0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is the rogue's gallery.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07These are the two last plays I did.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Henry V, the first thing I did when I joined
0:00:11 > 0:00:12the Royal Shakespeare Company.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Oh, here's an aristocrat that I played.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18This is Joss Erroll, the Earl of Erroll.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It's based on a true story.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25His roles in White Mischief and hit TV series The Jewel In The Crown
0:00:25 > 0:00:29made Charles Dance a household name in the 1980s.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35Today he's won worldwide fame playing the baddie Tywin Lannister
0:00:35 > 0:00:38in fantasy epic Game Of Thrones.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Throughout his stellar career, Charles has often been cast
0:00:43 > 0:00:45as an aristocrat.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48I did a film, Gosford Park.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Gosford Park was the forerunner of Downton Abbey.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56That was very much upstairs and downstairs.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00And I can remember saying, "I should be downstairs, not upstairs."
0:01:01 > 0:01:05There's nothing aristocratic about me at all.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10My mother, she was a servant from the age of 13.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12She was an under house parlourmaid.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15You can't get any lower than that.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19But she continued to work, either as a waitress,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22or a housekeeper for the landed gentry.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26She didn't talk much about her family at all.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33As far as my father's concerned, I kind of know even less.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37My father died when I was four.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I don't have an image of him in my mind.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I believe he was an engineer.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48It is the case that I just know very, very little.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Why?
0:01:50 > 0:01:52I don't know.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54I have two children...
0:01:55 > 0:01:57..who are mature.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04I also have another little girl, who is four and a half.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11I wouldn't like my children to get to the age that I am now...
0:02:13 > 0:02:17..and know so little about where they come from as I do.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51These are the two photographs I have of my mother.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55One photograph of my mother later in life
0:02:55 > 0:02:57with my stepfather.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03And I have this family photograph of her when she was a child.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07What her mother's name was, my grandfather's name, I have no idea.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10It would be good to know.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16I'm going to go and talk to my brother Michael.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Hopefully my mother told him a little more
0:03:19 > 0:03:21than she was able to tell me.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- Yo, brother.- Hey. - How are you? All right?- OK.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Good to see you. Let's go in here.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29Come in.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38Do you remember my arrival? You were ten years old when I was born.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40I do remember your arrival, yeah.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Because you...
0:03:42 > 0:03:45We shared a room and I can remember you squalling
0:03:45 > 0:03:49when you were an infant and because nothing happened,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52I picked you up and went and stood outside her door
0:03:52 > 0:03:54to make sure that she could hear you.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Charles and Michael grew up believing they shared
0:03:58 > 0:04:00the same father, Walter Dance.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05But later in life their mother revealed they had different dads.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Right, so did she ever tell you who your father was?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Did you find out?
0:04:12 > 0:04:16No, I didn't ever find out and, no, she didn't tell me.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18She was pretty good at keeping secrets.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22She was. I have a feeling that that particular secret,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26there was an aspect that was dreadful shame.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Single mothers.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31It must have been a pretty hard life, actually,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34that the family that she came from, being a single mother,
0:04:34 > 0:04:38going into service, working all the time,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42but she didn't tell either of us very much, really.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45What... What was her father's Christian name?
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- He was James Perks. - He was James Perks.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51- And what was her mother's name? - She was...
0:04:51 > 0:04:55I think it might have been Marion. I can't remember. But she was Gold.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59I was led to believe that they came from the East End of London.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02That's my understanding.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06- I'm sorry I can't be any more helpful than that, really.- Right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09There wasn't a discussion between parents and children,
0:05:09 > 0:05:11not in our family.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13It was very much the maxim of,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16children were certainly seen and not heard.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17If possible, not even seen!
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I feel I know a little more.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I know the name of my maternal grandfather
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and my maternal grandmother.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Armed with that pretty minimal information...
0:05:40 > 0:05:44..I'd like to go off and see if I can build on that.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Charles has come to the Bishopsgate Institute in east London,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51where he has arranged to meet historian Fern Riddel.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Fern, what have you got to tell me?
0:05:55 > 0:05:58- I've got lots to tell you. - Have you? Oh, good. Right.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04I have found you the marriage certificate of your grandparents.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06OK.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10James George Perks, Marion Elizabeth Gold.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12A timber sawyer?
0:06:12 > 0:06:14And my mother was a waitress.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18My grandmother's father, George Gold.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Profession...insurance agent.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25That's a bit of a step up from the servant class, isn't it?
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Well, it means he's very trustworthy.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30He would have been someone who had an education.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33So this is a very respectable...
0:06:33 > 0:06:37probably upper working-class, lower middle-class family.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42This is your great-grandfather George Gold's birth certificate.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47- Can you read that? - I have a transcript.- Oh, good!
0:06:47 > 0:06:49The date of this is 1848.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51And George... How do you say that?
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- Futvoye.- Futvoye?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55That's a name I've not heard before.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00- It's his mother's maiden name. - Emma Booth, formally Futvoye.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02His father's listed.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04His father was George Booth.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Why didn't George take father's name, then?
0:07:08 > 0:07:10As opposed to George Futvoye Gold?
0:07:10 > 0:07:14That's a very interesting question.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18To try and figure this out, I went and looked at the censuses
0:07:18 > 0:07:23and we've moved now into 1861, in the London borough of Hackney.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Where we have the family of the Golds.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31- Son, George Gold.- Right. - Your great-grandfather.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34His father's name, George Gold senior.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The head of the household,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39and here, Emma Gold, wife,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41but on the birth certificate...
0:07:43 > 0:07:48..for little George Gold, we have the father's name as George Booth.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Yes.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54So, has George decided to change his name to Booth
0:07:54 > 0:07:57or is George Booth somebody else?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59- I think what these documents show us...- Yeah.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01..is a love affair.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Who was having the love affair? George or Emma?
0:08:04 > 0:08:06They both are.
0:08:06 > 0:08:07With each other.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09They're...
0:08:12 > 0:08:13Hmm.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15What do you mean, with each other?
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Well, I've uncovered that both George and Emma
0:08:19 > 0:08:21were married to other people.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Oh, oh, I see.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24Right, OK.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29George Gold senior had a wife called Hannah, who's down in Wiltshire.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33He had a wife called Hannah who was living in Wiltshire.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- Emma...- Yes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37..had a husband called Abraham Booth.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- Emma was married to Abraham Booth? - Yes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Which solves the mystery of why we have Booth...
0:08:46 > 0:08:50..on your great-grandfather George Futvoye Gold's birth certificate.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Because when your great-grandfather was born,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Emma would have been known as Mrs Booth.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58As Mrs Booth? Oh, of course.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And here on the birth certificate she's combined her lover's name
0:09:02 > 0:09:03with her husband's name.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07George Gold with Abraham Booth, to make George Booth.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10I see.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16George Gold and Emma Futvoye were both married to other people
0:09:16 > 0:09:20but that didn't stop them having a relationship and a son -
0:09:20 > 0:09:25Charles's great-grandfather, George Gold junior, born in 1848.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32- So George...- George Gold senior. - ..and Emma had little George...
0:09:32 > 0:09:33Yes.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- ..out of wedlock. - And they don't just have George.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40- I have a transcript for you again. - Thank you.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43- We have George Gold...- Right. - ..your great-grandfather.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46- And then...- Ooh, a daughter.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Ann Gold.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49I see.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52- Right. Two years later.- Yes.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55And a year before that, Edward Gold.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58And then... Oh, come on, are you telling me these..?
0:09:58 > 0:10:00- No, no, no, no, no!- All of these.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Emely, John, Alfred, Charles, bless him.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06- Seven children!- Yes.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10But they would have wanted to keep the reality of their world a secret
0:10:10 > 0:10:15and make sure that no-one could ever trace or find out
0:10:15 > 0:10:19that they had both had affairs and were not legally married.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Blimey! I see.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Strewth!
0:10:23 > 0:10:27Well, it's all very furtive and very secretive, isn't it?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30I mean, how do you live with a secret like that?
0:10:31 > 0:10:33It's Emma here.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Her place of birth is Marylebone.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39- Then she ends up in Hackney.- Yeah.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Backward and downward step, I would have thought.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45This is quite a complicated life.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50This must have had quite an effect on Emma Futvoye.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Futvoye. I've never heard Futvoye before.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56What do you know about Futvoye? Is it a name you're familiar with?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59I know that the Futvoye family descendants
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- have done a lot of research into their family history.- Right.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06And there's an archive up in Lea Mills in Derbyshire.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11- So they might be able to tell me more about Futvoye.- I think so.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20I certainly want to find out about Emma Futvoye.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23This peculiar name that I've never heard of before.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26And her family.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31Now, I do know that she hailed from Marylebone...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35..but before that, who knows?
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Charles is on his way to visit an archive
0:11:41 > 0:11:44held at the John Smedley Mill in Derbyshire,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47which is set up by other descendants of the Futvoyes.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53He's meeting archivist Jane Middleton Smith,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56who's been looking into the Futvoye family tree.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01- Jane?- Hello, yes.- Hello. I'm Charles Dance.- Nice to meet you.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04- So, you're going to show me something exciting?- I am.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Well, who are all these Futvoyes?
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Before we go on, where does the name come from?
0:12:10 > 0:12:12- Well, from Belgium.- Belgium?
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- It's originally from Belgium. - Do we know where in particular?
0:12:16 > 0:12:18They came from Spa.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21This is all extraordinary, because I thought we'd head further east,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24down into the East End of London, and here we are in Belgium.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26So the Futvoyes came over, as you can see...
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Came to England in 1791.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35Where...? Where on here is my great-great-grandmother Emma?
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- Here she is. - Great-great-grandmother Emma.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41Along with her...one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43nine, ten, 11 siblings.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Yes. She's part of a very large family.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47Brother, George.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51I can't quite read that. What does that say? Deputy Minister of...
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Militia in Canada.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Emma's brother, Frederick, had an emporium in Regent Street.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Edward was a solicitor.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02The girls were all working as governesses
0:13:02 > 0:13:06or as teachers of music. They're a well-educated family.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09- Quite an impressive bunch, really? - Yes.- What more can you tell me?
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I can tell you a little bit more about her parents.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Charles Francois and Sarah Cook.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Emma's parents.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19He was an artist.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22What kind of artist was Charles Francois?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Was he a fine artist? A portrait painter?
0:13:25 > 0:13:27- Landscape painter?- I don't know.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29That would be something interesting to find out.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Do we have any other information about Charles Francois, artist?
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- Well, I do, actually.- You do?- I've got something that I could show you.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48This is your three times great-grandfather.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50- Is it?- Charles Francois.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53- This is Charles Francois Futvoye? - Yes.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Good Lord.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01I see absolutely no resemblance whatsoever!
0:14:04 > 0:14:07I've, kind of, cornered the market in playing rather austere,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10villainous characters. There's nothing villainous about him!
0:14:10 > 0:14:14- He looks quite jovial and jolly. - I think he looks a very kindly...
0:14:14 > 0:14:16kind of person.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18Yes. I guess he does, yes.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Something else to show you.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27This is your three times great-grandmother,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Sarah Cook.
0:14:30 > 0:14:31Well.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Erm...
0:14:35 > 0:14:37There's more of a resemblance to me.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Yes, there is.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42- I think so.- Oh, yeah.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45I mean, look, shadows under the eyes!
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Quite heavy lidded.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48Long nose.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53I think he did quite well for himself.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57So that's great-great great-grandfather
0:14:57 > 0:15:01- and great-great-great-grandmother. - Yes.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Well, they're both pretty well turned out.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06- They're comfortably off. They're people of consequence.- Yes.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Yes, that's amazing.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11Really is.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Be intriguing if she was painted by him, wouldn't it?
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Which would make that a self-portrait.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21I'd love to know more, I really would.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24There is a work that's attributed to him
0:15:24 > 0:15:26at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Wonderful.
0:15:33 > 0:15:39I could see so many features in her face that reminded me of my face.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44In fact she looked a bit like me in drag!
0:15:46 > 0:15:50And I could also see a resemblance to my mother, too.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54Something tells me that possibly these two paintings
0:15:54 > 0:15:56might have been painted by him.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02It's fascinating,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07because I'm now going in a completely different direction,
0:16:07 > 0:16:11geographically wise, and also, dare I say, class wise,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I want to know about Charles Francois.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I want to know how good an artist he was,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21how well known he was.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Charles is visiting the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Hello, Charles. I'm Sally Woodcock. Welcome to the Fitzwilliam Museum.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31- Thank you.- Do come in.- Thank you.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34He's arranged to see an original work
0:16:34 > 0:16:37by his three times great-grandfather.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41So, Charles, this is the Fitzwilliam Museum's Futvoye.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44So, what do you think?
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Good Lord!
0:16:46 > 0:16:48I don't know what to think.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52- I shall peer more closely at it. - Absolutely.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Three Little Chinese people flying a kite.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00I would have said it was a design for a plate, possibly a woodcut.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Intricate foliage, flowers, leaves and so on
0:17:03 > 0:17:05swirling around the outside.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10How do you know it's by Charles Francois Futvoye?
0:17:10 > 0:17:11Fortunately...
0:17:13 > 0:17:16..if you look at the back, it gives a very good indication!
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Oh, there it is, Futvoye.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I see.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Futvoye, 83 High St, Marylebone.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Well, we kind of know about the Marylebone connection
0:17:25 > 0:17:28from earlier documents that we've seen.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31So what was... I mean, what was he actually up to, Sally?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34You know, this is not a man who was being commissioned
0:17:34 > 0:17:37to paint portraits, this is something else.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40He was not a conventional painter as far as we can tell.
0:17:40 > 0:17:41No.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45We have come across another reference to Futvoye,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47which I think you'll find interesting.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50This is the account book of Charles Robeson
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and he was an artist supplier to pretty much everyone
0:17:53 > 0:17:57from Queen Victoria, Royal Academy, to Charles Futvoye,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00because he actually was one of Robeson's customers.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05This is a page of his purchases.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08Two gross four dozen pencils.
0:18:08 > 0:18:1118 duck sable brushes.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Yeah, I mean, this is good stuff.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16And quite large quantities.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20You know, three gross brushes, that's 60.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23The day before, he's bought two gross and four dozen.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26So getting on for 100 brushes in two days,
0:18:26 > 0:18:27which is quite a lot.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31It's almost as if he's running a factory.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35I want a clearer picture of this man working,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38so where can I go to get those answers, do you think?
0:18:38 > 0:18:43- Who's going to tell me that?- I think your next bet is a specialist.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46An art historian in this period, but particularly
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- in this, sort of, world of decorative art.- OK.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Well, isn't that an amazing...
0:18:53 > 0:18:57I assumed, because he's just described as an artist,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00that actually he might have painted those two paintings.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I have a feeling not now.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18To solve the mystery of what his three times great-grandfather was up to,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21Charles has come to Claydon House in Buckinghamshire,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24where he's meeting art historian Alexandra Loske.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- Hello.- Hello.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Charles, I'm Alexandra. - How do you do?- How do you do?
0:19:30 > 0:19:33- Let me show you Claydon House. - Please.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Oh, wow.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37Blimey.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39What an extraordinary room.
0:19:41 > 0:19:42I say!
0:19:42 > 0:19:47I feel as if I've woken up in the middle of some extraordinary dream
0:19:47 > 0:19:51about, I don't know, China, by the look of it.
0:19:53 > 0:19:59This is one of the best examples of Chinoiserie style in this country.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- Chinoiserie style? - Chinoiserie style.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And it was effectively a vision of the East.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06It certainly is!
0:20:06 > 0:20:08Yes.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11But all, of course, made by Europeans
0:20:11 > 0:20:14who had probably never visited the Far East.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16- Never been to China. - Never been to China.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Chinoiserie was an early form of interior decoration...
0:20:23 > 0:20:26..inspired by British trade with Asia.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Wallpapers, fabric,
0:20:30 > 0:20:35ornaments and furniture were all adorned in this exotic new style.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41This is a great example of copying something Oriental.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Here we have the European version of lacquering,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47which is often referred to as japanning.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49- Japanning?- Japanning.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- You see all these Oriental motifs on here...- Right.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57..and Charles Futvoye, he had a lot to do with this fashionable style.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01- In fact, that was his stock and trade.- Was it now? Really?
0:21:01 > 0:21:04I've found quite a few materials that tell us what he did
0:21:04 > 0:21:07- and how he was involved. - Oh, excellent!
0:21:07 > 0:21:09So, would you like to see some of the materials we found?
0:21:09 > 0:21:12Please. I mean, this has blown me away, this place.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15- Shall we sit down? - Are we going to sit on here?
0:21:15 > 0:21:17- I think we can sit on here, yes. - OK.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22So, here's a copy of a paper
0:21:22 > 0:21:24from 1829.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28And here is Charles Futvoye.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32"Mr Futvoye begs leave to acquaint the nobility and gentry
0:21:32 > 0:21:35"that he continues to give instruction in the art of painting
0:21:35 > 0:21:41"in imitations of old India, Japan, Marble, Inlaid Ebony and Ivory.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46"Specimens of the above arts may be seen at Mr F's repository,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49"No.83, High Street, Marylebone,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54"where every material requisite for drawing may be had."
0:21:55 > 0:21:59So a good businessman and hugely skilled as well.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01He knows how to imitate Oriental lacquer,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04but he was actually teaching people
0:22:04 > 0:22:07and he was providing all the materials.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10So what kind of people were Charles's clientele?
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It was reasonably wealthy people.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It was considered an accomplishment suitable for ladies.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18I see.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Japanning things.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- An alternative to needlepoint? - Yes. Absolutely.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Charles Futvoye's repository would have been quite similar.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- This is the kind of thing?- This is the kind of thing he would have run.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32So this little print that you saw in Cambridge,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34that is just a wonderful example
0:22:34 > 0:22:37of something that he would have sold in his shop
0:22:37 > 0:22:41and that ladies would have bought and transferred to, maybe,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45a little wooden box, varnished it,
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and then at the end it would have looked like
0:22:47 > 0:22:50- a piece of Oriental lacquer work.- I see!
0:22:50 > 0:22:53- You could buy the box at his shop, too!- You can buy the box as well!
0:22:53 > 0:22:55How fantastic!
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Here I am in leafy Marylebone.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06I know this neck of the woods quite well, note.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It's not far from where I live in north London.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13And this is where Charles Francois Futvoye
0:23:13 > 0:23:14had his repository.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19God knows what's happening at Number 83 Marylebone High St now.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22But, hopefully, we're going to find out.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Oh, heavens above!
0:23:28 > 0:23:29This is 83.
0:23:38 > 0:23:44This picture that Alexandra gave me, it would have been very like this.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Especially the sky light up there.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51I can see racks and racks of, kind of, paintbrushes,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55inks, paints, materials for lacquer work.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56Stuff like that.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59You can smell it, you know?
0:24:00 > 0:24:03All the materials needed for the daughters of gentlefolk
0:24:03 > 0:24:06to pursue their new hobby of Oriental art.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10It's fascinating. It really is.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18I still don't know why the Futvoyes...
0:24:19 > 0:24:22..came from Belgium, this town of Spa...
0:24:23 > 0:24:25..to London.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Charles knows that his three times great-grandfather left Spa
0:24:30 > 0:24:34with his parents and came to London in 1791.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38To discover why, he's meeting historian William O'Reilly.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41So, Spa was this pearl of Europe,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46and tourists, particularly wealthy aristocrats and nobles,
0:24:46 > 0:24:51teemed into what was the prize spa town and holiday destination
0:24:51 > 0:24:53- for people at that time.- Really?
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Gambling, dancing, listening to music, carousing.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01- It sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah! - Having a wonderful time.- Good Lord!
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Spa was famous across Europe for the health-giving properties
0:25:05 > 0:25:07of its natural spring waters.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09All other spas are named after it.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13There were many artists and artisans in Spa,
0:25:13 > 0:25:15attracted by the popularity of the town.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18The Futvoyes were one of these families.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21They were involved, as you know already, in japanning.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27So a particular form of elite upper class, if you like, souvenir making,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29which Spa became very famous for.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33So they were already doing that? I mean, they were doing that
0:25:33 > 0:25:36back in Belgium as well, before any of them ever came here?
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And very successfully. A thriving trade.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42Which sounds like a pretty lively place. A kind of Vegas of Europe.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46- Why did they leave?- They had to, I'm afraid, for political reasons.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53The Futvoyes were caught up in a violent uprising in Belgium in 1789.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58It was part of the same revolutionary wave
0:25:58 > 0:26:01that would topple the monarchy in neighbouring France.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06With the aristocratic way of life on which they depended under threat,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09the Futvoye family fled Belgium.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11They set up shop in London.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18So when the Futvoyes came to London, which is a pretty big place,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21why did they come to Marylebone especially?
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Is there a particular reason?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25The well-heeled migrants from across Europe
0:26:25 > 0:26:28had begun to move to better areas in London,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30including here in Marylebone.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Your family, the Futvoyes, already had comfortable amounts of money
0:26:34 > 0:26:37that allowed them to settle into the neighbourhood quite quickly.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40In fact, I found something in one newspaper
0:26:40 > 0:26:42from the very early 19th century
0:26:42 > 0:26:46that sets out some of that family history in a little more detail.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48- Right.- From the London Morning Post.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50From June 1814.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54It's a small ad placed by the widow
0:26:54 > 0:26:58of your fourth great-grandfather, Matthew...
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- Charles Francois's father? - Exactly.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Charles Francois's father, Matthew Futvoye.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08"A. Futvoye, widow of the late Mr Futvoye senior,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13"imitator of Japan, Chinese work and teacher to the Royal Family..."
0:27:13 > 0:27:14Excuse me?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Well, I knew they were teaching, kind of...
0:27:17 > 0:27:20daughters of gentlefolk, but the Royal Family?
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Almost by Royal appointment?
0:27:23 > 0:27:25They've fled turbulent Belgium,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28but here they are in rather a smart part of London,
0:27:28 > 0:27:30running a very successful business
0:27:30 > 0:27:35and being patronised by the Royal Family. Not bad, is it, really?
0:27:35 > 0:27:38It's an incredible story of success.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Well!
0:27:46 > 0:27:50We've come a long, long way from where I thought we would be going
0:27:50 > 0:27:53to find out about my mother.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56We've been talking principally about Charles Francois,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59which is my three times great-grandfather,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02an enterprising, artistic,
0:28:02 > 0:28:04cultured man,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06and his family.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Miles away from the East End of London,
0:28:09 > 0:28:14and the kind of world that I assumed my mother had come from.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17Especially as, you know, my mother started life as a servant
0:28:17 > 0:28:20and spent her life mostly as a waitress
0:28:20 > 0:28:23or working as a housekeeper in smarter people's houses.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I suspect she had absolutely no idea that her ancestors
0:28:28 > 0:28:32were living a totally different kind of life.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37And it's all come as quite a surprise to me.
0:28:37 > 0:28:38A very pleasant surprise.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50Now I need to know about my father, because I know...
0:28:50 > 0:28:55Well, possibly even less about my father than I knew about my mother.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Charles's father, Walter Dance, died in 1949.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04All I know about my dad
0:29:04 > 0:29:08was that he died when I was about three and a half to four.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10He didn't die of old age.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12I think he was in his 50s.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16My mother used to refer to him as WD.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20He was a divorcee when she met him.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23That's all the information I have.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27I know absolutely nothing about his personality,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29what kind of man he was.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33This is the only photograph I have of my father.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37I'm on my way now,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41to meet somebody who might be able to enlighten me as to...
0:29:41 > 0:29:45what the uniform is, what regiment he was in.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48All of the things that I need to know
0:29:48 > 0:29:52to start piecing together this particular jigsaw puzzle.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56- You must be Peter. - Hello, Charles. Nice to meet you.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Charles is meeting historian Peter Donaldson.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07This photograph is the only image I have of my father.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10It looks a little bit like a First World War uniform.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15- That's what I thought.- But there are a couple of clues that tell us it's not from the First World War.- OK.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18There are no breast pockets on Walter's tunic here.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21In the First World War soldiers had breast pockets
0:30:21 > 0:30:23to slip their pay book in.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26Also, he's wearing a rather fancy belt with a brass buckle.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Those had disappeared by the First World War.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31We could date this pretty precisely
0:30:31 > 0:30:35to the 15 years or so before the First World War.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38- 15?- Back to 1900.
0:30:38 > 0:30:39Blimey!
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Something immediately occurs to me.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46What's that?
0:30:46 > 0:30:48This might not be my father.
0:30:48 > 0:30:49Oh, gosh.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52- Why...why you think that? - Well...
0:30:53 > 0:30:56..because he died in...
0:30:58 > 0:31:00..1949,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03when my father was about 50.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07- Let's say that's 1900.- Yes.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09He would have been a baby.
0:31:09 > 0:31:10This is not a baby.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Well, we've got another document,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17and that gives us a little bit more information about this man
0:31:17 > 0:31:19in the photograph.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22This is Walter Dance's form he filled in
0:31:22 > 0:31:24when he enlisted in the Army.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27- This is this man?- Yeah. - Oh, thank God for that.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29I thought we were... Right, OK. Right.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32What's the date of this document?
0:31:32 > 0:31:3523rd of January, 1900.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39What is your age... 25 years, eight months. Oh, blimey!
0:31:39 > 0:31:43So in 1900, he was nearly 26!
0:31:43 > 0:31:45He was nearly 26, yes.
0:31:45 > 0:31:46So...
0:31:46 > 0:31:49he was born in 1874.
0:31:49 > 0:31:511874, exactly, yes.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Wow. OK.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Charles now knows that his dad was born 26 years earlier
0:31:59 > 0:32:01than he previously thought.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04He would have been 72 when Charles was born.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08And we go over the page,
0:32:08 > 0:32:11we can see a little bit more about Walter's service record.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14He was posted on the 30th of April, 1900.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16If we look on the first page again,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20he signed up for either the duration of the war in South Africa...
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Oh, I didn't know that. War in South Africa?
0:32:23 > 0:32:28"For a term of one year unless the war in South Africa lasts longer."
0:32:28 > 0:32:31- Was this the Boer War? - The Boer War, that's right.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Charles's father, Walter, enlisted to serve in the Boer War
0:32:38 > 0:32:41which was fought in South Africa between the British
0:32:41 > 0:32:43and Dutch settlers, known as Boers.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47After the war broke out in 1899,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51heavy British losses led to an appeal for volunteers.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55Walter answered that call.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59His service record contains details about his family
0:32:59 > 0:33:01at the time he joined up.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04- Name and address and next of kin. - Oh, right.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07Oh, wife?! Louie Rowley Morris.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Particulars as to children.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11- Norah?- Norah.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15So Louie and Walter have a child, Norah.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19She was born on the 11th of December, 1898.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22So...I have a sister.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27I see. Right.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Charles has discovered that his dad Walter had a wife, Louie,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36and daughter, Norah - Charles's half sister,
0:33:36 > 0:33:39who was born nearly 50 before him.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45Young daughter's born in 1898 and a year later
0:33:45 > 0:33:49he signs up for active service in South Africa.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51A rather odd thing to do, don't you think?
0:33:51 > 0:33:55I mean, was there a great, kind of, recruiting drive at this point?
0:33:55 > 0:33:57There was a huge recruiting drive.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01So Walter would have gone forward to do his patriotic duty,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04to serve his country in a moment of crisis.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08- But, for some men, it would have been a sense of adventure, excitement.- I see.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Actually, we do have some more information
0:34:10 > 0:34:16about Walter and his war record up at the Royal Fusilier Museum,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18where his regiment was based.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- We can go there and have a look at that if you'd like?- Excellent.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24I can feel the hairs going up on the back of my neck. Wonderful.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Walter Dance was in the Royal Fusiliers.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Charles is on his way to the regimental archives
0:34:33 > 0:34:35held in the Tower of London.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41Charles, what we have here is the medal roll from the Royal Fusiliers.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44This is the battalion that your father was in.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- Right.- And here are...
0:34:47 > 0:34:50..the names of those who were from your father's battalion
0:34:50 > 0:34:53who were awarded the South Africa Medal.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55QUIETLY READS NAMES
0:34:59 > 0:35:028953, Sergeant Dance, W.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04And to go with the Roll of Honour,
0:35:04 > 0:35:08we have the actual medal that your father would have been awarded.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13Good Lord!
0:35:15 > 0:35:19So this is a campaign medal that all those who served in the war
0:35:19 > 0:35:21in South Africa, the Boer War, would have received.
0:35:21 > 0:35:26And the clasps tell you the campaigns they were engaged in.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29Transvaal, Orange Free State, Cape Colony.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37By the time Walter reached South Africa,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40the war had entered a brutal guerilla phase.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43The Boers adopted hit and run tactics,
0:35:43 > 0:35:45launching surprise attacks on British bases
0:35:45 > 0:35:49and blowing up supply lines and communications.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55We know from the regimental diaries that Walter
0:35:55 > 0:35:58and the Second Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers
0:35:58 > 0:36:01were spending a lot of their time hunting down Boer guerillas.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06That would involve day after day of arduous route marching.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11At night-time he'd be on camp duty, maybe on picket duty,
0:36:11 > 0:36:13out 1,000 metres beyond the camp perimeter,
0:36:13 > 0:36:18- in the dark, on high alert, waiting for a Boer ambush possibly.- Wow.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21So really physically and psychologically demanding work.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25- Pretty tough?- Pretty tough. Absolutely. Very tough.- Blimey.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28It would have taken a huge amount of endurance and courage.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Well, I have to say, this is quite moving, Peter,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37you know, because, erm...
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Because I know so little, you see,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45so gradually, bit by bit...
0:36:46 > 0:36:49..we're finding out about the life of a man...
0:36:51 > 0:36:54..who I just knew this name, WD.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58And you've been able to tell me an enormous amount.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01And I think these artefacts do connect, don't they, to the person?
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Yeah, they do, yeah.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06- Thank you.- You're welcome.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15It's rather extraordinary to know that here, in my 70th year,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18I'm only finding out about all this now.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20There's something about this...
0:37:21 > 0:37:23..that, erm...
0:37:29 > 0:37:30..I do find quite moving.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Charles's father returned from South Africa in 1901.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Charles wants to know what happened next to Walter,
0:37:41 > 0:37:43his first wife, Louie,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45and their daughter, Norah.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49Well, after the revelations of yesterday,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52which left me reeling somewhat,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56I'm back in the relative peace and tranquillity of my own home.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01And I thought I'd delve into the Census records,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04which are published every ten years, I believe.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07So I think if I look in 1911,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11because Dad would be back from South Africa then.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14Hopefully, this will give me a start.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17Anyway, as much as I can find out off my own bat.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24Here we are. Walter Dance. Head of family. 37.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28Louie Dance...she was 41.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Four years older than him.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Total children born alive, two.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Children still living, one.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42Children who have died...
0:38:42 > 0:38:44one.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46I hope it wasn't Norah who died.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49No, Norah's 12 at the time.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51And she was at school.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55Thankfully, Norah is still with us. Sister Norah.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I wonder if anybody can tell me a bit more...
0:38:59 > 0:39:01..about...
0:39:02 > 0:39:04..my other brother or sister.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Hmm.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19I found out that I had not one, but two other siblings...
0:39:21 > 0:39:23..one of whom died.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Charles wants to know more about his sibling who died.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31He's agreed to meet genealogist Judy Leicester in Acton.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I hope you're Judy, otherwise I'm approaching
0:39:35 > 0:39:37- a total stranger in the street. - Indeed I am.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39- Very pleased to meet you.- And you.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44I searched for a birth registration for any other child of Walter and Louie,
0:39:44 > 0:39:48and I did find that they'd had a daughter.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- Oh, another daughter.- This document explains a little bit about her.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59Born on 13th May, 1903.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Name, if anything, Mary Rowley.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05So...little Mary Rowley.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08I think, probably, Walter moved around a lot,
0:40:08 > 0:40:10as work opportunities arose for him.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14- Yeah.- He was in a profession that was in great demand at that time.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16An electrical engineer.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19So, tell me, do you know what happened to Mary?
0:40:19 > 0:40:23I've got another document which will show you what happened to Mary.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Death in the subdistrict of Acton.
0:40:26 > 0:40:2916th July, 1908.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33At 100 Goldsmith Avenue.
0:40:34 > 0:40:39Mary Rowley Dance, female, five years old.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43Fracture of the skull?
0:40:45 > 0:40:51Caused by being accidentally struck by a scaffold pole?
0:40:54 > 0:40:55Good God!
0:40:57 > 0:40:59So what do you think happened?
0:40:59 > 0:41:03- Well, Acton was an expanding suburb at this time.- Yeah.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05There was a lot of building work going on,
0:41:05 > 0:41:11and the houses in this street had been completed by about 1907,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14but the surrounding streets would have been very much like
0:41:14 > 0:41:17- a building site.- Oh, my God, yes.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21So she might have been playing on the building site.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Yes, especially as it was the summer holidays from school.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27- Oh, yes, of course.- She could have been out playing in the street.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33But we do know that she died in the family home.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36So it's possible she was taken back to the house
0:41:36 > 0:41:39from wherever the accident happened.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43- This is Goldsmith Avenue? - Yes, just up here, these houses.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47- Number 100.- Number 100.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57So I'm trying to find number 100.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Where are we now? 84. OK.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07A few more to go.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12And 100.
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Hmm.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25She might have been playing on a building site.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Little Mary comes back here...
0:42:32 > 0:42:34..and this is where she died.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42It would be nice to know what she looked like.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45I've an image...
0:42:54 > 0:42:56..of a pretty little girl.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59I have a very pretty little girl.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03I have a very pretty bigger girl!
0:43:06 > 0:43:08And, thank God, they're all right.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12Horrible.
0:43:12 > 0:43:13Absolutely horrible.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17I don't really want to think about it, but I am thinking about it.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22It is overwhelmingly sad.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28And I don't think, as a parent...
0:43:28 > 0:43:30one would ever get over something like that.
0:43:35 > 0:43:36Evening.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49Hi, darling. Can I have a glass of pinot, I'll be over there.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52- I'll bring it over. - Thank you. Thanks.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Charles wants to know what happened to his dad after Mary died.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00He is checking the electoral register.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04Walter Dance, The Bryn, Keith Road, Hayes, Middlesex.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07So...they've moved now,
0:44:07 > 0:44:11from Goldsmith Avenue,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13to Keith Road, Middlesex.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18And they were there from 1912, 1913, 1914,
0:44:18 > 0:44:221922, 1923, '24...
0:44:23 > 0:44:28My mother did tell me that Walter and his first wife were divorced.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31But in 1924 he was still living under the same roof.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35And it's still Louie Dance and Walter Dance,
0:44:35 > 0:44:39so I assume they were still married, but their names
0:44:39 > 0:44:41do not appear after 1924.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44It seems that...
0:44:44 > 0:44:46they weren't around, not in London then.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06To discover why his dad disappeared from the records,
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Charles has enlisted the help of genealogist Laura Berry.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11Hello, Charles. Lovely to meet you.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13- And you, please.- Thank you.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20Since Walter dropped off the radar in 1924,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24I decided to have a look through newspapers and magazines,
0:45:24 > 0:45:29and I did actually find this entry in the Surveyor Magazine from 1923.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31"Appointments wanted.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34"Engineer. Electrical mechanical and construction.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37"Desirous of settling in South Africa..."
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Yeah, cos he'd been there for a while during the Boer War.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43So he's looking for a job in South Africa.
0:45:43 > 0:45:44Which was a brilliant lead,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48because I then went to have a look at some passenger lists.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50And I found this ship,
0:45:50 > 0:45:55and the date is just about a year after the advert was posted.
0:45:55 > 0:45:57The SS Baradine.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Names of passengers...
0:46:00 > 0:46:07..Dance, Walter and Mrs Louise - Louie - Dance.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11So...basically, selling up in England and going to South Africa.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Why did they decide to go out to South Africa?
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Well, Norah married a South African man.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20- Really?- Mmm.- OK.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28Charles's sister, Norah, married Hugo Hugo-Brunt in 1921.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32Walter and his first wife, Louie, moved to South Africa
0:46:32 > 0:46:34to be close to them three years later.
0:46:35 > 0:46:41So I would love it if you could shed a little more light on...
0:46:43 > 0:46:46..Walter and Louie's life after
0:46:46 > 0:46:49boarding this vessel to South Africa.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Well, having found the whole family going out to South Africa,
0:46:53 > 0:46:58I then did a trawl of the archives in South Africa,
0:46:58 > 0:47:04and discovered that Norah died in 1993, unfortunately.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Did she? Died in 1993.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Blimey!
0:47:10 > 0:47:12She was born in 1898.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14That's a pretty good innings, isn't it, really?
0:47:14 > 0:47:18Yeah. The only thing that I found was a will for Norah...
0:47:18 > 0:47:22- Yeah.- ..dated from 1993.- Right.
0:47:22 > 0:47:28She names her executor as Nonine Knox, who was her granddaughter.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31- And that would be your great-niece. - Nonine Knox.
0:47:31 > 0:47:32So my great-niece.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35I have actually managed to find an address for Nonine.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38So that's where she's living in Pretoria.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Is she really? Nonine is living in Pretoria?
0:47:41 > 0:47:47- Yes.- So, hopefully, I can find out a fair bit more.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55I didn't know anything about this whole other life in South Africa.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Now I have a great-niece in South Africa.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06Does Nonine, who I'm going to go and see...
0:48:06 > 0:48:10does she know of my relationship to Norah?
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Her grandmother?
0:48:13 > 0:48:14Does she realise that?
0:48:16 > 0:48:18The fact that I am Norah's half brother?
0:48:19 > 0:48:23We share this not that usual name, Dance.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Why no attempt has been made...
0:48:27 > 0:48:29..to get in touch with me.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34Anyway.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Maybe I'll find out.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Charles has travelled thousands of miles
0:48:41 > 0:48:44to meet his great-niece in South Africa.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47He's heading to Pretoria, where she lives.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55I hope Nonine is going to be able to tell me
0:48:55 > 0:48:59about her grandmother, my sister.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05And hopefully, a little, if not a lot more, about my father.
0:49:25 > 0:49:26You must be Nonine.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31- Pleased to meet you. - I'm very pleased to meet you too!
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Well! We've come a long way for this.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36- Can we go somewhere and talk? - Come, please.- Thank you.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Charles doesn't know if Nonine realises that he is her great-uncle.
0:49:44 > 0:49:46We've been trying to put the story together,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50not quite sure where we fit in this story.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52I was led to believe you were a cousin.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55I'll tell you, if you don't know.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Look, other than the fact that I know that your surname is Dance
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- and my grandmother's maiden name was Dance.- Indeed.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05And my boys have watched all your movies.
0:50:05 > 0:50:06- Really?- Mm-hmm.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Well, they have impeccable taste, that's all I can say.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12And your granny, that's my half sister.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14- Is that your half sister? - That's Norah.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16- That's absolutely amazing. - Yeah, yeah.
0:50:16 > 0:50:17Let's bring it in.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Nonine has a chest of memorabilia passed down to her by Norah.
0:50:24 > 0:50:29- That's Norah.- That's Norah!- I don't know her age at that photograph.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31Hello, Norah.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Norah wrote her autobiography.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38She what?! Oh-hoh!
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Well done, Norah!
0:50:41 > 0:50:43OK. Glasses.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55OK.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Norah Hugo-Brunt, chapter one.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07In her autobiography Norah writes about her and Charles's dad,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09who was one of five brothers.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15"Father used to recount that when they arrived in Broadstairs
0:51:15 > 0:51:18"the word went around, look out, the Dance Boys have arrived."
0:51:18 > 0:51:19Ha!
0:51:19 > 0:51:21"They were a gay young crowd, and in their youth
0:51:21 > 0:51:24"had the good fortune of living in a town house in London,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27"and a country house in Broadstairs, Kent,
0:51:27 > 0:51:31"where they spend most of... the summer months."
0:51:34 > 0:51:35Oh, dear.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41I don't know why this is quite so overwhelming, but it is.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48"My father had a great sense of humour." Oh, good for him!
0:51:49 > 0:51:52"Much too much sometimes when in a mischievous mood.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57"Often amongst strangers, this caused me considerable embarrassment."
0:51:57 > 0:51:59Yeah, I think I do that to my children!
0:52:02 > 0:52:04"He was a strong swimmer."
0:52:04 > 0:52:05I swim.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10"Keen shot, fisherman, tennis and cricket player and boxer.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12"In fact, one could call him a pretty good all-rounder."
0:52:12 > 0:52:16Well, you know, I wasn't great academically at school,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20but I was quite sporty, did all these things.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23"He was tall, about six feet in height,
0:52:23 > 0:52:26"broad shouldered, ruddy complexion that goes with red hair.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30"His eyes were greeny blue, and he liked to refer to his nose as Roman."
0:52:32 > 0:52:35I'm tall, I'm broad shouldered, I have a ruddy complexion.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37I used to have red hair.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39I've got a kind of Roman nose.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42"He was a lovable and a generous man,
0:52:42 > 0:52:43"and slow to anger."
0:52:43 > 0:52:45Yeah, it takes a lot to wind me up.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47I mean, really.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49For me to have a temper, somebody has to really...
0:52:51 > 0:52:54..put my nose out of joint seriously, before I lose my temper.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59"He had a weak streak, liked to be considered a ladies' man."
0:52:59 > 0:53:01I think that's a quality, not a fault!
0:53:02 > 0:53:05I think I've inherited quite a lot of that, really.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Charles wants to know about his dad's life in South Africa,
0:53:11 > 0:53:15and how he ended up returning to London and marrying his mum.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20"Father became the electrical engineer for the little town of...
0:53:20 > 0:53:23- "Humansdorp?"- That's right.
0:53:23 > 0:53:25"They adored their grandchildren."
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Hmm.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30So that's why they came out to South Africa.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33But they came back? I wonder why?
0:53:35 > 0:53:39"In 1936 I went through the agony of having to say goodbye
0:53:39 > 0:53:42"to my beloved parents.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45"Father had had a serious illness necessitating an operation...
0:53:47 > 0:53:50"I expect too, he never really got it out of his system
0:53:50 > 0:53:53"that he had fought the Boers.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56"There was only one thing to do, return to their homeland.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01"My mother died very shortly after she returned."
0:54:01 > 0:54:02Phwoar!
0:54:04 > 0:54:05That's quite something, isn't it?
0:54:05 > 0:54:09- So... They didn't divorce.- No.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14They went back to England together, and, unfortunately, she died.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Now, Walter married my mother,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22really not long after Louie died.
0:54:23 > 0:54:24So...
0:54:25 > 0:54:28I wonder if...
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Norah had a bit of a problem with that?
0:54:30 > 0:54:34- Probably did.- You know. - The time lapse was too short.
0:54:34 > 0:54:35Well, it's kind of not surprising.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40But then that's kind of explains why I don't know our relationship.
0:54:42 > 0:54:43No.
0:54:44 > 0:54:46No, well, we're starting.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48All right, this is day one.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50- Day one!- OK.- Chapter one.- Yeah.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Norah also kept albums of photographs,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56which include pictures of Charles's dad.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00- Is this the old man? - Yes, that's him.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03Wow.
0:55:03 > 0:55:061921, so he was 47 here.
0:55:06 > 0:55:08Do you see a resemblance?
0:55:08 > 0:55:11- Yes, I do.- Do you?- Yes.- OK.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13So there he is.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Pipe clamped firmly between his teeth.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19- Now I've got one more of him. - Have you? OK.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23It's hidden in the back of the book here.
0:55:27 > 0:55:28Very dapper indeed.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31Very dapper. I don't know what the occasion was.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34He's got a bit of a twinkle in his eye, hasn't he?
0:55:34 > 0:55:36- A naughty twinkle!- Oh, well...
0:55:36 > 0:55:38You say you only have one photograph of him.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Yes. Yeah.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43And it's...
0:55:43 > 0:55:45- There you go.- Oh, my God.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49Thank you very much, thank you.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51I think that's very special.
0:55:51 > 0:55:52It is.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55It is indeed.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59This is great. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01You're welcome.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05Charles, would you like to meet the rest of my family?
0:56:05 > 0:56:07Come on in.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09Hello, how do you do? What's your name?
0:56:09 > 0:56:11- Fraser.- Fraser, hi. - Nice to meet you.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15- I'm Ramsey.- Hi, Ramsey. - I'm Darren.- Hi, Darren.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18I'm your great, great-uncle, OK, take it or leave it!
0:56:19 > 0:56:22- I think I'll take it, eh? - Good! Excellent.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28There was more than an element of surprise, of course,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31to find out that I have a whole other family,
0:56:31 > 0:56:34Nonine, who I've met, and Nonine's family.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38So I have a great niece, and I have great great-nephews.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41I've made contact with them now.
0:56:41 > 0:56:42A whole other world.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Wonderful.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51The understanding that I now have of my father and his life,
0:56:51 > 0:56:53in some peculiar way...
0:56:55 > 0:56:58..has given me more of an understanding about me.
0:57:00 > 0:57:05What I feel about Walter Dance, my dad, is quite proud.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Dare I say, quite a good-looking man.
0:57:10 > 0:57:11He was well turned out.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15He was upright. He swam, he played tennis, fished.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17I kind of do all those things.
0:57:17 > 0:57:18So that's come down to me.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22It's a very revealing process.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27Overall, I think I'm pretty proud of him, actually.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31I wish I'd known him.