel for her.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06I'm also intrigued about the fact
0:06:06 > 0:06:10that Ann and Albert Buttivant ran a workhouse.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13That must have been a real tough gig, that one.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I think I want to learn a little bit more about that,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18and see where that takes me.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Danny's going to the Tower Hamlets archive
0:06:20 > 0:06:22to meet Professor David Green
0:06:22 > 0:06:25who studied the records of the Mile End workhouse.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31So, Professor Green - good name, cool name, that.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33- Pro Green.- Pro Green.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Now this is a picture of Mary Ann
0:06:38 > 0:06:43who was my two times great-grandmother...
0:06:43 > 0:06:45who is the daughter of...
0:06:47 > 0:06:52..Ann Buttivant, and this is Albert Buttivant.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56So I learned that these two ran a workhouse, as far as I know.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59OK. I'm going to show you something from the workhouse records.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- Let's have a look. - So, 1878...
0:07:03 > 0:07:071878, December the 2nd.
0:07:07 > 0:07:08And there is Ann Buttivant.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10So there's Ann.
0:07:10 > 0:07:11So there's Mary Ann...
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Who was born in 1877,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17so just a few months before they were admitted into the workhouse.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21So she's in there, the mother, with a very, very young baby,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Mary Ann, entering the workhouse...
0:07:25 > 0:07:27- ..as a pauper.- As a pauper?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- As a pauper.- So she wasn't...
0:07:29 > 0:07:33- She didn't run the workhouse? She was just in it.- That's right.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36David has scoured the Mile End workhouse records
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and compiled a list of all the Buttivant family admissions.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45What about Albert? All I'm seeing here, really,
0:07:45 > 0:07:46is, obviously, Mary Ann,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Ann, Eliza, Emma, which is obviously her daughters, yeah?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53That's right.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56No Albert. No Albert knocking about
0:07:56 > 0:07:59at all. Then he comes in...
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- Oh, right, OK. - They don't just go in once.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04They go in often.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06That's a kind of three-year period
0:08:06 > 0:08:09between 1878 and 1881 down here.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13They are just in and out the whole time, usually without Albert.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16He may be trying to find work outside.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19This would have been the poorest time of their life,
0:08:19 > 0:08:22because they had three young daughters, at least,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24because we see their names here.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26And he was the only breadwinner.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28It's either death...
0:08:28 > 0:08:30really, starve to death, your kids,
0:08:30 > 0:08:31especially if you've got a baby.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33They've got no choice.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35They committed no crime.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Other than being poor, that's their crime. Having no money.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42So these are the bare-bones, life in the workhouse,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46but you get a really great feel, if you could see the buildings.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50The Mile End Hospital next door
0:08:50 > 0:08:53still uses the old workhouse buildings
0:08:53 > 0:08:55where Danny's great-great-grandmother
0:08:55 > 0:08:57spent most of her childhood.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02It's incredibly rare to see these buildings still standing.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04And your relative, Mary Ann Buttivant,
0:09:04 > 0:09:05when she was a baby,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08this is where she would have been.
0:09:08 > 0:09:09- That's the front.- Oh, yeah.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12And you can see, it's actually not changed very much.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14That looks quite grand.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16You know, it's a hellhole.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20So, Mary Ann Buttivant, very little education, no connections,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22so, coming out of the workhouse,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25I don't know where your story's going to go from here
0:09:25 > 0:09:28but too often these people fell foul of the law.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30It might be a really good idea, perhaps,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33to look at the police records to see if they picked her up.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Yeah. It's a strange feeling to think that...
0:09:37 > 0:09:40..that's the actual building Mary Ann,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Ann and Albert actually knocked about in.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47SIREN WAILS
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Danny is going to search the criminal records
0:09:49 > 0:09:51to see if he can find any trace
0:09:51 > 0:09:55of Mary Ann Buttivant after she came out of the workhouse.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57- All right, Nev?- Hello, Danny.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00- How are you, son?- How are you, mate? You all right? Cup of tea?
0:10:00 > 0:10:02- Yeah, cup of tea. I'll be parked over here, yeah?- No problem.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09I ain't got a clue what's going to come up.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Hopefully nothing, and there's no crime involved.
0:10:14 > 0:10:15OK.
0:10:25 > 0:10:26Search all records.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30So I found her name.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32It's says she was a servant.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34So she did have a job.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44It says Mary Ann Buttivant...
0:10:45 > 0:10:47..bailed at police court.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Her crime... "Having been delivered of a child
0:10:53 > 0:10:58"did by secret disposition of the dead body,
0:10:58 > 0:11:03"endeavour to conceal the birth thereof."
0:11:03 > 0:11:04So she pleaded guilty.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Did not expect that. I thought it would be petty stealing.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19When you've held your own newborn in your arms,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and it's such a vulnerable little weak, little thing...
0:11:22 > 0:11:28you know, it always makes me feel slightly sick...
0:11:30 > 0:11:35..the idea of a baby dying before it even gets started on this Earth.
0:11:35 > 0:11:36The idea of it being a baby,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38of all things, not babies.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39Oh!
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I feel that, you know,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I'm starting this journey and I want to grow to love these people.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I want to grow to love these people.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51You know, cos these are my blood.
0:11:53 > 0:11:54You know. I don't want to...
0:11:55 > 0:11:58..I don't want to find out stuff like this.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12I've come into this thinking, you know, like...
0:12:16 > 0:12:19..I'll be quite detached from it and, you know,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22it's just bits of paper I'm reading and stuff like that.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25But it actually goes a bit deeper than that.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Danny has come to the Bishopsgate Institute
0:12:35 > 0:12:36for further help unravelling
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Mary Ann Buttivant's criminal record.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43He's here to meet historian Dr Daniel Grey.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- Please, call me Daniel. - Oh, good man.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Right.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50My two times...
0:12:52 > 0:12:54..great grandmother...
0:12:55 > 0:12:57..Mary Ann, she's got a criminal record
0:12:57 > 0:12:59which we didn't know about and she pleaded guilty...
0:13:01 > 0:13:04..of endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08So, I'm like... Now, she was 17
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- at this point.- Yeah.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14So I don't know whether she was helping deliver someone else's baby,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16or whether it was her own child.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19I don't know if you can explain to me what it means.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22Well, I've found some documents
0:13:22 > 0:13:25which I'm hoping is going to...
0:13:25 > 0:13:30help you with that. So this is the copy of an indictment.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32"Mary Ann Buttivant.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35"Delivered of a certain female child...
0:13:36 > 0:13:39"..on the 24th day of February.." I can't read it.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41It's driving me mad.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42"In the county of London,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46"and within the jurisdiction of the said courts by certain secret
0:13:46 > 0:13:50"disposition of the dead body of the said child to whit,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54"by secretly placing the dead body of the said child in a pail."
0:13:54 > 0:13:58So that's a bucket. "And covering its dead body with ashes there with
0:13:58 > 0:14:00"intent to conceal the birth thereof."
0:14:01 > 0:14:04So what it's saying she's done is
0:14:04 > 0:14:07she's hidden the dead body of a baby,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and that it's her baby, that she's the one who's given birth to it.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14I thought that might have been the case.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17So this is the death certificate.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Daughter of Mary Ann Buttivant, unmarried,
0:14:20 > 0:14:26so what's really crucial here about cause of death is that it says,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28"Found dead, a haemorrhage from umbilical cord
0:14:28 > 0:14:30"from want of proper attention at birth."
0:14:30 > 0:14:32There is no evidence of violence.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35No-one's tried to hurt the baby in any way.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38What's happened is that shortly after giving birth,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43when the umbilical cord's been cut, no-one's tied it and that means that
0:14:43 > 0:14:46you can bleed to death very, very quickly.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49This is... I'm going to put it in my head.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50This is my family.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54You know, that she was 17.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58Maybe she didn't know she was pregnant.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00All of a sudden, this baby starts to come out,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03she then tries to deal with it herself.
0:15:03 > 0:15:04She doesn't know what to do.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07She gets it wrong.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11So... I can't imagine what that was like.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14And then, of course, she panics...
0:15:16 > 0:15:18..and puts the baby...
0:15:19 > 0:15:21..in a bucket, just...
0:15:21 > 0:15:23If there had been a midwife there,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26which most working class women can arrange to hire one,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29or at the very least, at the very least,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33a local woman who's friendly and helps people out informally because
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- she's given birth herself. - Just someone.- Someone.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38They would have known to tie the cord
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- and been able to do it quickly enough.- Aged two minutes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42Yeah.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47Concealment of birth was a common offence in the Victorian period.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51And women could be prosecuted for hiding the dead body of a baby.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53It was the jury's job to decide whether or not
0:15:53 > 0:15:56the child had been intentionally killed.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01What she could have got, and what they give women who they suspect of
0:16:01 > 0:16:03having deliberately killed their children -
0:16:03 > 0:16:07two years' imprisonment with hard labour.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10But this is basically a suspended sentence. No jail time.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13They seem to have decided this was very much a tragic accident.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I know this might sound like a weird thing,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18but I'm slightly relieved.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22- I think relief is totally understandable.- Yeah.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Before she died in 1960, Mary Ann
0:16:26 > 0:16:29went on to have ten other children.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Her youngest, Sylvie, is now in her 90s,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34and lives nearby in Poplar, in East London.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I haven't seen her since I was, like, a baby, tiny, tiny.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46So it's been a long, long time.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50But I'm really happy that there's somebody
0:16:50 > 0:16:53that's, you know, still alive,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55that I can talk to,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59that gives me this access into this Victorian world.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00I'm also very nervous,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03cos I don't know what sort of reaction I'm going to get.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09Sylvie is cared for by her daughter, Iris, Danny's distant cousin.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11- Are you all right? - How are you, babes, you all right?
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- You look lovely. - You look beautiful and all.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- Come and see Auntie Silv. - Will do. Come on.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17Hello, my darling.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19What have you put me in?
0:17:19 > 0:17:20I know, I do apologise.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Give us a kiss.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24- You all right?- Yeah, I'm all right.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- Yeah?- Yeah, but I don't want to be a celebrity!
0:17:27 > 0:17:29SHE LAUGHS
0:17:29 > 0:17:31- No, nor do I, darling. - It's too much like hard work.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33It is hard work, babe, believe you me.
0:17:33 > 0:17:34Believe you me. Don't worry about it.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36I didn't realise there was so much in it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Auntie Sylvie is your oldest living relative.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43You're still knocking about, beautiful little thing.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45And I'm 92.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Well, I found out some stuff about your mother, Mary Ann,
0:17:49 > 0:17:50over the last couple of days.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52- My mum, yeah.- I don't know how much you know.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Some quite upsetting stuff.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01She was...a proper old East Ender.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02A proper old East Ender.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06I've known my mother, for people to come up and say to her,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09"Got a couple of shillings to lend us, old girl?"
0:18:09 > 0:18:12She says, "No, I've only got enough for myself,"
0:18:12 > 0:18:15but she's lent them her washing to take and pawn
0:18:15 > 0:18:18to get a couple of bob.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20She had a heart of gold, my mum.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23This is the only picture we've got of Mary Ann.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- This is Mary Ann here.- Right.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30For me, your mother, amazing woman.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34It's what I found out, I done a bit of research,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37did you know that Mary Ann has got a criminal record?
0:18:37 > 0:18:39- All right?- Oh!
0:18:39 > 0:18:44What it was... It was concealing a dead baby.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46- Right?- Oh.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51So when she was 17, she got pregnant, she had a little girl...
0:18:51 > 0:18:52and the little girl was two minutes old.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54So it would have been your sister.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57So, obviously, she was distraught, she didn't hurt the baby,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00she didn't kill the baby, she just tried to do it on her own.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03She obviously wasn't savvy enough to tie the cord.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Of course, the baby needs the cord to be tied,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08cos they bleed out.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And, of course, she was so scared, she hid it in a bucket.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15Yeah, hid it in a bucket, and someone found it and...
0:19:15 > 0:19:18So, all that, the past, I wouldn't have known anything about,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21because I was the youngest of the lot, of ten.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Of course. But you didn't know that you had another sister,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28- that she'd... - No-one, none of us knew.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31- So she didn't say nothing about that.- Not one of us knew.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34No, she never, ever mentioned anything like that, did she?
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- Well, I suppose, why would you? - No-one ever knew about that.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39That's what I'm saying. How do you? How do you approach it?
0:19:39 > 0:19:41To even come through that
0:19:41 > 0:19:43and still be a decent human being
0:19:43 > 0:19:44- says a lot about the woman.- Yeah.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It's funny she lost the baby at 17,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51because in later life, she delivered all the babies.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53She delivered me.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55She delivered my sister.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57She delivered all the babies in the flats,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and they used to call her Aunt Polly and say,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03"Go and get Aunt Polly, quick, there's another baby coming."
0:20:03 > 0:20:06So, yeah, she turned out to be like a midwife, really.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08If a baby come quick like that,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12- she would never touch a cord.- No.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14She'd wait till the nurse got there.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18She would never do that herself, obviously, because...
0:20:18 > 0:20:19That explains it, doesn't it?
0:20:19 > 0:20:21She was thinking back to what happened to her, I suppose.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Of course. Absolutely.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25So that really does make sense now.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Obviously, we focused on the Buttivant side of it.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Is there anything else you can tell me about Albert and Ann?
0:20:35 > 0:20:39I was about nine when my grandparents died, I think.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And he always had that gentlemanly...
0:20:43 > 0:20:46..bit about him. Right smart.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49With his old fob watch.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52He originated from French.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55By all accounts, he came from a very rich family...
0:20:55 > 0:20:57A very rich French family?
0:20:57 > 0:20:58Rich French family.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01His name was Buttivent.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Yeah. That's posh, isn't it, that?
0:21:03 > 0:21:07- Buddivent.- So there is some money involved in our family,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09although we never saw none of it!
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Going right back, because, I mean, we've never had any dough,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14do you know what I mean? None of us.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23So it's lovely seeing Sylv.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Very interested in Albert.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28I've ordered his birth certificate cos I want to learn more about him.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I want to see... I want to see...
0:21:35 > 0:21:37maybe, how much he was worth,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40if it says any of that, how French he was.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Am I French? How French am I?
0:21:44 > 0:21:46I know I look French and all that.
0:21:49 > 0:21:50So...
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Born the 4th of November, 1851.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03And he was born...
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Church Lane, Whitechapel.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12That's strange. He was born in Whitechapel, so he's a Londoner.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Name of mother is Hannah Sarah.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Name of father - Charles.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25OK. His occupation of his dad, Charles, is a commercial clerk.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28That sounds like he could be still worth money.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33There's nothing about being French here, though, other than the name.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36It sounds cockney French in my eyes, Buttivant.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39However you pronounce it. Bootivant.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I'd say bu-a-vant. There's no T's in it.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47So I need to find out more, really.
0:22:50 > 0:22:51Interesting.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12I feel like I've come to a bit of a dead end.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I don't really know what to do.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I don't really know what...
0:23:17 > 0:23:19sort of route to go down.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21I'm confused by it all and I don't know what to do.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30I just hope that this journey gets a little bit more jolly,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33to be honest.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Danny's come to meet expert genealogist Laura Berry
0:23:36 > 0:23:39who's agreed to work on his family tree
0:23:39 > 0:23:42to see if she can help him solve the French mystery.
0:23:42 > 0:23:43So, Laura, my four times
0:23:43 > 0:23:47great-grandfather, Charles Buttivant...
0:23:47 > 0:23:50I was led to believe was French.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Well, I have done a bit of research,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56- as you can see from this family tree here.- OK.
0:23:56 > 0:23:57And you're at the bottom,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and then we've got your four times great-grandfather,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Charles Buttivant is here.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- Here he is.- I've managed to go back a little bit further,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08but I'm afraid I haven't been able to find any French ancestry
0:24:08 > 0:24:10in these immediate generations here.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Although, I have managed to find something quite interesting
0:24:15 > 0:24:18going back through Charles' mother,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Ann Gosnold, who came from a really prominent Suffolk family.
0:24:22 > 0:24:28And if you work up the tree to Robert Gosnold,
0:24:28 > 0:24:29who is your ten times great-grandfather.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Ten times great...
0:24:31 > 0:24:32I love this. This is...
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Ten times great-grandfather, Robert Gosnold.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42- Wow!- And he was born in 1611 and died in 1658.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47And, actually, on his baptism record, dating from 1611,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50it was written in Latin, it is quite difficult to read, but there is...
0:24:50 > 0:24:53- I can't read Latin!- It's all right. I've not got it.- Oh, good.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55But he...
0:24:55 > 0:24:59It does say that his father, Robert Gosnold, was an armiger.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01I don't know if that phrase means anything to you.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06I wish I was intelligent enough to say yes, but no, it doesn't.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08I don't know what it means. What does it mean?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10It's interesting because it suggests
0:25:10 > 0:25:12that he was part of the landed gentry,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14and that he had a coat of arms.
0:25:14 > 0:25:15We've got a picture of it here.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Wow! Finally, some money in my family.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24I've been led to believe there was money in my family.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27And it's been the complete opposite so far.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Shame it was in the 17th century.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33So Robert's my man!
0:25:33 > 0:25:34OK.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I'm hoping he's cake-o bake-o.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39And that, in cockney, sort of means really rich.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- Oh.- Yeah, like, caked.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44That would be quite exciting.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I need to find out more about this geezer, don't I?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52I'm hoping he's a proper geezer, like, proper.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56What's interesting about your ten times great-grandfather's dates,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00you know, he was alive in the 1640s and 1650s.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03He would have been an adult during the English Civil War.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04And the landed gentry did tend to
0:26:04 > 0:26:07play quite prominent roles in the English Civil War.
0:26:07 > 0:26:08So I think he would be
0:26:08 > 0:26:11a really interesting person to investigate a bit further.
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Robert Gosnold.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15Sounds posh.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I'm very excited. Robert Gosnold...
0:26:27 > 0:26:30possibly could have fought in the English Civil War.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33And...
0:26:33 > 0:26:35and it's exciting, because...
0:26:36 > 0:26:38..you know, I want a real man.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41I want a bit of... I want a leader of men in my life.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43And I need some good news.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47Because I've had some pretty heavy stuff up until this point.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Danny has travelled to Oxford to meet Professor Mark Stoyle,
0:27:03 > 0:27:05a Civil War historian.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08I know this is a very old pub, the oldest pub in Oxford, but why,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10why are we here?
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Well, Oxford, at this time, is absolutely rammed with people,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16so there are the normal townsfolk,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18- and there are also thousands of soldiers.- Yeah.
0:27:18 > 0:27:19So we can be quite certain
0:27:19 > 0:27:22this pub would have had soldiers billeted in it.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24I know a certain amount about Robert Gosnold.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26And he was in the English Civil War.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29- He was?- He himself might even have popped into this pub.
0:27:29 > 0:27:30He would certainly have walked...
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Of course he would have popped into this pub!
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Of course he was in here.
0:27:34 > 0:27:35Yeah!
0:27:35 > 0:27:37- I love that.- So this is the kind of ambience...
0:27:37 > 0:27:40That gives me a little shiver up the spine.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42It does. To think that, you know,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44he could have been knocking about in here.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Danny's ancestor,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Colonel Robert Gosnold, fought in the bloody English Civil War,
0:27:52 > 0:27:59which began in 1642 and saw nearly 200,000 people lose their lives.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Supporters of King Charles I, the Royalists,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05were pitted against the parliamentarians.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08After a number of defeats, the King's army were on the run,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and finally retreated to Oxford in 1646.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15By this stage, only the most loyal troops
0:28:15 > 0:28:17were still standing by Charles I.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And Robert Gosnold was among them.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24And the fact that he's decided to put himself into Oxford,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27and defend the King's capital, even when things are going so badly for
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Charles, shows that he is, sort of, an uber Royalist,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32an uber Cavalier, if you like.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35- Well, I'm not really a royalist. - Yeah.
0:28:35 > 0:28:36None of my family are, really.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38I don't know why I'm not a royalist.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40But now I want to be a royalist, for some reason.
0:28:40 > 0:28:41I feel like I should be.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45This is an image of Oxford as it was at the time.
0:28:45 > 0:28:46It shows you the incredible earthworks
0:28:46 > 0:28:49that the Royalists had built around it,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53and this fortress was about to be attacked
0:28:53 > 0:28:55by the strongest army in the British Isles.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57- Outnumbered completely.- Completely.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59These are the parliamentarian troops.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Look at them all there. Just waiting to pounce.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04And Robert is in there somewhere.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06- He's probably in here!- Yeah.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07Oh, I love it.
0:29:07 > 0:29:09I love it. I love it.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13As the parliamentarians advanced ever closer,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15the King disguised himself
0:29:15 > 0:29:18and escaped Oxford in April 1646.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22He was eventually arrested and executed.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Charles left behind his loyal troops,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29who were forced to negotiate the final surrender.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32Even at this point, when all is clearly lost, Robert himself,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35and his close comrades, are not keen to surrender.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Even though there's virtually no hope left to them,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40they still want to hold out.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42- He was game as you like.- Yeah.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46He's taking royalism about as far as it can be taken.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49The loyalty that these men are showing is incredible, really.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51We've definitely got that in our family, you know?
0:29:51 > 0:29:53It's about heart and spirit.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56- This seems to be a recurring theme for me.- Yeah.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00You know, battling against the odds, and still coming out the other side.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03- He's a force, mate.- Mm. - He's a powerful, powerful man.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07And I'm hopelessly in love with him.
0:30:07 > 0:30:08MARK LAUGHS
0:30:25 > 0:30:29So, Robert Gosnold is my hero at this point.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31What a man. Erm...
0:30:31 > 0:30:34King Charles I obviously had his head chopped off,
0:30:34 > 0:30:36but what happened to Robert?
0:30:36 > 0:30:38You know, what was his fate?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40That's what I'm intrigued about.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45Danny has come to Robert Gosnold's village, Otley in Suffolk,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48to meet local historian Stephen Potts.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Stephen.
0:30:52 > 0:30:53- Danny.- How are you?
0:30:53 > 0:30:57- I'm very well. Pleased to meet you. - Pleasure, pleasure.
0:30:57 > 0:30:58- Welcome to Otley.- Thank you.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01So, Stephen, Robert Gosnold.
0:31:01 > 0:31:02What a man.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Absolutely fascinated by this character.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07Erm, I've learned a bit about him.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Is there any more you can tell me about him?
0:31:10 > 0:31:15Well, a good place to start is to come here and to Otley Hall
0:31:15 > 0:31:18and see exactly where he lived.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Oh, wow.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24So this is Robert Gosnold's house.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27I'm not ready for this, I'm really not ready for this.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Oh, wow.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32This is the most beautiful house I've ever seen, I think.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34It's one of the finest
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Grade I listed houses in the whole of the county.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40- Yeah...- This is up there. Is, er...
0:31:40 > 0:31:43Is that his, one of his peacocks, or...?
0:31:43 > 0:31:45STEPHEN LAUGHS
0:31:45 > 0:31:47Um, do they bite, peacocks, by the way?
0:31:47 > 0:31:49I don't think so.
0:31:49 > 0:31:50PEACOCK SQUAWKS IN BACKGROUND
0:31:50 > 0:31:53I know that Robert was an uber royalist,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55I know he was on the losing side in the war.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58We all know King Charles I's fate...
0:31:59 > 0:32:02I don't know what happened to Robert. Was he imprisoned?
0:32:02 > 0:32:04I mean...
0:32:04 > 0:32:08No, they didn't imprison the royalists,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10but they did exploit them.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15So they would've taken money from their estates during the Civil War,
0:32:15 > 0:32:21and they set up a system whereby they could fine them,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24- because what they needed more than anything else was money.- Yeah.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27There's lots of documentation
0:32:27 > 0:32:31that still exists that shows what happened to him.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32What date is it?
0:32:32 > 0:32:36This is dated... 1st of September 1646,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40so this is just a few months after the war has ended.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43"To the honourable committee at Goldsmiths Hall
0:32:43 > 0:32:47"for compositions with delinquents."
0:32:47 > 0:32:49- Do you know what that means?- No.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52- So anybody who was a royalist and supported Charles...- Mm-hm?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54..was a delinquent.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- Right, OK. - We've got the transcript there.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Ah, this is more a bit of me, OK.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04"He prayes a direction to the Committee in the Country
0:33:04 > 0:33:07"to pay the arrears...
0:33:07 > 0:33:09"of theis rents
0:33:09 > 0:33:14"and annuityes for the Tyme they have received the rents
0:33:14 > 0:33:16"and profits of his Lands.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21"That he is indebted £1,200..."
0:33:21 > 0:33:22Wow.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26"That his howses are decayed and spoiled
0:33:26 > 0:33:29"to the value of £500
0:33:29 > 0:33:36"and his Woods cutt downe and wasted to the value of a £1,000.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38"Fyne is £600."
0:33:38 > 0:33:41What are we talking in today's money?
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Difficult to put it in terms of today's money,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47but we're certainly talking about the equivalent
0:33:47 > 0:33:49of several hundred thousand pounds.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53So they've hit him for severe readies,
0:33:53 > 0:33:54as you'd say in the East London.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57- Severe readies. - Severe readies, yeah.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00- I like the fact you've just said that.- This would have hurt him
0:34:00 > 0:34:04- tremendously.- And they knew he'd come from wealth, so they've hit him hard, haven't they?
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Yes, they want the money.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10But he ends up mortgaging, remortgaging and so on.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12And finally, after his death...
0:34:12 > 0:34:18- Mm.- ..his heirs have no choice but to sell the land on.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23So they basically just lost... everything, really.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Because they were royalists.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29- Yeah.- Just snatched away from them.
0:34:29 > 0:34:30- Yeah.- All this.
0:34:32 > 0:34:33This beauty.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36So, at this point,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40the Gosnolds are no longer landed gentry.
0:34:40 > 0:34:41They have no land.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43They go down the social scale.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48And no hope of ever getting back to where they were before.
0:34:48 > 0:34:49Yeah.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52I knew it was all too good to be true.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56There's never really been any money in my family at all.
0:34:56 > 0:34:57You know.
0:34:57 > 0:34:58Don't despair.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03- Robert's mother...- Mm-hm. - So, your Colonel Robert's mother,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05was a Tollemache.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08- A what?- A Tollemache, Ann Tollemache.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11And the Tollemache family are still a landowning family.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16In fact, in the very next village to here to this day.
0:35:16 > 0:35:17Shall we go to the next village?
0:35:17 > 0:35:19And, er...
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- cause some chaos? - STEVE LAUGHS
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Danny has discovered that the Gosnolds
0:35:29 > 0:35:32are related to the Tollemache family via his 11 times
0:35:32 > 0:35:35great-grandmother Anne Tollemache,
0:35:35 > 0:35:38the mother of Colonel Robert Gosnold.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Danny's going to meet his distant relative,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42the current Lord Tollemache.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45So, I'm at Helmingham Hall...
0:35:45 > 0:35:48owned by the Tollemaches.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51I've no idea...
0:35:51 > 0:35:53about the Tollemaches.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57I'm getting a rough idea as I drive down.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03The size of this gaffe's ridiculous.
0:36:06 > 0:36:07What?
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Wow.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20There's a geezer waiting for me. I'm assuming he's my relative.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22- Hello, Danny?- Hello, young man.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25- Very nice to meet you. - Absolute pleasure, yeah.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27- Pleasure, er.. - Welcome to Helmingham.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29What a gaffe you've got here!
0:36:30 > 0:36:32Well, I've put the drawbridge down for you.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35- Can I drive over it? - You certainly can.- Hero.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39- The geezer's got a drawbridge. - BLEEP- hell!
0:36:39 > 0:36:41He has and all.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Oh, I don't think I'm going to get over this, babe, to be honest.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46I can't believe this, honestly. I cannot believe it.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49How can these people be my relatives?
0:36:49 > 0:36:50And why don't I know about this?
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Right.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57Let's, er...
0:36:57 > 0:37:00Let's go and have a bit of bunny with the lord.
0:37:00 > 0:37:01Oh...
0:37:03 > 0:37:06So, um, you're a lord.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Er, can I call you Tim?
0:37:08 > 0:37:11- You can call me Tim. - As we're related.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12Very much so.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16So, we're related through, er, the Gosnolds.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18We are.
0:37:18 > 0:37:19And I believe,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23you being a Tollemache,
0:37:23 > 0:37:26my 11 times great-grandmother was Anne Tollemache.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29- Is that right? - That's absolutely right, yes.- OK.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33It was Anne who was the daughter of Sir Lionel Tollemache
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and his wife, Catherine. And Anne was born and bred here.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39I mean, this has took my breath away. This is...
0:37:39 > 0:37:41This is another level of house.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43Is it a house? I mean, it's got a moat.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48- I'm stunned.- Yeah, no... It was built, we came here 500 years ago
0:37:48 > 0:37:51and built Helmingham, as it stands today,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53with its moat and its drawbridge.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I'll tell you what, the Helmingham church is just over there.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00- OK.- And we've got some monuments to the many, many Tollemaches there.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03Including Anne's father, Lionel Tollemache.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Let's do it, Tim, let's do it.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Well, there are a lot of monuments in this church,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11but the one I want you to see is up here.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13- OK.- Um...
0:38:13 > 0:38:16And it is actually the very, very top one,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20made by Lionel Tollemache, the one at the top.
0:38:20 > 0:38:26So that would be my 12 times great grandfather?
0:38:26 > 0:38:27That's right.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34- Wow!- So, Lionel Tollemache
0:38:34 > 0:38:37- and then his father...- Mm-hm.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40..grandfather, and great-grandfather.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44And each one of them has got a little rhyme, or couplet,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47describing what they did in life. I don't know whether you can read it.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50- You probably can't...- Not from here, no, I don't think so,
0:38:50 > 0:38:53- I think I'll struggle with that. - So I've got it written down there.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00"Here with his father sleeps Sir Lionel, knight baronet,
0:39:00 > 0:39:07"all honours worthy well, happy in Soul, in Body, Goods and Name.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11"Happy in wedlock with a noble dame.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15"Lord Cromwell's daughter..."
0:39:15 > 0:39:17Lord Cromwell's daughter?
0:39:17 > 0:39:20- Hold on a minute, hold on a minute. So...- So...
0:39:20 > 0:39:25Lionel's Tollemache's wife, Catherine Cromwell,
0:39:25 > 0:39:30was the great granddaughter of Thomas Cromwell,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33and he was Henry VIII's great statesman,
0:39:33 > 0:39:35- and supporter and courtier.- Wow.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Wow.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42But I've got a picture of Catherine here...
0:39:42 > 0:39:45One of the portraits which hangs in Helmingham Hall.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47And that is, that is her.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Our mutual ancestor.
0:39:51 > 0:39:52Ah...
0:39:54 > 0:39:57I'm just going to, er, I'm going to put the lips on her, Tim.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59- I'm going to put the lips... - TIM LAUGHS
0:39:59 > 0:40:04She's my family. She's my family.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06There she is. See the resemblance?
0:40:06 > 0:40:08Got it?
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Eh? Yeah?
0:40:10 > 0:40:12DANNY LAUGHS
0:40:12 > 0:40:15I love it! I love it!
0:40:19 > 0:40:22MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH
0:40:22 > 0:40:24'So, Danny Dyer
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'is a direct descendant of Thomas Cromwell.'
0:40:28 > 0:40:30I can't believe it.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33I... I don't know what to say.
0:40:34 > 0:40:40I'll say it again, I am a direct descendant of Thomas Cromwell.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Danny's learned that via his 12 times great grandmother,
0:40:58 > 0:40:59Catherine Cromwell,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01he's descended from Thomas Cromwell,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04King Henry VIII's right-hand man.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07So he's heading back to London
0:41:07 > 0:41:09to find out more about his famous ancestor.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Just about to pull into the gaffe now.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Hampton Court Palace, of course. It's Hampton Court Palace.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20My 15 times great-grandfather...
0:41:21 > 0:41:23Yeah.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32He's come to meet Thomas Cromwell's biographer, Tracy Borman.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Welcome to Hampton Court.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36- Pleasure.- Well, congratulations.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38- Yeah.- You're related to the most controversial man
0:41:38 > 0:41:40in British history.
0:41:40 > 0:41:41Oh, the most controversial?
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I think so, yeah.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46In recent times we've grown to love Thomas Cromwell,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48but he was always the villain of history.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50- Was he?- The man you love to hate.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53- So, he was a bit like Marmite, was he?- Exactly.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56So this is the sort of place where Cromwell would've been,
0:41:56 > 0:42:00literally, burning the midnight oil as he was working for the King.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03This is the Great Hall,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05the centrepiece of Henry VIII's Palace.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Built to impress, as you can see.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12- DANNY EXHALES DEEPLY - Yeah.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15You'd have a right rave in here, couldn't you, babe, eh?
0:42:15 > 0:42:17- TRACY LAUGHS - And that's exactly what they did.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20And Cromwell would've been at quite a few of them.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23- Would you like to see a picture? - I'd love to see a smudge of him.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Well, this was painted by the most famous portrait painter of the age,
0:42:28 > 0:42:29um, Holbein.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32And I think, actually, there is more than a passing resemblance.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I have to say, yeah.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36I do. I think around the nose.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38If you were to look a little bit...
0:42:38 > 0:42:41The puffy eyes, yeah, I get that bit. Yeah, yeah.
0:42:41 > 0:42:42What do you think of him?
0:42:42 > 0:42:44You can tell he liked his grub, as well.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46- TRACY LAUGHS - We've got the jowls.- Yeah.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49- The Cromwell jowls.- The Cromwell jowls, I'm going to call it now.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55Yeah. That man, I've got his blood running through my veins.
0:42:55 > 0:42:56It excites me a lot,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59although I don't know that much about him, so...
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Well, this portrait's got a loss to answer for,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05because it's, I think, largely due to this
0:43:05 > 0:43:07that people see him as a villain.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10- Cos he does look...- He is looking pretty sinister there, isn't he?
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Looking at somebody like he's about to maybe have them executed.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17You wouldn't mess with him, would you?
0:43:17 > 0:43:19Certainly not, no. Certainly not.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21He wasn't of noble birth.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24He had, er, very humble origins.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27He was born in about 1485 in Putney.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Now, obviously today, Putney is a nice part of London.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34It wasn't in the late 15th century when Cromwell was born.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Not the sort of place you'd want to find yourself after dark.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41It was full of cut-throats and criminals,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45and one of the worst of all was Cromwell's father, Walter.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48He was a blacksmith and he was a brewer.
0:43:48 > 0:43:49He had his own pub
0:43:49 > 0:43:52and he was always in trouble with the law.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57So he's managed this unbelievable rise from where he came from...
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Yeah.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04- ..to be sitting with Henry, from the slums...- Yeah.- ..to there.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08I mean, mine's a much more small comparison,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12but I'm from the slums, if you like...
0:44:12 > 0:44:1499% of the people at Henry's court
0:44:14 > 0:44:16were from wealthy backgrounds.
0:44:16 > 0:44:17He was extraordinary.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19You know, he was an absolute phenomenon.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23- It's ridiculous is what it is. - It is.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25I never thought I'd meet anybody who's related to Thomas Cromwell.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28- That's extraordinary. - HE LAUGHS
0:44:28 > 0:44:30Historians have speculated,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33what was it about this blacksmith's son
0:44:33 > 0:44:35that appealed to Henry?
0:44:35 > 0:44:39And certainly Henry recognised Cromwell's great talent.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40He was, by this time...
0:44:40 > 0:44:43He was a self-taught lawyer by this time.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46He was an exceptionally sharp man.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50I've always thought there was more to it than that.
0:44:50 > 0:44:55I think what appealed to Henry about Cromwell, he was cheeky.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59He would make the king laugh, and Henry loved that...
0:44:59 > 0:45:00Would you say it was a difficult thing,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02- to make the king laugh? - I think, yeah.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05And then if you overstepped the mark with the king, you're brown bread.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08He was cheeky. He was known to be funny.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11He would make even his enemies laugh.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15But it's not all plain sailing between Henry and Cromwell.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17They're two quite big personalities,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19- so you can imagine the clash. - Right.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24And we've got a letter here, written by a courtier.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27"So the king benave of him twice a week,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31"and sometimes knock him well about the pate."
0:45:31 > 0:45:32That's the head, yeah.
0:45:32 > 0:45:37"And yet when he have been well pummelled about the head
0:45:37 > 0:45:41"and shaken up as it were a dog,
0:45:41 > 0:45:44"he will come out into the great chamber
0:45:44 > 0:45:49"shaking of the bush with as merry a countenance
0:45:49 > 0:45:52"as though he might rule all the roost."
0:45:52 > 0:45:56- Oh, I see. So, he takes a clumping. - Yeah.- And he just goes like that...
0:45:56 > 0:46:00- Exactly.- Picks himself up, walks out as if he owns the manor.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02- Yeah.- That's absolutely it.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04- It's like, "So what? I took a beating."- Yeah.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07- He's proving to everyone, he is the alpha male.- Absolutely.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11And it's funny you should say that about power, you know.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14By the middle of the 1530s,
0:46:14 > 0:46:17Cromwell is the most powerful man in England.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20There's only the king who is above him.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24He's Henry VIII's chief minister. He's running the show.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29- This is ridiculous. - He is in charge of everything.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33And then the sort of highest that he rises is in 1540,
0:46:33 > 0:46:35and I think you'll like this.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38He is made Earl of Essex.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44And this is his heraldry as the Earl of Essex.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46Oh!
0:46:46 > 0:46:52- Which is...which is where I live. - Mm-hm.
0:46:52 > 0:46:57So, in a way, I'm sort of the Earl of Essex?
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Yeah. By descent.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01I think it's going to change me as a human being.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04- Not in a bad way.- Yeah. - But in a way of thinking.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Yeah, yeah. Definitely.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10- In a positive way. - Yeah, I can imagine.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12It's certainly going to give me more confidence.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15So, Cromwell, at this point of his career,
0:47:15 > 0:47:17seems utterly invincible,
0:47:17 > 0:47:22but I'm afraid things are about to go very horribly wrong.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25Of course they are. Of course they are.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27I suppose he's getting very cocky.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30He's starting to push it too far, maybe, all of these noblemen,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33and well-educated people,
0:47:33 > 0:47:35and he's starting to rub their nose in it, isn't he?
0:47:35 > 0:47:39Absolutely. And I'm afraid he's about to pay.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Tracy has led Danny to the Tower of London.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52- So, you're taking me into a dungeon, are you?- I'm afraid so.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Which is where, in June 1540,
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Danny's 15-times great-grandfather, Thomas Cromwell,
0:47:59 > 0:48:02was brought on charges of treason and heresy.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05It was really a coup by his enemies at court,
0:48:05 > 0:48:07particularly the Duke of Norfolk.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11- He'd always hated this baseborn boy from Putney.- Yeah.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And he managed to convince Henry VIII
0:48:14 > 0:48:16that Cromwell was plotting treason,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19plotting to supplant the king himself
0:48:19 > 0:48:24to marry the King's daughter, Mary, and the charges were ridiculous.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26You know, Cromwell couldn't get into Henry's head, no?
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Cos he was quite clever at getting into his head,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and all of a sudden he couldn't any more.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35His only chance of survival was to persuade Henry
0:48:35 > 0:48:37to change his mind.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39He wrote three letters to Henry
0:48:39 > 0:48:43and we have a copy of the last letter here.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45"Beseech, your most humble Your Grace,
0:48:45 > 0:48:49"to pardon this, my rude writing,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53"and to consider that I am a most woeful prisoner,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56"ready to take the death when it shall please God
0:48:56 > 0:48:59"and Your Majesty.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01"Most gracious prynce,
0:49:01 > 0:49:07"I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy."
0:49:07 > 0:49:08So...
0:49:11 > 0:49:18..my 15-times great-grandfather really is desperate now.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22On the morning of the 28th of July 1540
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Thomas Cromwell was taken from his cell.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Private executions within the walls of the tower
0:49:28 > 0:49:31were reserved for those of blue blood.
0:49:31 > 0:49:37Tower Hill, with its huge mobs, was for the commoners like Cromwell.
0:49:37 > 0:49:43It takes three blows of the axe to sever Cromwell's head,
0:49:43 > 0:49:49and that head is then set on a spike and put on London Bridge
0:49:49 > 0:49:52alongside all the heads of all the traitors,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54there for everyone to see.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58It's a weird feeling to think that one of my ancestors,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01- you know, would have suffered this. - Mm.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05- So, he's born a commoner...- Yeah. - ..and he died a commoner.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10- Absolutely.- And he had that mad period in between.- Mm.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14He did. But a few years previous to his execution,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18he'd done something so clever that it was feathering the nest
0:50:18 > 0:50:22of the Cromwells for a long time to come,
0:50:22 > 0:50:28and that is to arrange an extraordinarily prestigious marriage
0:50:28 > 0:50:29for his son, Gregory...
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Now, this may be a portrait of the young Gregory.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36..to the sister of Jane Seymour.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39This was the wife whom Henry was said to have loved
0:50:39 > 0:50:42more than all the others cos she gave him a son.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45So, you can imagine what an alliance for the Cromwells.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49They're now marrying into the royal family.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52It was a brilliant move on Cromwell's part.
0:50:52 > 0:50:58So, Danny, you're descended from the first-born son of Gregory,
0:50:58 > 0:51:02whom they named in honour of the king.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04- He was Henry.- No!
0:51:06 > 0:51:09That's a bittersweet fact, I think.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11That is bittersweet, isn't it?
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Danny has discovered that
0:51:14 > 0:51:16his 14-times great-grandfather
0:51:16 > 0:51:17Gregory Cromwell
0:51:17 > 0:51:19was married to Elizabeth,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22the sister of Queen Jane Seymour -
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Henry VIII's third
0:51:24 > 0:51:26and favourite wife.
0:51:27 > 0:51:33To find out who I was related to was a lot for me to take in,
0:51:33 > 0:51:38and I've woke up today and I really want to find out about the Seymours.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43So, that's my aim today. I think that's the path I've chose.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Danny has come to Westminster Abbey to meet Peter O'Donoghue,
0:51:50 > 0:51:52a herald from the College of Arms
0:51:52 > 0:51:57and an expert in the pedigree of the oldest families in the land.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00- Hi, Danny.- How are you, Peter? All right?- Nice to meet you.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02- A pleasure.- Right, well, come and sit down
0:52:02 > 0:52:04and we'll have a talk.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Now, you've been learning about Cromwell, I gather,
0:52:07 > 0:52:09- your ancestor Thomas Cromwell? - Yeah.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11My 15-times great-grandfather.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13So, building on that, what we've got here
0:52:13 > 0:52:17is a scroll which will show you...
0:52:18 > 0:52:21..a bit about the history of your family.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24So, here is Gregory Cromwell and his wife, Elizabeth Seymour.
0:52:24 > 0:52:30OK, so, Elizabeth Seymour,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33John Seymour,
0:52:33 > 0:52:34Wentworths.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42Sir Henry Hotspur Percy.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47Philippa Plantagenet.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51- Explain to me.- So, I don't know if that name, Plantagenet...
0:52:51 > 0:52:53- Plantagenet, obviously not... - ..rings a bell.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56- ..because I've just said it wrong, so I've no idea.- Right.
0:52:56 > 0:52:59Well, if you follow the line back up to the top,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02- you'll see where that name takes us. - Lionel Plantagenet.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Edward III.
0:53:04 > 0:53:09Edward III, that great medieval king.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11So, Edward III, yes,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15he's your 22-times great-grandfather.
0:53:18 > 0:53:23So, you are directly descended from King Edward III of England.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27I can't be.
0:53:28 > 0:53:29I can't be.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35A direct descendant from Edward III?
0:53:39 > 0:53:42So, Danny Dyer's right at the bottom of that scroll
0:53:42 > 0:53:44- and Edward III is at the top. - HE LAUGHS
0:53:44 > 0:53:46It's just stupid, isn't it?!
0:53:46 > 0:53:48It's great. It's fantastic.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55- It's quite amazing.- It is pretty amazing, isn't it? It really is.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02I just need to just digest it and get it in my nut,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06and then I can move on with my life and...
0:54:06 > 0:54:08I think I'm going to treat myself to a ruff.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12- What, the...?- Yeah.- Yeah. It would be a good look for you.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Just get a massive ruff, just bowl about with it,
0:54:14 > 0:54:15and if anyone questions it,
0:54:15 > 0:54:18then I'll explain to them why I'm wearing a ruff.
0:54:18 > 0:54:19That's true, yeah.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22And then they'll have to walk away, won't they, embarrassed?
0:54:22 > 0:54:25Actually, we can go and find out more about Edward III, if you like,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28- further up in the abbey. - Yeah, can I just take a moment?
0:54:28 > 0:54:31- Sure.- Just have a moment to myself to just...
0:54:33 > 0:54:36A kid from Canning Town, Custom House,
0:54:36 > 0:54:39and this is my bloodline.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43OK, I've had my moment now. Let's go.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Let's go and have a pipe at Edward III,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51my 22-times great-grandfather.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53We're going over here.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57- Where is he?- Right, so, this is your ancestor, Edward III.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00You can see his name, Edwardus, there.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05- Edwardus.- Yeah.- It's laughable. - It doesn't feel real, you mean?
0:55:05 > 0:55:06Of course it doesn't feel real.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11It's ridiculous to think somebody of my stature, somebody, you know,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14from absolutely nothing,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18and actually my blood is his blood.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22I can't compute it in my brain.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25- This man's related to me.- Yeah.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27This wonderful, powerful man.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30Not only are you descended from Edward III,
0:55:30 > 0:55:34you're descended from all of his royal ancestors
0:55:34 > 0:55:36right back to William the Conqueror.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39You're also descended from Henry III,
0:55:39 > 0:55:40who built this abbey.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00So, I'm on my way home now
0:56:00 > 0:56:04to show my family this.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06This beauty.
0:56:06 > 0:56:12And to basically tell them that we're royalty.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15I'm so excited. I can't wait.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Oh, my home, finally.
0:56:22 > 0:56:23Oh!
0:56:25 > 0:56:28HE PRETENDS TO SPEAK ITALIAN
0:56:28 > 0:56:31- Hello, baby.- What have you got?
0:56:31 > 0:56:35Come here. Come here, you.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37- Give us a kiss.- Hello, babe.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43- I'm so excited. - What's that?- Right.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45So, just roll that down.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48Roll it down, right?
0:56:48 > 0:56:50Now, look at the bottom.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52- All right?- Oh, my... - That's Daddy at the bottom.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56And we go up, and we go up through all this mob, right?
0:56:56 > 0:56:58There's the Cromwells.
0:56:58 > 0:57:04And, look, that's my 22-times great-grandfather - Edward III.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07- So, basically...- The king? - The king.- King.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09The king. And what are you? A prince?
0:57:09 > 0:57:12- Yeah.- We're blue blood, all right?
0:57:12 > 0:57:13No way!
0:57:13 > 0:57:17- So, cop that. Go on.- Oh, my God! I knew I was a princess!
0:57:17 > 0:57:20All right, it's been lovely. It's been a wonderful journey...
0:57:20 > 0:57:22Woohoo! I'm a princess!
0:57:22 > 0:57:26..but can you get off my drive now, please? Paupers!
0:57:26 > 0:57:30Go on, get out of here. Go on, else I'll call my security.
0:57:30 > 0:57:35- Say... Go on, say, "Get out of it!" Go on.- Get out of it.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37That's it, good boy. Ta-ta.