0:00:06 > 0:00:08I've written that as "international condemnation
0:00:08 > 0:00:10- "and outrage and scepticism."- Yeah.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Family's incredibly important to me.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16We need another sort of thought just to round all that up.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19I grew up in Richmond,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21my parents are still in the house that I grew up in.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23And I go back there the whole time.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26My family is very central to everything I still do.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29- So if we use that in the head and then in the screen as well.- Yeah.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31OK, looks good.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Journalist and broadcaster Sophie Raworth
0:00:34 > 0:00:36is best known for presenting the BBC News.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39That's two minutes. Two minutes to air.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Thank you very much.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44I first started being interested in our ancestors,
0:00:44 > 0:00:45where we'd come from, years ago.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Almost 20 years ago now.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49And I found some names, but I don't know anything about them.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51And it's really frustrating - as a journalist,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53you want to be able to create a picture
0:00:53 > 0:00:55and to know more about those individual people.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56And yet I couldn't.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58- OK?- Yeah.- Lovely.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I'd love to know more about who these people were
0:01:02 > 0:01:03and what kind of lives they led.
0:01:03 > 0:01:0415.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06One of the reasons I really want to look at it now
0:01:06 > 0:01:09is because I have three children who are very young,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11my parents who are both in their 70s,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14and it sort of feels like pulling it all together.
0:01:14 > 0:01:15Ten. Nine.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17I don't know where this is going to take me.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21My instinct is always to be prepared for what's ahead,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and for the first time in my life, I think I'm not.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Three...two...
0:01:25 > 0:01:27one - and cue Soph.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Sophie's starting in Richmond, where she grew up.
0:02:10 > 0:02:11- Hi, Mum.- Hello.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15- Hello, darling, hello. - What is Dad doing?
0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Dad is always up a ladder. - Always up a ladder.- Hi, Dad.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20Lovely to see you.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25Her parents Richard and Jenny have lived here since Sophie was five.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27My parents have been in the same house for more than 40 years
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and they have created this beautiful garden around it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33It's their shared passion -
0:02:33 > 0:02:36it's also something that really brings our family together.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38- Can we go and have a cup of tea? - Have a cup of tea?- I'd love one.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39Or coffee.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43I've always been very interested in my father's side of the family,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47and in our family kitchen are all these photographs of our ancestors.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I'd love to be able to find out their stories and know who they are.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56I grew up around this kitchen table, I spent my whole childhood here -
0:02:56 > 0:02:57but with all these portraits.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Where did they come from? Where did you get them from?
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Well, we inherited a lot of them.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05People come in here and they stand and look at them
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and of course they're all such a talking point, you know.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10I know, but we don't actually know who half of them are!
0:03:10 > 0:03:12No, we don't.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13But it just looks nice, I think.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15I love these pictures of Granny.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18That's Grandpa.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24That is your father and then that's your mother, Granny.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27She was wonderful - she was so glamorous, wasn't she?
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Edna Crowder was her maiden name, wasn't it?
0:03:29 > 0:03:32She was a Crowder, because Amy Mott...
0:03:32 > 0:03:34- Mott?- My grandmother.- Yeah.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Married Edgar Cussons Crowder.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38Is he on our wall, are there any pictures of him?
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Yes, he's over there.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42- Oh, is that him?- That's him.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47So that's Edgar Cussons Crowder, who is my great-grandfather?
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Well, he's a very fine gentleman, isn't he!
0:03:49 > 0:03:52Smart. And that's the family,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54with him in the middle.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56He is a bit of a mystery.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01On one piece of paper we're told that he was a travelling salesman...
0:04:01 > 0:04:06but my cousin also says that he worked at some time at Kew Gardens.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11- No way! Doing what?- I don't know. It's a complete mystery.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16If your grandfather really was at Kew Gardens, who would have thought?
0:04:16 > 0:04:17That would be incredible, wouldn't it?
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Maybe you got all your green fingers from this man.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23Sophie's also curious
0:04:23 > 0:04:26about her great-grandmother's side of the family.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29- The Motts.- So who is this? That must be Amy Mott,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31who is my great-grandmother.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Amy Mott is the daughter of Henry Isaac Mott.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37The slightly naughty-looking man with the pipe.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39The one with the wonderful beard?
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Right, so this is Henry Isaac Mott.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43So, my great-great-grandfather.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45- Yeah.- I think he's wonderful.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- Twinkle in his eye. - Total twinkle in his eye.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50He rather liked the ladies, I think, don't you think?
0:04:51 > 0:04:53You know that for a fact, do you?!
0:04:53 > 0:04:55He just looks like that!
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Henry Isaac Mott was the son of Isaac Henry Mott.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02- Gosh!- Just to make it complicated.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05And Isaac Henry Mott was a piano maker...
0:05:05 > 0:05:06- Really?- ..and a musician,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08and created the Sostenente piano.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Wow. And they've got this wonderful thing here, written,
0:05:11 > 0:05:12I've never actually read this.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17So Isaac Henry, his father, my great-great-great-grandfather,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20three times grandfather, Isaac Henry Mott,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23"the inventor of the 'Sostenente' action was a resident of Brighton,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27"played in the King's band and accompanied George IV..."
0:05:27 > 0:05:31I think there is a Sostenente piano in Brighton Pavilion.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Oh, which you've written about here, Royal Pavilion, Brighton.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35- Yeah.- I'm fascinated, actually,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37because nobody's really spoken about this side of the family -
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and I think Brighton is quite a good place to start.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42I'll need to go and find that piano!
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I'm amazed to hear there is some rumour that Edgar Cussons Crowden,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50my father's grandfather, worked at Kew Gardens,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53which, for our family, would be extraordinary.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59First, though, I'd love to find out more about the Motts.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Sophie's come to Brighton to investigate a family legend
0:06:02 > 0:06:05that she's descended from an illustrious piano maker.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10From the back of that photograph, it says Royal Pavilion, Brighton.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Where the piano is that was made by my great-great-great-grandfather,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18by all accounts, and I'd love to find out more about that.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22The Royal Pavilion was built in 1815 as a seaside pleasure palace
0:06:22 > 0:06:25for George IV, then the Prince Regent.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Wow!
0:06:28 > 0:06:29The extravagant prince
0:06:29 > 0:06:34collected the most fashionable art and musical instruments...
0:06:34 > 0:06:35The piano! Wow!
0:06:35 > 0:06:39..including a piano made by Isaac Henry Mott.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So this is it? It's rather splendid, isn't it?
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Sophie's meeting historian Marie Kent.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48So this was made by Isaac Mott?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Yes, that's right. This was made by Messrs Mott and Co.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- Right.- In about 1820.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55For George IV.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57And this was the must-have object of the day.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01It combined the latest technology, music and fashion.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Much like the iPhone today, except that...
0:07:03 > 0:07:05- Like the iPhone! - Yes! Everybody wanted it!
0:07:06 > 0:07:11In the 1820s the piano was a sought-after luxury item,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14and no upper-class home was complete without one.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Each piano was handmade by specialist craftsmen,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and London alone was home to 200 piano workshops.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Isaac Mott and his business partner Julius
0:07:26 > 0:07:29catered for at the top end of the market.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Their Sostenente piano had a unique, sustained sound
0:07:32 > 0:07:35and cost 250 guineas -
0:07:35 > 0:07:37£11,000 in today's money.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44"IHR Mott, JC Mott and Company.
0:07:44 > 0:07:45"92 Pall Mall."
0:07:45 > 0:07:49Yes, that's their head office, if you like, in London.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51- Where I got married.- Is that right?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53- Yeah!- Wow.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- Well, there we go. - Funny, small world.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Isn't it! Most of the piano trade was centred in Soho,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02but Isaac Henry Mott had the genius idea
0:08:02 > 0:08:06not to bury himself among the other piano makers,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08he was going to place himself right up there
0:08:08 > 0:08:10with the royalty and the gentry.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13So he found premises a few doors away from the Prince Regent.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15So if you want to sell to the Royal Family,
0:08:15 > 0:08:16go and move next door to them?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18- Exactly.- So what I want to know is,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21am I allowed to play a couple of notes, or not?
0:08:21 > 0:08:23- I'd love you to.- How amazing.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25So, there you go, my ancestor's piano.
0:08:25 > 0:08:26Oh, wow!
0:08:26 > 0:08:28SHE PLAYS PIANO
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Wow.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Oh! That's amazing.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43So, on our wall at home we've got a picture of the son of this man,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47who made the piano, and it says on the back of this photograph
0:08:47 > 0:08:49that Isaac played with the king.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Indeed, Isaac Henry Robert Mott did that -
0:08:52 > 0:08:56but unfortunately, he's not the gentlemen you're thinking of.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58- Oh, no!- I'm so sorry!
0:08:58 > 0:09:00- That's all right, don't worry. - Close, but no cigar!
0:09:00 > 0:09:01Definitely a family member.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- Right.- But not your direct ancestor.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- Wow, OK.- So, here we have the census of 1861.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11And here at the bottom
0:09:11 > 0:09:14is your actual three-times great-grandfather.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17So Henry Isaac, is that the "I" for Isaac?
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Correct, yes, Henry Isaac Mott.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21What relationship is he, then, to the piano maker?
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Well, I've got some more documents to show you there.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25- Shall we see?- I'd love to see.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Sophie's discovered that there has been a case of mistaken identity.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Her three times great-grandfather is not Isaac Henry Mott,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39as the family believed, but the similarly named Henry Isaac.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43But Sophie is related to the eminent piano makers
0:09:43 > 0:09:46through Henry Isaac's father.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Her four-times great-grandfather, Samuel Mott.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53To help Sophie understand the connection,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Marie has drawn up a family tree.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01So, Samuel Mott here is my four-times great-grandfather,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03married to Ann.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07And Samuel's younger brother is Julius Caesar Mott.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12Yes. Who was in partnership with Isaac Henry Robert Mott.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16So these two are cousins and they go into business together.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18All these piano makers!
0:10:18 > 0:10:19- Yes!- They're all in pianos!
0:10:19 > 0:10:23- They are!- And presumably they all worked together?
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Yes, indeed. Samuel Mott, your four-times great-grandfather,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31did work for his brother, Julius Caesar Mott, and his cousin, Isaac.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36So Samuel is a pianoforte hammer coverer,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40which doesn't sound quite so glamorous as makers.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42As a piano hammer coverer,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Samuel Mott held a lowly position in the family business.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49While his entrepreneurial brother and cousin
0:10:49 > 0:10:51rubbed shoulders with royalty,
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Samuel did skilled but repetitive manual labour in the workshop.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58We've got a letter here that tells us a bit more
0:10:58 > 0:11:00about the arrangement that they had.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03How incredible to have something like this!
0:11:03 > 0:11:04"1829.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08"Dear Julius, I came up to London to see about Samuel,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12"who has been writing to sister Mary Mott for money, as usual,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16"and making great complaints about Isaac."
0:11:16 > 0:11:17Isaac is Samuel's cousin.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18The piano maker, that's right.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22- Yes.- Yes.- Right. "To know the truth, I called on Isaac
0:11:22 > 0:11:25"to know the reason he could not employ him
0:11:25 > 0:11:28"and I find that Samuel was so dissatisfactory,
0:11:28 > 0:11:30"and made the men so,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33"that Isaac could not have him in the workshops any longer,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35"and therefore got rid of him."
0:11:35 > 0:11:37These are my relations!
0:11:37 > 0:11:40So he's fired him, effectively?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Yes, it's pretty sensational, isn't it?
0:11:43 > 0:11:45I wonder what happened.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47- We have another letter to show you! - A "but"!
0:11:48 > 0:11:52So, now we're going to actually go back in time two years.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54This is to Julius again.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56So, this is two years before.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00"Samuel Mott wrote to me some time ago pressing his old petition..."
0:12:00 > 0:12:04On and on it goes. "..of money, to get into business.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06"Which I refused.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10"He has nothing to do and also he is in debt for rent
0:12:10 > 0:12:13"and liable to have his goods seized."
0:12:13 > 0:12:15They could take all his possessions off him?
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Yes, the bailiffs are at the door.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And then it says here,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"He's such a mule of a chap
0:12:23 > 0:12:24"that I'm totally at a loss
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"to know what can be done with anyone in his situation,
0:12:27 > 0:12:32"unless it be to the workhouse or Van Diemen's..."
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Van Diemen's Land was a penal colony.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36It's now Tasmania.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39So, effectively, they're saying he's fit for the workhouse
0:12:39 > 0:12:40or transportation.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Wow, they've really...
0:12:42 > 0:12:44They've really given up on Samuel, haven't they?
0:12:44 > 0:12:48Mmm. So they've obviously decided not to lend him money,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51but they will try and reform him with a job.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55So Samuel's been given a job and then lost it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59He's in debt, he has children, so then what happens?
0:12:59 > 0:13:00Where does he go from there?
0:13:01 > 0:13:03So I came to the Royal Pavilion
0:13:03 > 0:13:06thinking I was related to Isaac Mott,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08the piano maker who made pianos for the king
0:13:08 > 0:13:10and played with the king when he played the cello -
0:13:10 > 0:13:12and I discover, actually,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16I'm directly related to his cousin who was "a mule of a chap"!
0:13:16 > 0:13:19It's not quite the same, is it?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21But what about Samuel Mott?
0:13:21 > 0:13:22I'm not quite sure
0:13:22 > 0:13:25how he fits into this extraordinary musical Mott family.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29He's obviously really struggling, he's got no money at all.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30I mean, what happens to him next?
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Did they send him to the workhouse? I don't know!
0:13:37 > 0:13:41By the time he was fired from the family business in 1829,
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Samuel Mott was a married man in his 40s with children to support.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Sophie wants to know what happened next
0:13:49 > 0:13:51to her four-times great-grandfather.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53She's come to meet genealogist Laura Berry.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01What I have now discovered is that Samuel Mott,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04my four-times great-grandfather,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07was kicked out of the family business in 1829,
0:14:07 > 0:14:08but I don't know what happened to him.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Well, I've been looking into what happened
0:14:11 > 0:14:16and I've found an insurance policy - this dates from 1834.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18So it's five years later.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21This shows him renting a place in London.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Not just London. Wow!
0:14:23 > 0:14:25On a house at 72 Regent Street.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29"In tenure of Samuel Mott.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34"A coverer of the hammers of the pianofortes in Regent Street."
0:14:35 > 0:14:37That is about as smart as you can get.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Yeah, it's very fashionable.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41How can he afford to do that?
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Last time I saw, he didn't have any money
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- and was begging all his relatives. - Well, that's a good question...
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and one I'm not able to answer, I'm afraid.
0:14:49 > 0:14:50But this is from 1834,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54so, seven years later is the first census from 1841,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and I've found the family, but they're not in London now.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00Island of where? Jersey?
0:15:00 > 0:15:01He's gone to Jersey?
0:15:01 > 0:15:04St Helier.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07And it's Kensington Place, they're living in Kensington Place,
0:15:07 > 0:15:08which sounds rather smart?
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as nice as it sounded.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12It was a bit of a rough part of Jersey.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Oh, really?
0:15:15 > 0:15:20So there's Ann Mott, so this is Samuel's wife, who's 55.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Three children, but no Samuel.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26- Where's Samuel?- Well, that's what I wondered, as well.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29I did a search of the Jersey archives
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and there's a newspaper report dating from 1838.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37So that is nine years after he's kicked out of the family business.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40"On Tuesday morning of this month Mr Mott,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42"resident at Kensington Place,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45"had for some time been showing symptoms of insanity."
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Oh, no!
0:15:49 > 0:15:52"At ten in the morning he went upstairs
0:15:52 > 0:15:54"and locked himself in his room.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57"He then killed himself.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01"The gentleman's wife found her husband in a pool of his own blood."
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Oh!
0:16:03 > 0:16:06- Oh, it's so detailed, this, isn't it?- Mmm.- Poor Samuel!
0:16:06 > 0:16:09- Oh, how awful. - It's really shocking, I think.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11How awful.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14God.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Oh, I was hoping for a happy ending for Samuel.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19I'm sorry.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22I was hoping something was going to come good.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24He must've been so desperate to do that.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27My great-great-great-great- grandfather.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29What happened to him,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and why did he end up so bitter that he took his own life?
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Having found this in Jersey,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37we did a comprehensive trawl of the archives,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and haven't found anything else about this stage of Samuel's life.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43So I think, in order to perhaps understand better
0:16:43 > 0:16:45exactly why Samuel became so desperate,
0:16:45 > 0:16:47I think the only real option now
0:16:47 > 0:16:49is to go back to the beginning of his life.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51So I think maybe your next step would be to go to Birmingham,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- where the family came from originally.- Birmingham?
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Birmingham. And see if you can find anything there for the family.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59So, Birmingham might hold the key.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07I found that really shocking,
0:17:07 > 0:17:08reading that account.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Because it's so brutal.
0:17:12 > 0:17:17What fascinates me is the contrast between Julius and Samuel.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21Julius, the great entrepreneur, the great success,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and Samuel, the older brother who has made a mess of his life.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29What happened early on? What happened to those two brothers?
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Was there an event that put them on separate paths?
0:17:33 > 0:17:35And maybe Birmingham will hold some of the answers.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42When the Motts lived here in the 1790s,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Birmingham was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51The town was a hub of engineering, manufacturing and invention.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53The Silicon Valley of the 18th century.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Sophie's arranged to meet historian Emma Major.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- Hi, lovely to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04- Come in.- Thank you.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11So, Emma, I'm trying to find out more
0:18:11 > 0:18:13about my four-times great-grandfather.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15I've got a family tree here.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Just so you can see where he fits in.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19So there he is, Samuel Mott.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Here is his father, William Mott.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Now, I do know that William Mott was from Birmingham.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Yes. The Mott family lived in this area,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32as you can see from this lovely Birmingham directory from 1791.
0:18:32 > 0:18:33The Pyes Birmingham Directory.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36What's this, a sort of Yellow Pages of the 1790s?
0:18:36 > 0:18:40- Absolutely.- Let's find... Must be down there, Mott.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Mott. Mott! William Mott.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- There we go.- A plated buckle maker.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Ha! He lives in Fleet Street.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48Which is just round the corner from here.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Wow. Could they have worshipped here at this church?
0:18:51 > 0:18:54They didn't. They took a different path.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Right. "The congregation of the New Church
0:18:59 > 0:19:01"signified by the New Jerusalem,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03"births and baptisms."
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Hang on, where are we? Samuel Mott.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- Here he is.- Yep.- That's my Samuel?
0:19:09 > 0:19:10Yeah.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12There's Julius Caesar.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15There he is. But these are all his other siblings.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18So, they're all baptised on the same day?
0:19:18 > 0:19:19Mm.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23April the 15th, 1792.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Samuel was eight.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27I mean, they're all quite old, weren't they,
0:19:27 > 0:19:28when they were baptised?
0:19:28 > 0:19:30But what was the New Jerusalem?
0:19:30 > 0:19:33The New Jerusalem Church was the dissenting church,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35so it's not part of the Church of England.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Dissenters were Protestants who had rejected the Anglican mainstream
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and did not recognise the king as the head of their church.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50But their independent thinking was seen as a threat to the status quo,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and dissenters were denied many civil rights.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56They could not join the Army, take public office,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00or even go to university, unless they renounced their beliefs.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- So here we've got the five Mott children.- Mm-hm.
0:20:05 > 0:20:06Samuel among them.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11- But where are the parents?- The parents are on the next document.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16So, this is 1791.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Oh, there you are, Martha, Mrs Martha Mott.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21So, oh, on Christmas Day!
0:20:21 > 0:20:24She's baptised on Christmas Day.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Where's her husband? 1792.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31There he is. So, there's William Mott.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35So, Martha Mott gets baptised first.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Four months later, her five children are all baptised together...
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and then it's another month until her husband follows suit
0:20:42 > 0:20:44and joins the rest of the family.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- So it's Martha Mott leading the way here.- Mm.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Why would she be so drawn to this?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I think that Martha's attracted to this church
0:20:52 > 0:20:56because it presents itself as a new church of hope,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58of future, of improvement.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03The New Jerusalem was the newest dissenting church in Birmingham,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06spreading a message of optimistic spirituality.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Its worshippers believed in free will,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and that humankind could be improved through hard work,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15piety and education.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19But what has she converted from?
0:21:19 > 0:21:22So, we think that they belong to a different dissenting sect
0:21:22 > 0:21:24called the Baptists,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27which is a much more traditional, established denomination -
0:21:27 > 0:21:30but the New Jerusalem is a cutting-edge denomination
0:21:30 > 0:21:32that sees itself as shaping the future,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and she's going to be part of that future with her family.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38- So it was a really bold thing to do? - It was a bold thing to do.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- She's my five-times great-grandmother.- Mm.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46I get a real sense of a very strong woman,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49who was sort of before her time, really.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52I'm still really confused, though, how Samuel,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54who comes from this very strong mother,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57I still don't quite understand what has gone wrong for him.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59That's a really good question -
0:21:59 > 0:22:01because six months before she is baptised
0:22:01 > 0:22:03into the New Jerusalem Church,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06things are just beginning to change in Birmingham.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09There are big riots targeting dissenters.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13- Oh, really?- Yes, the Priestley Riots, as they became known.
0:22:13 > 0:22:14The Priestley Riots?
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Birmingham had long been a magnet for dissenters
0:22:19 > 0:22:22attracted by the town's reputation for tolerance and opportunity...
0:22:24 > 0:22:25..but in the 1790s,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29faultlines appeared when dissenters tried but failed
0:22:29 > 0:22:32to have the laws which discriminated against them repealed.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37With the French Revolution gathering pace across the Channel,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39the dissenters' push for equality
0:22:39 > 0:22:42was now seen as politically dangerous.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48In Birmingham, this volatile situation was made even worse
0:22:48 > 0:22:52by an outspoken dissenting minister, Joseph Priestley,
0:22:52 > 0:22:58and on the 14th of July, 1791, the town exploded into violence.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01Mobs turned on Birmingham's dissenters.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08Martha converted to this cutting-edge New Jerusalem Church
0:23:08 > 0:23:13just six months after the riots against the dissenters.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16So I wonder what impact that could have had,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18not just on Martha and William, but also on the children.
0:23:20 > 0:23:21I'd to love to find out.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26The funny thing about Martha Mott is,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30it almost deepens the mystery that surrounds Samuel.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34This little boy who is being led by a very strong mother.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36And yet his life ends in complete tragedy.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40Samuel ended up committing suicide.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41What happened to Samuel?
0:23:44 > 0:23:46At the time of the Priestley Riots,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the Motts were part of Birmingham's dissenting community,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53but had not yet converted to the more radical New Jerusalem Church...
0:23:55 > 0:23:58..but in the riots, any dissenter was a target.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Sophie's meeting historian Jonathan Atherton
0:24:03 > 0:24:04in the centre of Birmingham.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07- You must be Jonathan. - I am indeed.- Very nice to meet you.
0:24:07 > 0:24:08Nice to meet you, Sophie.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Now, what I want to know is all about the Priestley Riots,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and also how those riots affected my family, the Motts.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15We're meeting here on Newhall Street.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17As you can see, this is a busy, bustling street,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20just as it would have been in the 18th century.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Just down there would be Fleet Street.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25That is the street where the Motts lived and worked.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28This is also the street where the New Jerusalem Church was located.
0:24:28 > 0:24:29Here?! Was it?!
0:24:29 > 0:24:31- Indeed, here.- Really? Right here?
0:24:31 > 0:24:34And this is also the street where the Priestley Riots took place -
0:24:34 > 0:24:37and I have a very brief account for you.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42So this is "An Authentic Account of the Dreadful Riots in Birmingham."
0:24:42 > 0:24:46"The mob have been marking and pulling down houses the whole day.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49"And the riot is greater than ever.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51"We are in very great apprehension
0:24:51 > 0:24:56"that every dissenter's house in Birmingham will be destroyed."
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Large crowds are moving through the streets of Birmingham,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04attacking dissenting meeting houses and the homes of dissenters.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06That must have been terrifying.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09What happens to the Motts in all of this?
0:25:09 > 0:25:12It's a really good question, and it's something I can help you with -
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- but it might be best to go inside, where it's warm.- Let's go.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23The Priestley Riots were some of the most violent of the 18th century.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26For three days and nights,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Birmingham's dissenters were under attack.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33The homes of 27 dissenting families were destroyed.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I've got this with the Motts on it, and they've got five children.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39So if we have a look down at the dates of birth,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41they might have had a particular reason
0:25:41 > 0:25:43to be even more concerned than normal.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45'84, '86, '88.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47'91.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51July 23rd, 1791.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55I had missed that. That's literally ten days after the riots.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57It's ten days after the riots began.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00So, Martha Mott is heavily pregnant with her fifth child
0:26:00 > 0:26:02- when these riots are taking place. - Yes.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05- It must have been frightening for them.- It really must have been.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10So she gives birth just after those riots.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13But even so,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16despite that, despite the fear, despite what was going on,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18she still converts to this church.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20- Yep.- Six months later.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22That's a really brave thing to do, isn't it?
0:26:22 > 0:26:24It's a very brave thing to do.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26I mean, the New Jerusalem Church
0:26:26 > 0:26:29is one of the more radical dissenting denominations.
0:26:29 > 0:26:30In many ways, by making that move,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33she is bringing herself in more danger.
0:26:33 > 0:26:34She's not going to be cowed.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Martha Mott is not going to be cowed.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Incredible woman.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43The riots changed Birmingham fundamentally.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47It would had been a very tense atmosphere in the aftermath.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Dissenters continued to be subjected to violence.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The New Jerusalem Church, where the Motts would have worshipped,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57was attacked in 1793 - it was firebombed.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00The poor Motts. What happened to them?
0:27:00 > 0:27:01Do we know what happened to them?
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Well, we have some insight into what the Motts are thinking at this time,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07and what they do next -
0:27:07 > 0:27:09and I have a letter for you.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12A letter? Who's it from?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16William Mott.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20I can't believe, I can't even read it,
0:27:20 > 0:27:22I can't believe we have a letter.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26This is, what, my great-grandfather times five?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29"The 18th of June, 1793.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33"I have been conversing with Mr Foster, one of my intimate friends,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36"settled in the American business.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40"Mr Humphreys' two sons, who were sufferers in the late riots,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43"sailed from England on the 28th of March.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45"They speak favourably of the country.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50"I have thoughts of fixing in or near New City.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53"My boys are coming up daily now.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55"I hope to settle them somehow
0:27:55 > 0:27:58"so that their minds may expand themselves
0:27:58 > 0:28:00"and learn, with others, to be happy
0:28:00 > 0:28:05"in any country where peace, liberty and plenty is found."
0:28:05 > 0:28:07William Mott is going to America?
0:28:07 > 0:28:10He is indeed.
0:28:10 > 0:28:11Wow!
0:28:14 > 0:28:15I cannot...
0:28:15 > 0:28:17That's amazing, I can't believe that.
0:28:17 > 0:28:18Wow!
0:28:20 > 0:28:21Where's New City?
0:28:21 > 0:28:23- New York.- They go to New York?
0:28:23 > 0:28:24They go to New York.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28They go to New York.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30SHE LAUGHS
0:28:30 > 0:28:31That's incredible!
0:28:32 > 0:28:34They went to New York.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36So, I mean, this bit,
0:28:36 > 0:28:38"My boys are coming up daily now," they're growing up,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41"their minds may expand themselves in any country
0:28:41 > 0:28:44"where peace, liberty and plenty is found."
0:28:44 > 0:28:47That's what they want. That's what he wants for his family -
0:28:47 > 0:28:48peace, liberty and plenty.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51The reference to peace and liberty I think is very significant,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55because it's almost saying that we no longer have that in Britain.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57- No, it's totally saying that, isn't it?- Yep.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58I can't imagine doing it.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01I've got three children of my own,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04I can't imagine picking my three kids up and saying, "Right,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07"we're going to some place I know so little about,
0:29:07 > 0:29:09"but we're going to have to risk everything
0:29:09 > 0:29:13"because this is what I have to do for you to give you a future."
0:29:14 > 0:29:19The courage that they show, and the determination to pursue
0:29:19 > 0:29:21what they think is right.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26I think the family is extraordinary.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29I'm shaking, you can see the letters moving!
0:29:29 > 0:29:30SHE LAUGHS
0:29:30 > 0:29:32But there are still...
0:29:32 > 0:29:36It still leaves so many more questions,
0:29:36 > 0:29:42because I know certainly Samuel came back here, Julius came back here.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Something's happened to Samuel along the way,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46something has happened to him...
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and I still don't know what that is.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55In 1793,
0:29:55 > 0:29:57New York was the second city
0:29:57 > 0:30:00of the newly independent United States of America.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Just ten years earlier,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07America had defeated Britain in the War of Independence -
0:30:07 > 0:30:12and, in 1789, elected their first President, George Washington.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14I love these Motts.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16They are a family looking to the future.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22There they were, the American Revolution had just happened,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25the French Revolution was underway,
0:30:25 > 0:30:27and the Motts decide that they want those freedoms.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32I've got so many questions about what happened to the Motts.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36What was the New City, as William Mott calls it in his letter,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38what did the New City looked like?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40It certainly didn't look like this.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45People who can just go against the grain,
0:30:45 > 0:30:50risk everything for what they really believe in, I really admire them.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53I think they're an extraordinary family.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Sophie's four-times great-grandfather, Samuel,
0:30:59 > 0:31:04was just nine years old when the Motts landed in America in 1793.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08To find out what this young democracy held for the family,
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Sophie's meeting historian Brett Palfreyman.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14- Hello. You must be Brett. - Hi, Sophie, how are you?
0:31:14 > 0:31:15Very well. Lovely to meet you.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17- Welcome to New York. - Thank you very much.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Now, I've got so many questions for you.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22So the Motts, they get off the ship, and what happens?
0:31:22 > 0:31:25And they would have arrived right here where we are standing, almost.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Right at the East River docks in Lower Manhattan.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31In fact, this gives you the flavour of it,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34the feel of what it would have been like to step off the boat.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37It gives you the sense of the energy, the bustle,
0:31:37 > 0:31:41the movement that characterised the port at this moment.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44And that's the way we're looking, is it?
0:31:44 > 0:31:46- Correct.- And where would they have lived?
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I mean, they come off the ship, do we know where they lived?
0:31:48 > 0:31:50- As a matter of fact, we do.- Oh!
0:31:53 > 0:31:54Is this their address?
0:31:54 > 0:31:56Oh, look at this!
0:31:56 > 0:32:00"The New York Directory and the Register for the Year 1794."
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Mott, where are you? Mott, Mott, Mott...
0:32:05 > 0:32:10Here they are! William Mott, merchants, 240 Water Street.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13- Which is where? - This is Water Street right here.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18And we imagine 240 would have been right where those red cars are.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20- Water Street, there it is!- Yeah.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22240 Water Street.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25- Isn't that wonderful?- You can tell how much a part of his life
0:32:25 > 0:32:28- the port was.- He's right there. - He's right here on the water.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31This is the beating heart of New York City in the 1790s.
0:32:31 > 0:32:37When the Motts arrived, New York was a city of around 40,000 people,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40clustered around the southern tip of Manhattan.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45New York had sustained heavy damage during the War of Independence,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48but just ten years later, the city was booming,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51as new trading routes opened up
0:32:51 > 0:32:54and vast fortunes were made in finance and commerce.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58It was a money town in the 1790s, and it's a money town still.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01It's a place of opportunity and a place of promise.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03A place where someone with initiative, like William,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06could have come and started a business very quickly.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09It's a real chance for a better, more secure future -
0:33:09 > 0:33:11not only for him...
0:33:11 > 0:33:14but for the next generations, too, for his children as well.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Because William writes about how he wants to find somewhere
0:33:17 > 0:33:18for his sons,
0:33:18 > 0:33:24a country where they can have peace, liberty and plenty.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27We in America, I mean, we love to talk about an American dream.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30And the actual concept, the term "American dream,"
0:33:30 > 0:33:32doesn't really come too much later on,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35- but you can hear it right there, almost...- Yes, you can!
0:33:35 > 0:33:37..in William's voice, in his words.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39It's wonderful, isn't it? William Mott,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41an early pioneer of the American dream.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Yeah. Well, there's certainly more I'd like to show you.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46- Why don't we step inside? - Even more?- Yeah, there's more.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48- SHE LAUGHS - Go on, then.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50For immigrants like the Motts,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53New York promised not just economic opportunity,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55but also religious liberty.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Freedom of worship was guaranteed
0:33:58 > 0:34:02by the newly written Constitution of the United States.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06We actually know a little bit about the Motts' religious life
0:34:06 > 0:34:10in early New York City. If you look closely at this document.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13What is this? I'm going to have to stand up to see it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18Oh, the New Jerusalem again, here we go!
0:34:18 > 0:34:22Right, so this is a record of the New Jerusalem Church,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24put together a little later on.
0:34:24 > 0:34:30OK, "In the year 1793, Mr and Mrs Bragg came from Birmingham, England,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32"to reside in New York.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35"They found not a single member of the New Church there,
0:34:35 > 0:34:41"but in a short time came Mr Mott and family from Birmingham.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44"And one poor man whose name is not remembered."
0:34:44 > 0:34:47- Who was this?- Poor man!
0:34:47 > 0:34:51"These persons met at Mr Bragg's house for worship."
0:34:51 > 0:34:54They are the pioneers of the New Jerusalem Church here.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57The First Amendment guarantees religious freedom in America,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00and William Mott, Martha Mott, are absolutely in great position
0:35:00 > 0:35:04to take place of this relatively new legal freedom.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07And they're all meeting and worshipping in Mr Bragg's house.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10It seems clear that they'd be interested
0:35:10 > 0:35:13in more than a private group of ten, worshipping together -
0:35:13 > 0:35:16and New York City is a place where there's enough people out there,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20there's enough religious fervour for them to see potential opportunities
0:35:20 > 0:35:21to build a church,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24to build the community that they were looking for.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26It says here, "Mrs Bragg..."
0:35:28 > 0:35:31What happened to Mrs and Mr..? What?!
0:35:31 > 0:35:34"Mrs Bragg, having buried her husband and three children..."
0:35:34 > 0:35:38They all died! "..returned in 1796 to England.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42"What became of the other families?"
0:35:45 > 0:35:46I wonder what happened to them,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50- and I wonder whether the Motts were involved as well.- Right.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Could it be that the Motts went back quickly as well?
0:35:54 > 0:36:01I know for sure that at least two of the children, my direct ancestor,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Samuel, and his brother Julius,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07were definitely back in England by the 1820s.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10I wonder whether something happened to Samuel whilst they were here.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13Did something happen to the family?
0:36:13 > 0:36:15STILL so many questions.
0:36:16 > 0:36:17I need some more answers.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24I am alarmed by the reference to Mrs Bragg
0:36:24 > 0:36:27losing her husband and three children
0:36:27 > 0:36:30and returning very soon after she arrived here.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32So, clearly something has happened.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37I really hope it doesn't end badly for William and Martha Mott.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40They've given everything up that they know.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42I can't bear the idea that it goes badly for them.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56- Hi.- Hi. Great to meet you. - Very nice to meet you.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Sophie's come to meet historian Kathryn Olivarius
0:36:59 > 0:37:02at New York City's Municipal Archives.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07She wants to know what happened to the Bragg family,
0:37:07 > 0:37:09and whether the Motts were also affected.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12So, a good place to sort of start looking for the answer to this
0:37:12 > 0:37:14are in the city newspapers from the time.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17This is an article which might shed some light on what was going on.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22"August the 31st, 1795.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24"The epidemic fever,
0:37:24 > 0:37:28"which has of late affected the upper part of Water Street..."
0:37:28 > 0:37:30Oh, that's where they lived.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34This epidemic was yellow fever, which is a tropical disease,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36spread by mosquitoes,
0:37:36 > 0:37:40and the modern analogue I would use to describe it is akin to Ebola.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44The common symptoms are delirium, bleeding from the gums, eyes,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46and then vomiting black blood.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48And where they live in New York
0:37:48 > 0:37:51is just prime territory for this terrible disease.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55In Lower Manhattan, where the Motts lived,
0:37:55 > 0:37:56ships from around the world
0:37:56 > 0:37:59constantly reintroduced infected mosquitoes
0:37:59 > 0:38:03into the port's hot and packed streets.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05The perfect breeding ground for an epidemic.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Do we know what happened to the Motts? Did they survive?
0:38:08 > 0:38:12There is a register of people that died of yellow fever in 1795.
0:38:12 > 0:38:13Give it to me.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15I've been dying to find out.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23Oh!
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Oh, no, how many of them survived?
0:38:29 > 0:38:30Oh, I can't bear it.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35William Mott.
0:38:38 > 0:38:39How sad.
0:38:41 > 0:38:42Oh, there's John Bragg.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45That's the husband of the woman who goes home.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48But there's no record of the other Motts in here?
0:38:48 > 0:38:50- There's no record.- So they survived?
0:38:50 > 0:38:53Well, if you take a look at this...
0:38:53 > 0:38:54Is this another letter?
0:38:54 > 0:38:55Another letter!
0:38:57 > 0:39:02"Birmingham, 26th of March, 1798.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05"My brother, William Mott, and his wife..."
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Oh, no, Martha, too!
0:39:08 > 0:39:13"My brother, William Mott, and his wife both died at New York.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17"Julius and Patty are with my brother, Robert Mott, in Sussex.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23"Jemima and Samuel at present are with Mr Sherwood of this town.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27"The youngest, a girl named Mary, is with me."
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Oh, so the whole family is split up.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33Oh, the poor Motts.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36William and Martha came in search of their American dream,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and two years later they're dead.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43Their children completely split up.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48Everybody else has been settled with members of the family,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52but Samuel and Jemima go and live with Mr Sherwood.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53Who is Mr Sherwood?
0:39:53 > 0:39:55We don't know very much about who Mr Sherwood was,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59but what we do know, I think you can probably find here.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05"1796...bankrupts.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08"Jonathan Sherwood of Birmingham."
0:40:10 > 0:40:13So, Samuel is sent to live with somebody who is bankrupt.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Poor Samuel. He's only 11.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Oh, he's been through a lot in that very short life, hasn't he?
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Riots in Birmingham,
0:40:27 > 0:40:30a really perilous journey across the Atlantic...
0:40:31 > 0:40:33..and then he's lost both his parents.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38I mean, you would have been made, by this,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40he would have been made to feel like a complete outsider, wouldn't he?
0:40:40 > 0:40:45This orphan, living on the extremities of his family.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49I understand it now. I understand what happened to Samuel.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52The family call him "a mule of a chap,"
0:40:52 > 0:40:54and they're really damning about him,
0:40:54 > 0:40:56and actually you just want to go to the rest of the Motts and say,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59"Give him a break, give him a chance!"
0:41:00 > 0:41:03- He really did draw the short straw. - Mm-hm.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11My view of Samuel has completely, completely changed.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13And now I just feel so sorry for him.
0:41:13 > 0:41:14He was 11 years old.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17He was 11. That's the age of my oldest child.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22William and Martha brought those children here
0:41:22 > 0:41:23in the hope of a better life,
0:41:23 > 0:41:26and, actually, completely the opposite happens,
0:41:26 > 0:41:28they end up as orphans - and as a parent,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30that's, for me, my ultimate nightmare
0:41:30 > 0:41:33is leaving my children, leaving my children behind.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39I've travelled a very, very long way, full of hope...
0:41:41 > 0:41:44..and I've found a tragic ending.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57I have been enchanted by the Motts, actually.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01Like hands reaching out from the past, they really came alive.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08To read people's fears and hopes and great dreams from the 1790s
0:42:08 > 0:42:12is something I never thought I'd be able to do, never.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15There's a spirit in the Motts
0:42:15 > 0:42:18that I can still see filtering through to my own family now -
0:42:18 > 0:42:21my grandmother, my sister, my dad.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28I'm in awe of what they did, the risks they took.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33And I'm very proud to be one of their descendants.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Back in England, Sophie's come to Kew.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53What I now want to find out about is my great-grandfather,
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Edgar Cussons Crowder.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59There is some rumour that he worked at Kew Gardens.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02The particular reason I'd like to know about the Kew connection
0:43:02 > 0:43:05is because gardens, for my family, are everything.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07My parents have spent 40-plus years
0:43:07 > 0:43:10creating this garden where I grew up.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14Horticulture is so central to our family.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18To find out that that went back generations would be incredible.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Sophie's meeting head of horticulture Tony Kirkham
0:43:22 > 0:43:24in the archives of Kew Gardens.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29So, Tony, this is Edgar Cussons Crowder,
0:43:29 > 0:43:30who is my great-grandfather.
0:43:30 > 0:43:35My question to you is, what, if anything, did he do at Kew?
0:43:35 > 0:43:38OK, well, we have an incredible archives department here,
0:43:38 > 0:43:40and we have found a file.
0:43:41 > 0:43:42Oh, there he is!
0:43:44 > 0:43:49"Edgar Cussons Crowder, date of application 21st of October, 1891."
0:43:49 > 0:43:51So he was applying to what?
0:43:51 > 0:43:53To become a student gardener.
0:43:53 > 0:43:54To be a student at Kew!
0:43:54 > 0:43:57We have students from the Gardens working at my parents' garden!
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Well, there you go.
0:43:59 > 0:44:00There is a link, then.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04How funny! So, he was 22, it says here.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07"The wages are 18 shillings per week."
0:44:07 > 0:44:10So, 18 shillings would have been equivalent
0:44:10 > 0:44:13to just over £50 per week today. Which wasn't a lot of money.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16We have a photograph here.
0:44:16 > 0:44:17- Of him?- Well, we don't know.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20This is the class of 1892.
0:44:20 > 0:44:21You brought this photograph,
0:44:21 > 0:44:25and it would be really interesting to see if we can find him on there.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30- Oh, that looks like him! - I think you're right.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31There he is.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34But what will he have been doing at Kew, day to day?
0:44:34 > 0:44:37We've got this book here, this will tell us where he worked.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40'90,'92...
0:44:42 > 0:44:44- Crowder, there we go.- Palm House!
0:44:44 > 0:44:47He worked in the Palm House.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50I love the Palm House. I've been in the Palm House so many times.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52It is an iconic building, isn't it?
0:44:52 > 0:44:53It's wonderful.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56I mean, it is probably one of the most famous buildings in Kew.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Yes, probably one of the most famous buildings in horticulture, actually.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02So he's working in the Palm House.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06- Yes.- And then he leaves.- So it could well be that he needed more money.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09As you saw, the salary's quite low,
0:45:09 > 0:45:14and it appears that he's dropped out of horticulture from about 1900.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17Oh, what a shame. He probably got married by then.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21However, I have come across the name Crowder before.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25There is a dictionary of botanists and horticulturalists
0:45:25 > 0:45:26in the reference collection here,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29and I certainly think it's worth having a look in there
0:45:29 > 0:45:32to see if there are any links through the Crowders.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47It's extraordinary to think that my great-grandfather worked here.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50I have been here so many times over the years.
0:45:50 > 0:45:53I literally grew up a mile away from here,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55and I've been brought here by my parents as a child,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58I've brought my own children here over and over and over again,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01and none of us had any idea.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06I'll never think of this place in the same way again.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Before leaving Kew,
0:46:10 > 0:46:11Sophie wants to investigate
0:46:11 > 0:46:15if there are any more horticultural connections in the Crowder family.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21"Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturalists."
0:46:26 > 0:46:28Right, Crowder.
0:46:29 > 0:46:30Crowder.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Crowder, lots of them.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37"Abraham Crowder, Anderson Crowder, Henry Crowder, Michael Crowder,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"Rowland Wood Crowder, William Crowder..."
0:46:39 > 0:46:45Wow! So, this dates right back to 1734.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48I don't quite know where I fit into this,
0:46:48 > 0:46:51but I think I need to go and have a look -
0:46:51 > 0:46:53and they are mostly in Doncaster, actually.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55That must be the best place to start.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Sophie's on her way to Doncaster
0:47:07 > 0:47:10to investigate a potential line of green-fingered ancestors.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14I mean, my family have got this huge connection with gardens,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16I now present the Chelsea Flower Show.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19It's almost too strange to be true
0:47:19 > 0:47:22that this deep-rooted horticultural connection
0:47:22 > 0:47:25possibly dates back centuries to the 1700s.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Can it be in your DNA?
0:47:27 > 0:47:29I'm fascinated to see what's ahead, though.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32As is my father, who keeps texting me saying, "What have you learned,
0:47:32 > 0:47:34"what have you learned? How far back does it go?"
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Oh! Now, that is a beautiful house.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47She's arranged to meet garden historian Stephen Smith
0:47:47 > 0:47:48at Cusworth Hall,
0:47:48 > 0:47:52a stately home near Doncaster which dates back to the 1700s.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57So, I have found this at Kew Gardens,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00and this is a list of all the Crowders.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04I don't know who's connected to me, I don't know who my ancestors are.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06I'm presuming one of them.
0:48:06 > 0:48:07Definitely. And it's actually this one here.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10- The first one?- The first one, Abraham Crowder.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12He is one of your ancestors.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16He is your great-grandfather times five.
0:48:16 > 0:48:20He's gardener to a local landowner in the Doncaster area.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Being a gardener was a very prestigious activity.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25It was a prestigious activity?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27Oh, absolutely. It's not just somebody pulling a few weeds,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30he's actually somebody who is probably the equivalent
0:48:30 > 0:48:32of the butler on the outside staff.
0:48:32 > 0:48:37- Why was that?- Because the garden is where your wealth is shown off.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39And when you come through the front gates,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42that's the first impression that people are going to have
0:48:42 > 0:48:43of you and your standing in society.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45So we're talking about somebody
0:48:45 > 0:48:47who's right at the very top of his profession
0:48:47 > 0:48:50to be employed by one of the landed gentry.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Abraham was also a nurseryman.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55So he was working in somebody's garden,
0:48:55 > 0:48:56but he also had his own nursery?
0:48:56 > 0:48:58That's right, that's right.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02So he's producing plants for sale for these gardens,
0:49:02 > 0:49:07and the sort of thing that he's producing, we might find here.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11- What is this?- This is an invoice that's been sent by Abraham Crowder.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14- Look at that.- There's his signature at the bottom there.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18"December, 1783.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22"To William Wrightson, from Abraham Crowder.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27"For four trained morello cherries."
0:49:27 > 0:49:29We're actually talking about plants here, the actual trees.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33- That's right. - "Four figs at three shillings each."
0:49:33 > 0:49:35What does that say? 18...
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Something, what does that say?
0:49:38 > 0:49:40- Pine...- It does say that. - Pines. "18 pines."
0:49:40 > 0:49:43- What, as in trees? Or no, can't be...- No, it's not.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47The pines that he's talking about are pineapples.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50- Pineapples?!- Pineapples, yes, yes.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55Your ancestor is supplying William Wrightson with pineapple plants.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57That is extraordinary.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59William Wrightson is who?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02William Wrightson was the owner of this house.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04- This house here?- This house here.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06- What? This one?- This is the house that William Wrightson lived in.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11- Oh, wow. He supplied pineapples here?- He did indeed.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13Right, my great-grandfather times five
0:50:13 > 0:50:15was a pineapple grower in Yorkshire -
0:50:15 > 0:50:18now, that I would never, ever have guessed!
0:50:19 > 0:50:23First grown in Britain around 1715,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26the exotic pineapple was a coveted status symbol
0:50:26 > 0:50:28throughout the 18th century.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30A pineapple centrepiece at a party
0:50:30 > 0:50:34showed off the wealth and sophistication of the host.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37They could be rented for a guinea apiece,
0:50:37 > 0:50:38with an extra guinea to pay if it was eaten.
0:50:40 > 0:50:41For high society,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44the aspiration was to cultivate pineapples on their estates.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Sophie's five-times great-grandfather, Abraham Crowder,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53was one of the few gardeners in the country with the specialist skills
0:50:53 > 0:50:55to grow this desirable fruit.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01They are very difficult to grow, because they are tropical plants.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03They needed a hot and damp climate.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06- How did they create that here? It's freezing.- So here we are,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09here's the sort of house that they would have been grown in.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12- This is what we call a pinery vinery.- Great name, pinery vinery.
0:51:12 > 0:51:13It's brilliant.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16There were two methods of heating for a pineapple house.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19There was a stove, which would have supplied hot air.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22And also we've got something called tanner's bark.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26It gives off a steady heat so you've got a real steamy tropical house,
0:51:26 > 0:51:28just right for the pineapples to root in.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30I mean, they are such great fruits.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33Already, you get a pineapple and you think, "That's a bit of a treat."
0:51:33 > 0:51:35But 200 years ago...
0:51:35 > 0:51:37Pineapple culture was really at the top of the tree
0:51:37 > 0:51:40- when it comes to horticulture. - Oh, that's amazing.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43I'm going to have to get my dad to follow the family footsteps
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and put some pineapples in the conservatory at home!
0:51:49 > 0:51:54The ruins of the pinery are still in Cusworth's gardens.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Oh, isn't that beautiful?
0:51:56 > 0:51:58Oh, that is a proper walled garden.
0:51:58 > 0:52:00So this is the remains of the pinery.
0:52:00 > 0:52:01This is the exact spot
0:52:01 > 0:52:04where your forbear would have brought those cuttings.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08So this is where the pineapples would have been grown?
0:52:08 > 0:52:12Absolutely. And if you look, I'll show you here, this is the flue,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14which would have brought the hot air in,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17which came from the other side where there was a boiler.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20It's such a shame, though, isn't it, that there is so little left of it.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25There is a place in the north of England which still has a pinery,
0:52:25 > 0:52:26and that's Tatton Park.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Tatton Park? I've got to see a proper pinery vinery.
0:52:33 > 0:52:35Hi, Dad.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38I've got the next instalment for you.
0:52:38 > 0:52:39I love it, I love it.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41I've always felt I've come from a gardening family,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44I just never realised it went back that far.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46It does feel like something that's in the DNA.
0:52:47 > 0:52:48It's lovely. It's a bond with us,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50you feel like you are touching the past,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52you ARE touching the past.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54TEXT TONE
0:52:54 > 0:52:58From my dad, I only spoke to about five minutes ago!
0:52:58 > 0:53:01"See if you can bring back suckers or slips." Cuttings. basically,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03"They look easy to grow as long as frost-free.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07"Can be grown in pots and brought in. It's on. Dad."
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Didn't take him long, did it?
0:53:13 > 0:53:16There are just two surviving pineries in the country,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18and Sophie's come to Tatton Park
0:53:18 > 0:53:20to see how her five-times great-grandfather
0:53:20 > 0:53:22would have cultivated pineapples.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28Head Gardener Simon Tetlow has hands-on experience
0:53:28 > 0:53:29of growing pineapples.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32What better place to kind of come and see
0:53:32 > 0:53:35a little view of the Caribbean?
0:53:35 > 0:53:37So this is a real pinery.
0:53:37 > 0:53:38Ah, there is a pineapple!
0:53:38 > 0:53:41There's one growing. Oh, yeah! Lurking amongst there.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I was just looking at the plants, and there is actually a pineapple.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46That little pineapple there
0:53:46 > 0:53:49is the first pineapple I have ever seen grow -
0:53:49 > 0:53:53and I'm in Cheshire, and my ancestors grew them in Yorkshire.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55- It's amazing. - I mean, how ridiculous is that?
0:53:55 > 0:53:59I know, but in the 1780s, you may as well have come from Mars.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01It was just kind of, "Wow," you know.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03What do you think it was like for Abraham in those days?
0:54:03 > 0:54:06Just phenomenally hard work.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09To produce a Caribbean climate in the middle of Yorkshire...
0:54:09 > 0:54:10It just sounds silly!
0:54:10 > 0:54:13That in itself, you take your hat off to him.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16He's probably spent half his life shovelling coal,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18but he's also, you know, for a gardener, a nurseryman,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21it's that kind of intuitive knowledge
0:54:21 > 0:54:23of light, temperature and humidity.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26You know, this is the days before any kind of monitors or meters.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28He's got a feel for it, he knows how things are growing.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32The question I have to ask you on behalf of my father,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35now he's discovered his ancestors grew pineapples,
0:54:35 > 0:54:37is how difficult it's going to be to grow one,
0:54:37 > 0:54:39because he determined he's going to do it! How difficult is it?
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Well, would you like to start off?
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Would you like a pine slip to take him?
0:54:43 > 0:54:45You know what, I didn't dare ask, but if you're offering,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47- I would love one!- Go for it. Come on through.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49- Go on, then.- I'll show you how.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Now then, I've got a couple of these what we call slips here.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58- Slips are cuttings, aren't they? - Yeah. The key is a lot of drainage.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00Just get some crocks in the bottom, there.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02There's nice old clay there you can take him.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05We'll just fill some of these here.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07You take that, Sophie.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09So, literally, you are just putting it on the soil?
0:55:09 > 0:55:13Yeah, yeah, this is the smooth, cultivated version.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16I say smooth, you know, it's still quite a spiny little devil,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19and there's still little spines down here and here.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Abraham's plants would have been like barbed wire, you know?
0:55:22 > 0:55:25There would have been bristles all the way down here.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28A lot of cursing and cussing as he was kind of moving plants around,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30- as well, I dare say.- Repotting them.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32They were much harder plants to manage than this.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35I wonder if Abraham, my great-grandfather times five,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37is looking down from above and laughing,
0:55:37 > 0:55:39thinking, "What is she doing?!"
0:55:39 > 0:55:41- He'd love it. - It just makes me smile.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43Every time I see a pineapple now, I just smile.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45You can some home-grown ones...
0:55:45 > 0:55:48You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give one of these
0:55:48 > 0:55:50to my father and I'm going to give one to my son, who's eight,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52who already loves doing this.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54He pots up stuff with my mum and dad.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56He can have one of these, look after it.
0:55:56 > 0:55:57- Is that about right?- That's lovely.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59- That is brilliant!- Before you go,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I've got a little bit more information about Abraham for you.
0:56:02 > 0:56:04- Have you? Even more?- Yeah, indeed.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07We've found his obituary from the Doncaster Gazette.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10- Have a good read of that. - Thank you so much!
0:56:10 > 0:56:11Oh, that's wonderful. I'll be back.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14- I'll let you know about my pineapples.- You must do.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16- Whether or not they grow! - Put it on the news for us.
0:56:16 > 0:56:17- Thank you so much.- Bye-bye.
0:56:25 > 0:56:31"Mr Abraham Crowder, nurseryman, in the 98th year of his age."
0:56:31 > 0:56:33He lived till 98!
0:56:33 > 0:56:34Wow!
0:56:34 > 0:56:39"To the lovers of flowers and plants he was a great favourite.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44"And he closed his long, kind and simple life respected,
0:56:44 > 0:56:49"beloved and lamented by all to whom he was known."
0:56:49 > 0:56:51Oh, what a wonderful obituary!
0:56:53 > 0:56:56It's really funny, there's Abraham Crowder,
0:56:56 > 0:56:59pioneering nurseryman of the late 1700s,
0:56:59 > 0:57:00and yet it's still continuing,
0:57:00 > 0:57:05and horticulture, gardens, plants is so central to our family.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09I really hope that I will be able to continue that, actually,
0:57:09 > 0:57:12and keep that going through the generations.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15From the tragedy of yellow fever and suicide
0:57:15 > 0:57:18to pineapples and pianos -
0:57:18 > 0:57:23but there's been one theme that has pulled all of these people together,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26and that has been a real drive and passion.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30I'm very proud of them as ancestors.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32I think they're wonderful ancestors to have,
0:57:32 > 0:57:34and great examples to follow.