0:00:02 > 0:00:07- COMMENTATOR:- '320 metres to go. Warren leads for Britain, Russia second.
0:00:07 > 0:00:08'And Coe coming up!'
0:00:08 > 0:00:13Sebastian Coe was one of the most successful athletes Britain has ever produced...
0:00:13 > 0:00:17'Sebastian Coe in second place, looking very comfortable.'
0:00:17 > 0:00:22..winning silver and gold medals at the Olympics in 1980 and again in 1984.
0:00:22 > 0:00:29'And Coe gets through! And what a comeback for Sebastian Coe!'
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Today, he is better known as Chair of the 2012 Olympic Committee.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37- Hello.- Nice to meet you.
0:00:37 > 0:00:38- Good to see you.- How are you doing?
0:00:38 > 0:00:41- Are you going round the park this afternoon?- Yes.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46COE: 'My broad understanding of my family is actually quite narrow.'
0:00:46 > 0:00:50When you are buried in competition and you are focusing on, you know,
0:00:50 > 0:00:57"How do you go quicker?" - which tended to be for the first 25 years of my life.
0:00:57 > 0:01:04I suppose my natural inquisitiveness was not being remotely challenged at that time.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10Sebastian Coe was born in London in 1956, but grew up in Sheffield.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I can see a lot of massive changes.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17I'm probably at that stage of life where I'd like to know what shaped me.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Most of it has ceased to be a construction site now...
0:01:20 > 0:01:25'I mean, all families are black and white and all sorts of grades of colour in between'
0:01:25 > 0:01:29and I guess that's what I'm going to find out.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Seb wants to explore his mother's side of the family.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10His knowledge only goes back as far as his grandmother, Vera,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12who he knew when he was a child.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14The one thing I always remember about Vera,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16she was always impeccably dressed.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19She had a sort slight air of Margaret Thatcher about her,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23but with none of Margaret's political beliefs!
0:02:23 > 0:02:26She always used to talk about her family,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29that they'd all come from a long line of minor aristocracy.
0:02:29 > 0:02:34You were always left with the opinion that the background was quite grand,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38but I always sort of thought this was, you know, sort of Granny going off on one.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Both of Seb's parents are dead, and so he's on his way to see
0:02:47 > 0:02:53his cousin Anna who's researched the family history to find out more.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57I have...two photographs here of Vera.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Striking looking.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01It's very elegant, isn't it?
0:03:01 > 0:03:04- Yes.- That wonderful reflection in the mirror.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09- I know, it is.- That's probably taken during the war and that was obviously taken at the same time.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12- Yes, very elegant.- Mmmm.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14She did dance, I think, in her early years.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Yes, she did. She was a bit of a tearaway.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- Good!- But she was quite, quite the naughty girl.
0:03:20 > 0:03:26So this would have been beginning of the 1920s, so it was the Roaring '20s.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Yeah. So, what do we know about Vera's parents?
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Well, I have her birth certificate here.
0:03:32 > 0:03:39So, 1st June, 1905. Vera Frances.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Born in Bath, I didn't know that, to Edwin Swan.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49- So, Edwin was Irish? No. - Yes, part Irish.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Right. OK. Mother, Gwendoline Hyde Swan, formerly Hyde-Clarke.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56So, where did they meet?
0:03:56 > 0:04:04The story goes that she and her chaperone were walking along by the Bath canal
0:04:04 > 0:04:11and were approached by a rather tall, elegant young man with a slight Irish brogue.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- And, apparently...- Usually works! - Yes!
0:04:15 > 0:04:19And, apparently, he said, "Would you allow me to paint your portrait?".
0:04:20 > 0:04:23- Great line.- It's not bad, is it?
0:04:23 > 0:04:28- Well, she did allow him to paint her portrait.- Good girl!
0:04:28 > 0:04:31So, that is my great grandmother.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Yes. Gwendoline was from a rather well-to-do family,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41so when she met Edwin, who was a penniless portrait painter,
0:04:41 > 0:04:48it was somewhat frowned upon because they had far higher expectations.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50So, what do we know of the Hyde Clarkes?
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Well, I think originally the Hyde Clarke family were from Cheshire.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56The family seat was called Hyde Hall.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00- Oh, I've heard of Hyde Hall. - Have you?- In Cheshire. Well, Hyde!
0:05:00 > 0:05:05- Well, the town of Hyde was named after the Hyde family.- I think I had a road race in Hyde.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07- Did you? - When I was a kid, years ago, yeah.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10And here is a painting of Hyde Hall.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12Yeah, that's very... That's very...
0:05:12 > 0:05:14The landscape I remember round there.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- Mmmm.- Does it still exist?
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Er, no. I think it was demolished because they found coal seams.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22So, I'm guessing...
0:05:22 > 0:05:25I'm guessing we should probably...
0:05:25 > 0:05:28I don't know, maybe we should be going north?
0:05:28 > 0:05:31I think that's sounds like a good step.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Seb has come north to find out about the family of his great grandmother, Gwendoline.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56The Hyde Clarke connection is very interesting.
0:05:56 > 0:06:03It's a part of the world I know quite well, not a million miles from where I was brought up in Sheffield.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05I raced in and around all those towns.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10They were my sort of apprenticeship, so it'll be fascinating.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Seb is on his way to Tameside Central Library
0:06:16 > 0:06:19where he's meeting genealogist Eileen Butcher,
0:06:19 > 0:06:25who's traced the Hyde Clarkes back to the early decades of the 19th Century.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27I'm told that is Hyde Hall.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- That's very true, it is. - And that's why I'm here.
0:06:30 > 0:06:36OK. The Hyde Clarkes were a very well respected family in Hyde.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39They were the local industrialists of the time.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42This is where they lived, the Great House of the area.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43But no longer in existence?
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Unfortunately not. It was demolished in about 1857.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53- Ah, right. OK.- This is the Pigot's Directory from 1834.- OK.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59- The Directory was a trade directory, but it had a list of residents as well as tradesmen.- Right.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- And this is about Hyde Hall.- OK.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07"Hyde Hall, the seat of HJ Clarke Esq,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10"is a building of some considerable antiquity.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13"It's pleasantly situated on the River Tame,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17"but the rapid progress made in manufacturers and the introduction of machinery to a vast extent
0:07:17 > 0:07:21"and power has materially deteriorated from the beauties of the adjacent scenery".
0:07:21 > 0:07:24- OK.- Yeah.- Industrialisation.- Indeed.
0:07:24 > 0:07:31That's right, yeah. Now, HJ Clarke is Hyde John Clarke, and he's your great great great great grandfather.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37- OK.- He's in full Naval uniform as he was a retired Captain in the Navy.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39- Those epaulettes! - He was actually Commander.- Yes.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42That's actually a powerful painting.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Yeah. Someone to be reckoned with, perhaps.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49- Yes.- And I've managed to source an original newspaper of his obituary in 1857.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Oh, my goodness!
0:07:52 > 0:07:54- Yes, OK.- Now, then.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And this is the Hyde and Glossop Weekly News.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58OK.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01"Captain Clarke, RN.
0:08:01 > 0:08:06"In our last week's paper we briefly noticed the sudden death of Hyde John Clarke, Esq.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12"Mr Clarke entered the Navy on the 29th June, 1791, as Captain Servant,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14"Not a menial office.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20"During the latter years of his life, Captain Clarke was not satisfied with doing nothing..."!
0:08:20 > 0:08:25I can imagine that. "And, although advanced in years, he set about carrying on that good work which
0:08:25 > 0:08:29"he had always kept in view, viz, to live for the benefit of the poor.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33"It was chiefly through the exertions of Captain Clarke the noble edifice
0:08:33 > 0:08:36"of St George's Church was erected at the time it was.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40"Captain Clarke has passed from amongst us, but the church
0:08:40 > 0:08:45"still remains a credit to the town and a lasting memorial of the man".
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Goodness!
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I mean, this is public service in its...
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Exactly. Exactly.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54A classic example of public service.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- Yeah, that's right. And for no gain for himself.- Mmm.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Just for the poor of the town.
0:09:03 > 0:09:10Though Hyde Hall no longer exists, St George's Church still stands in the town of Hyde.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19When Captain Clarke was living at the nearby family estate,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24he recognised the need for a church in the rapidly expanding industrial community
0:09:24 > 0:09:29and set about securing funding from Parliament and public subscription.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Work on the church began in 1831.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Wonderful piece of architecture.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43It certainly doesn't lack confidence, does it?
0:09:43 > 0:09:46This is very, very familiar to me.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49My house in Sheffield was made of this stone.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54It's the stone of the landscape that I ran through.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59I did all my training in the Peak District, 30 miles away from here.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09And this is in memory of my grandfather
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Hyde John Clarke Esq, formerly of Hyde Hall, afterwards, Llangollen. Yes.
0:10:13 > 0:10:19"In the various relations of life he was eminent alike for his private virtues and his public services.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24"Now he rests from his labours and his works do follow him".
0:10:24 > 0:10:27That's quite a tribute.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35Well, I think that would do for me!
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Yeah, that's as good as it gets.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Hyde John Clarke is clearly a man of real substance.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49I've always naturally been drawn to people who have contributed
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and I think that's clearly what I sense in this guy.
0:10:52 > 0:10:57I'm also acutely conscious that when I was trying to figure out
0:10:57 > 0:11:02how to run a little bit faster all the time,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I was probably zoning out of conversations I shouldn't have been zoning out of,
0:11:06 > 0:11:12particularly with my grandmother, who, by the minute, appears to be less delusional.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Seb knows Hyde John died in 1857.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24He's searching the census for details of his birth.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Hyde John.
0:11:26 > 0:11:33Bet you never thought I'd be finding out more about you on something as devilish as this kind of machine!
0:11:33 > 0:11:35OK.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38Ah, OK.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41Bingo!
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Hyde John Clarke, head of the family.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Born 1778.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Captain, Royal Navy, we know.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Where born?
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Jamaica!
0:11:56 > 0:12:01So, Hyde John Clarke is born in Jamaica.
0:12:04 > 0:12:05Right.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Very interesting.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Well, I guess I know where we're going!
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Why Jamaica?
0:12:16 > 0:12:21There may be a military posting, not unthinkable. More likely trade.
0:12:21 > 0:12:28And if we're talking trade then we're probably talking coffee...
0:12:28 > 0:12:29and slavery.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Seb has discovered details of his great great great great grandfather
0:12:37 > 0:12:43Hyde John Clarke, who he now knows was born about 1778 in Jamaica.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Seb has travelled to Kingston, Jamaica.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03He wants to find out why Hyde John was born on the island and what his family was doing there.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I've been to Jamaica a few times.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Jamaica, of course for me, it's the powerhouse of world athletics.
0:13:18 > 0:13:24My whole career has been surrounded by extraordinary Jamaican athletes.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30But I guess I'm going to find deeper and maybe less attractive roots.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39In the mid 17th Century Britain was rapidly expanding the reach of its Empire,
0:13:39 > 0:13:45and in 1655 seized the Caribbean island of Jamaica from the Spanish.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48For the next three centuries the small island
0:13:48 > 0:13:51remained a part of the British Empire.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57Seb has come to Registrar General's Department in Spanish Town.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01He's meeting genealogist Dianne Frankson.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08- Well, Dianne, I've brought this photograph.- Oh!
0:14:08 > 0:14:12Well, it's a photograph of a painting, and that is Hyde John Clarke.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14A very dignified man.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Yeah, I thought so. I thought so.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- Well, I did some further research on your behalf.- I bet you did.
0:14:20 > 0:14:27- And I found...Hyde John Clarke's... - Guess I'm going to need my glasses for this, aren't I?
0:14:27 > 0:14:32..baptism record in the Trelawny Copy Register.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Trelawny. That's where Usain Bolt was born.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Yes, it is, actually, yeah.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41And, so we look down.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Right, OK.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50- Ah, bingo!- Ah-ha!- I'm not supposed to touch this, am I?
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I'm really supposed to have my gloves on. I guess we should...
0:14:53 > 0:14:59- Well, yes, we should.- December 15th. - Mm-hm.- 1777.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Hyde John Clarke.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05- OK, is that when it was regis...? - This is when he was baptised.
0:15:05 > 0:15:12- Oh, he was baptised, so, October 31 he was born, in 1777.- Mm-hm.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14You might have to help me here. What's that?
0:15:17 > 0:15:18What's that say?
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Illegitimate.
0:15:22 > 0:15:31- Illegitimate?- Illegitimate son of G Hyde Clarke and Sophia Astley.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Illegitimate son of G Hyde Clarke.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37- OK.- And Sophia Astley.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40- And Sophia Astley.- Yes.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Illegitimate.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Well, this is taking an interesting turn.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Right. Curiouser and curiouser.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55This is actually George Hyde Clarke.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00- A very strong...- So, this is Hyde John's father?- Father.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01So, let's have a quick look.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Ah, the nose.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11- Yeah, maybe, but... - There's a slight hump on the nose.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Yes, well, that has always run through my family!
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Interesting. Yes, you have one! Oh, yes! Oh, dear Lord!
0:16:19 > 0:16:22That's a very strong feature!
0:16:22 > 0:16:26But you can see that he's a very handsome man, which would explain
0:16:26 > 0:16:31Sophia's falling in love with him, because this is a very handsome man.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35- I'm guessing we don't know what Sophia looked like?- No. Sadly, no.
0:16:35 > 0:16:41So, I guess I really ought to ask you what we know about George Hyde Clarke?
0:16:41 > 0:16:45- Well, George...- George. That's a good start.
0:16:45 > 0:16:53Yes. George, at the time period in the 1700s was involved in
0:16:53 > 0:16:57- the production of sugar cane and the manufacture of sugar.- Yeah.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01He was very likely a wealthy man.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05This, we're talking about, is when sugar was king.
0:17:05 > 0:17:11- Yep.- We're talking the pinnacle of sugar production in Jamaica.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13We're talking the pinnacle of Jamaican wealth.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18Planters had significantly more wealth
0:17:18 > 0:17:23than the nobility and the royal family at the time.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28So, this is a man that ruled his world.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31So, what do we know about Sophia Astley?
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Sophia Astley was a young beauty from Cheshire
0:17:35 > 0:17:41and she was the daughter of John Astley, who was at the time a very famous portrait painter.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44They seem to have sparked a romance.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49- Clearly.- And they ended up coming to Jamaica, because you can see
0:17:49 > 0:17:55in 1777 they're clearly here and he's having a son with her.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58But this must have been seriously disapproved of?
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Well, yes, because you're talking about people
0:18:02 > 0:18:09who were of a certain class, and it was not really commonplace,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13especially women of a certain class, to have children out of wedlock.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17This is actually the will of John Astley.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18- Right.- Which is Sophia's father.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20- Right.- Read this.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23- "And I give..."- Devise.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24"devise and..."
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- Bequeath.- "..and bequeath
0:18:27 > 0:18:34"unto my said daughter, Sophia Astley, our..."
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Well, this is a little difficult to read.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42I actually transcribed it for you in modern.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Ah, good. OK.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49"I give, devise and bequeath unto my said daughter, Sophia Astley,
0:18:49 > 0:18:55"one annuity or yearly rent in charge of £100 for her life." That's...
0:18:55 > 0:18:57- That's good money. - Not insignificant then.- No.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03"And I do hereby expressly declare my will and mind to be that in case and during all such time
0:19:03 > 0:19:10"as the said Sophie Astley shall at any time live or cohabit with that execrable villain
0:19:10 > 0:19:12"George Hyde Clarke... "!
0:19:12 > 0:19:16That happens to be my great great great great great grandfather! Good!
0:19:16 > 0:19:21"..on the island of Jamaica or shall have any manner of criminal
0:19:21 > 0:19:24"intercourse, connections or dealings with him in any respect whatsoever..."
0:19:24 > 0:19:30I think we can conclude that he was not a happy man at this stage of his life.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34"Execrable villain" - that is a badge of honour, believe me!
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- Oh, yes.- Right, OK.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43You can feel the vitriol and bile coming through the legalese there.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47He blamed the entire relationship on George.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Yeah. Yeah. OK.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Thank you.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07Seb wants to find out where George Hyde Clarke lived and whether he was a sugar plantation owner.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15He's come to the Jamaica Archives to search the property records of the island.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18Thanks very much.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Jamaica Almanac.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Elevation of the Sun in March.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Jewish calendar.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31Everything you would expect in an almanac.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Parish of Trelawny.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34So H...
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Going back... G, C, C, C, C, Clarke!
0:20:38 > 0:20:40Clarke. George Hyde Clarke.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Swanswick.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Right. We're absolutely...
0:20:45 > 0:20:46on the money.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Slaves, 297.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52The statistics,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55bleak as they are in terms of the number of slaves,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57tells you that this was substantial.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02This was not, you know, this was not a smallholding.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15To find out more about his ancestor's life as a plantation owner, Seb has to travel four hours
0:21:15 > 0:21:22across the island to the Parish of Trelawny, where George Hyde Clarke owned Swanswick Plantation.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Well, I need to find out a lot more about George Hyde Clarke.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44For a woman to have followed a man at that time to Jamaica,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47under any circumstances,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51this must have been a powerful affection to have upped sticks like that
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and decided to sail halfway, or a good third of the way, round the world.
0:21:55 > 0:22:01So, I recognise in George Hyde Clarke somebody who, probably,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04was not that bothered about the orthodoxies of the day.
0:22:04 > 0:22:11We can conclude that he is probably on the racier side of life.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17But I'm not sure that I'm yet prepared to concede the "execrable villain".
0:22:21 > 0:22:28When George was living the life of a wealthy sugar planter in Jamaica, the industry was at its height.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Britain had developed an insatiable sweet tooth
0:22:31 > 0:22:34and plantations and sugar mills were spread across the island.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48Though Swanswick no longer exists as a plantation, the Great House,
0:22:48 > 0:22:53which has been rebuilt over the years, still remains.
0:22:57 > 0:23:04I suppose it's now just beginning to dawn on me that I'm walking on a drive
0:23:04 > 0:23:07that the directest of ancestors
0:23:07 > 0:23:13would have gone about their daily lives three centuries ago.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17That's a rather big thought.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19Clearly seen better days.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27Seb has arranged to meet Dr Jonathan Greenland of the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.
0:23:27 > 0:23:34So, George Hyde Clarke lived here and I'd like you to tell me more.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Your ancestor George Hyde Clarke was a member of the Jamaican plantocracy.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43They basically owned most of the land in Jamaica and this is what it was all about, Seb, really.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46This is why your ancestors were here.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51Sugar cane. Here it's sort of a brown colour, but when it's refined it becomes white.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53That's why it's often called 'white gold'.
0:23:53 > 0:24:01But sugar was definitely the cash crop. It had enormous implications for England and for the wider world.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05And it made enormous fortunes for those people who are producing it.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10This revenue, they can either invest here, in creating very large
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Great Houses for themselves, or they could send the money back, and this what usually happened.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18And it's that money which was going back into their estates,
0:24:18 > 0:24:24sometimes their estates, sometimes into race horses and gambling and drinking, which was...
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Or into properties like that. - Exactly.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30But also, importantly, a lot of the money which was being made
0:24:30 > 0:24:34through the slave trade and also the sugar industry
0:24:34 > 0:24:39was going back into the emerging industries back in England.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42It wasn't just men like George
0:24:42 > 0:24:46who profited from Britain's new sweet tooth.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53During the sugar boom of the 18th century, Britain flourished,
0:24:53 > 0:24:58helped by profits from the plantation economy and the slave trade.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03Many of the country's great cities and mansions benefited from this new wealth.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Money poured into Manchester's factories and cotton mills
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and funded the development of new technologies, like the steam engine.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20The island of Jamaica, the British Empire's most valuable asset,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24was supporting the growth of modern Britain.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29So, we have George. He arrives here with Sophia.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33Would they have done any physical work themselves here?
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I doubt it. I mean, most of these estates were sort of self working.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42I mean, they would have had a manager or overseer here, who would have lived in this house, possibly.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Who was doing all the work?
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Enslaved African labour bought from Falmouth and places like this,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51or from African Jamaicans born on the estate, born into slavery.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55So your ancestor would have probably turned up every now and then
0:25:55 > 0:26:00with his horse and his carriage and took a look at things to make sure everything was running well.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05But coming to the estates must have brought them face to face with quite a lot of harsh realities.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10I imagine they may have spent a good amount of time socialising with other people like themselves.
0:26:15 > 0:26:23While the work on the plantations was done by enslaved Africans, the owners lived dissolute lives.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26Away from the social constraints of England, they could spend their days
0:26:26 > 0:26:32and nights drinking, gambling and womanising.
0:26:33 > 0:26:40It was into this decadent world that George Hyde Clarke brought his mistress, Sophia Astley.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Seb and Jonathan have come to a nearby former plantation house
0:26:48 > 0:26:51which has been restored to its past glories.
0:26:51 > 0:26:56When your ancestor was in his relationship with Sophia, he was also married?
0:26:56 > 0:27:00He was married to Catherine Hussey, who bore two children to him
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and he was married probably in the 1760s.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06So, presumably,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11George met Sophia for the famous,
0:27:11 > 0:27:13now scandalous, relationship
0:27:13 > 0:27:18in England. She joined him over here,
0:27:18 > 0:27:22but George was already married with two children.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Exactly. We know that all of them were here around the same time.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30I think this document may be of interest to you.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33This is the last will and testament of George Hyde's uncle.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35I mean, this is actually quite hard to read.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37We have a transcription of it.
0:27:37 > 0:27:38"I give to my son..." Unhappy?
0:27:38 > 0:27:40- Poor...- "Poor unhappy..."
0:27:40 > 0:27:45"I give to my poor, unhappy and much injured niece,
0:27:45 > 0:27:52"Miss Catherine Clarke, nee Hussey, wife of my profligate abandoned nephew George Hyde Clarke..."
0:27:52 > 0:27:57George does quite well in wills! He's...
0:27:57 > 0:28:03The uncle left her £300 to enable her to come to England to see her children.
0:28:03 > 0:28:09I think we can safely say George is now a repeat offender here!
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The press is not good, is it?
0:28:13 > 0:28:20In 1793, when George was 50 years old, his wife, Catherine Hussey, with whom he'd had
0:28:20 > 0:28:27two legitimate children, took the unusual step of filing for a formal deed of separation,
0:28:27 > 0:28:33which granted her an annual income of £700, plus profits from the sugar plantation.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38They had been married for more than 20 years.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46Now, as for your direct ancestor, Sophia, what happened to her?
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Did it all end up happily ever after with them living in a cottage?
0:28:49 > 0:28:55I have to assume that, given what we already know about George, the answer is probably no, it didn't end up
0:28:55 > 0:29:00happily ever after in a cottage looking over at the beautiful views together.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04Well, let's see. This is a marriage certificate, 1792.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- Ah, she did get her man, but not George.- Right.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13Mr Louis Foncier, bachelor, and Sophia Astley of the same parish.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17- And they were married in London! - Exactly.- Marylebone.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23So, for Sophia, this unmarried woman with two illegitimate children...
0:29:23 > 0:29:28- Two? So, Hyde John had... - A brother.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30A brother!
0:29:32 > 0:29:35This was probably her last chance at respectability.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37I mean, obviously, an unmarried mother
0:29:37 > 0:29:42was not considered to be totally respectable,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46so this was really a very important thing for Sophia.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Right. OK.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56Of course, what I don't know is when George arrived in Jamaica.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59I don't know yet whether he came direct from England.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03This is the parish records from Westmoreland, which is another Parish in Jamaica.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Now if you scan down here...
0:30:06 > 0:30:09I'm now getting quite familiar with old script!
0:30:09 > 0:30:10Do you see this name here?
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Yep, George.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17- Hide.- Yes. It is George Hide, but spelt without the 'y'.
0:30:17 > 0:30:25- George Hide, son of Major Edward Clarke, baptised March...- 17th.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28March 17th, 1743.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33So, I'm guessing born a couple of months earlier than that.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38I think what this does tell you is that George Hyde was Jamaican.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41- Right.- He wasn't coming from England into the situation.- He was here.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44- He was born into the plantocracy. - Right.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48So we're now going back another generation that had been here.
0:30:57 > 0:31:03Well, there's clearly a lot to absorb about George.
0:31:03 > 0:31:09You can place him very much as a man of his time and plantation life in Jamaica.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16But there is an uncomfortable elephant in the room, which is inescapable.
0:31:16 > 0:31:22Because every time we look at the plantation ownership
0:31:22 > 0:31:23there are slaves.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26This was a forced labour force.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32The lavish and indulgent lifestyle enjoyed by men like
0:31:32 > 0:31:39George Hyde Clarke was underpinned by an industry that was to shape the development of the modern world.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45The trade and exploitation of enslaved Africans.
0:31:55 > 0:32:01Seb wants to know what it would have meant to be a slave on his ancestor's plantation.
0:32:10 > 0:32:16He's meeting historian Dr Aleric Josephs, a specialist in 18th century Caribbean society.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19There is a human story here.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Yes, there is one.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26It was typical of the Caribbean, English speaking Caribbean,
0:32:26 > 0:32:28French Caribbean, and all the Caribbean areas
0:32:28 > 0:32:32to have what we now refer to as a slave society.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36Slave labour was considered the best labour
0:32:36 > 0:32:43because of the availability of a large number of enslaved persons to work the plantation.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49And when you look on any estate inventory you come to understand the value of slave labour.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54This was the most costly part of producing sugar.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57George Hyde Clarke was a typical planter.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01He could not have carried out his economic activities without them.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04And if you look at, for instance, this inventory
0:33:04 > 0:33:08you can see the different types of slaves, how they were used.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13So, this is Swanswick? This is the inventory?
0:33:13 > 0:33:17- Yes, this is the inventory for Swanswick.- Meticulous detail.
0:33:17 > 0:33:23So look, we have a Newton, 60 years of age,
0:33:23 > 0:33:27- value 60, and we guess pounds.- Yes. - And...
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Let's compare him with, say, Boyle.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32His value.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36- 90.- And he's 40 years. He's younger, so he's more expensive.
0:33:36 > 0:33:41- So he's...- It's relative to his age. - Yeah. And there's more productivity.
0:33:41 > 0:33:42Yes. That could be the case.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47So, actually, if you move on you've got a 13 year old here.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51- Yes.- Hector.- Ready for work. - Ready for work.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54- And he has a value of 50. - Yes. He's young.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58- Yeah.- The slave was property, it was a commodity.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02The slave was classed just like any other estate stock,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05mules, cattle.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17At the time this Swanswick inventory was written in 1768 the slaves on the estate
0:34:17 > 0:34:23were valued at over £10,000, nearly £700,000 in today's money.
0:34:27 > 0:34:33Plantation owners could purchase new slaves in local slave markets.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38Here, traders could offload their cargoes of enslaved Africans,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42who would then be sold in lots to the highest bidder.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Once on the plantation, some slaves were treated well.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53But the work was brutal and violence was common.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Punishments included lashing with a whip,
0:35:00 > 0:35:06flogging with a stick, chaining in manacles, mutilation,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09and even castration and blinding.
0:35:09 > 0:35:15Women could add sexual abuse and rape to the ill treatment they may have had to endure.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22But despite the horror many people faced, benevolent relationships
0:35:22 > 0:35:27could be formed between the ruling class and the African Caribbeans.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Plantation society was built on contradictions.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37These contradictions seemed to be played out in the life of George Hyde Clarke.
0:35:37 > 0:35:42Some planters would have a wife to fit the English norm.
0:35:42 > 0:35:49They would have coloured mistress likely and...
0:35:49 > 0:35:53And that would have been from the plantation household more likely?
0:35:53 > 0:35:58In some instances, this woman might never have been enslaved.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03George Hyde Clarke, based on his will, seemed to have a coloured mistress by the name...
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Well, I'm not smiling at the circumstances, I am smiling at
0:36:07 > 0:36:10the nature of looking yet again at a will, because this is the third will.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16- OK.- The first will was by the father of Sophia Astley,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18who was his mistress.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Then there was the will of an uncle
0:36:21 > 0:36:28who was making provision for George's wife, Catherine Hussey.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32Those two wills were not really PR made in heaven for George.
0:36:32 > 0:36:38In his will he indicated that there was this other woman in his life - not the two you mentioned earlier -
0:36:39 > 0:36:43- in his life.- Yeah. This was a full time occupation for George!
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Well, he was a typical West Indian man, white man, I should say.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49Yes, I think you do need to say that.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54Right, so, bequeathed unto Sarah Lee.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56So, Sarah Lee is a new name.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00- Yes.- And Sarah Lee is clearly, and as you've said, the other woman,
0:37:00 > 0:37:03or the other, other, other woman!
0:37:03 > 0:37:05- Well, it's difficult to read.- It is.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09It's the handwriting from the 19th century, so let me show you a typed script.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14OK. "I give and bequeath unto Sarah Lee, now residing with me, all my
0:37:14 > 0:37:19"household furniture and household table and bed linen and every other kind of property except money
0:37:19 > 0:37:23"and securities, for money and except books, bookcases, the chair..."
0:37:23 > 0:37:25He's really gone into detail here.
0:37:25 > 0:37:30"And if I shall survive the said Sarah Lee, let I give and bequeath
0:37:30 > 0:37:34"every matter and thing herein before given to her to my reputed natural daughter,
0:37:34 > 0:37:39"Elizabeth Lee Clarke, by the said Sarah Lee
0:37:39 > 0:37:43"who is now between 14 and 15 years of age".
0:37:43 > 0:37:49- So, Elizabeth Lee is the daughter of Sarah Lee.- Yes.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53The product of the relationship with George Hyde Clarke.
0:37:53 > 0:38:01This is, at the very least, the third recorded illegitimate child.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Well, as I said earlier, he was typical.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08He was typical of having this mistress and...
0:38:08 > 0:38:11He's still not coming out of this as an Eton chorister, though.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14I'm not trying to make his image clean.
0:38:14 > 0:38:20I'm just saying that he was like so many other planters.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25The better planters made provision for those children
0:38:25 > 0:38:27because it would not have been easy...
0:38:27 > 0:38:29So the best we can say is at least he's making provision.
0:38:29 > 0:38:33- He's making provision, yes. - And quite substantial provision, too. - Yes.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44Records show that George became involved in a relationship with Sarah Lee,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48a mulatto or mixed race woman, who it's likely he met in Jamaica.
0:38:48 > 0:38:54In his will, he states that Sarah was living with him at Hyde Hall in Cheshire.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01He'd fathered their daughter, Elizabeth, when he was 65 years old,
0:39:01 > 0:39:0615 years after his separation from his wife, Catherine Hussey.
0:39:17 > 0:39:24I can't go that far at the moment and say that I like George.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32There are odd contradictions because with the horror
0:39:32 > 0:39:35of all that went with enslaved labour
0:39:35 > 0:39:40and clearly the brutality of the everyday existence
0:39:40 > 0:39:42on those plantations,
0:39:42 > 0:39:46you occasionally got glimpses of redemptive features.
0:39:46 > 0:39:52The way he made provision for Sarah Lee and her child, their child.
0:39:52 > 0:39:59But you also recognise a man in a setting where there is little or no moral compass.
0:40:02 > 0:40:08How would I feel if I were living on the inherited wealth of the sugar industry?
0:40:08 > 0:40:15It's an easy answer actually, of course, because I know I'm not, and that's a bit of a cop out, I suppose.
0:40:15 > 0:40:21But, no, I don't think I would be that comfortable if I knew that that was the basis
0:40:21 > 0:40:24of the wealth accretion,
0:40:24 > 0:40:28and was impacting upon my current circumstances.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Mercifully, it's not. I don't have to enter that moral maze.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39George's will reveals that he had at least six illegitimate children
0:40:39 > 0:40:45with four different women, in addition to his two legitimate sons.
0:40:45 > 0:40:51George Hyde Clarke died at the age of 81 in 1824,
0:40:51 > 0:40:56ten years before slavery was abolished in Jamaica.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Seb knows from the baptism record that George Hyde Clarke
0:41:06 > 0:41:11was born in Jamaica in 1743,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13the son of Major Edward Clarke.
0:41:20 > 0:41:27But what he still doesn't know is how his family came to be in Jamaica running a sugar plantation.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34- James!- How do you do?
0:41:34 > 0:41:37He's meeting historian Dr James Robertson
0:41:37 > 0:41:42at the former colonial garrison Fort Charles, outside Kingston.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48- Well, James, what I know is that George Hyde Clarke was born in Jamaica and lived here.- Mm-hm.
0:41:48 > 0:41:55His baptism record reveals that his father was Major Edward Clarke,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58and that is as far as my trail leads.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02I can take you one stage further back.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05I have a portrait of Major Edward.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11- Ah!- I'm not sure about the uniforms, but clearly a spiffy red coat.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14What is so remarkable about this is, we've got the portrait record,
0:42:14 > 0:42:19son, father and grandfather, just, you know, there they are.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22You are atypical in that. There's few families that can do it.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26This is not a nice island for paintings.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29What the hurricanes and the fires miss, the beetles eat.
0:42:29 > 0:42:37- So, when did Edward actually arrive in Jamaica?- Plus or minus, early 1740.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42He's here with colonial regiments that are out in the West Indies from the North American colonies.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46- And he meets his wife here? - Almost certainly.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51She's a widow from Westmoreland, which is the far west of the colony.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54- It's next to Trelawny. - Next to Trelawny.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57As an officer, he'd have far more of a social life.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59He can come ashore, he can to Kingston, he can probably go to
0:42:59 > 0:43:04Spanish Town, which is where there's a social network, a social season.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08In Spanish Town you have banquets, you have taverns,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12there's dances, there's certainly the races
0:43:12 > 0:43:17and, there, a Westmoreland widow is actually quite tasty.
0:43:17 > 0:43:23Major Edward Clarke's marriage to Elizabeth Guthrie, the widow of a plantation owner introduced
0:43:23 > 0:43:29the Clarke family into the profitable world of sugar production and the plantation lifestyle.
0:43:31 > 0:43:39When they met in the early 1740s Edward Clarke was serving with the North American Colonial Regiments,
0:43:39 > 0:43:46which were fighting alongside the British in a campaign against the Spanish in the Caribbean.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48So, Edward came down from America?
0:43:48 > 0:43:52- Yes.- What on Earth is he doing serving in an American regiment?
0:43:52 > 0:43:55He's born in America. He's born in New York.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00He's born in New York when it is a British colony.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04And the next stage is an older genealogical text,
0:44:04 > 0:44:10the History of the Commoners, and it gives you who his dad is.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Edward Clarke, yes.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Marries Elizabeth Guthrie.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18And then you go back...
0:44:18 > 0:44:23Espoused George Clarke Esq, who was the Lieutenant Governor of
0:44:23 > 0:44:29the Province of New York, son of George Clarke Esq of Swanswick in Somersetshire.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32So Swanswick in Trelawny...
0:44:32 > 0:44:35So there is a Swanswick, Somerset?
0:44:35 > 0:44:40Yes. He's playing himself as English in the choice of name, rather than using a colonial name.
0:44:40 > 0:44:46So, Edward's father is Lieutenant Governor of the Province of New York.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50It's odd. As with most things on this journey, this has been an extraordinary story and things
0:44:50 > 0:44:54have come out of left field rather quickly actually on occasions.
0:44:54 > 0:45:00So, I don't quite know how to react to this, but, I thank you all the same!
0:45:00 > 0:45:05You've posed probably as many questions as you've answered, but thank you.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08That's, I suppose, the great thing about history.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12That's what happens when you get stuck with an academic!
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Seb has traced his family back to his seven times great grandfather,
0:45:17 > 0:45:18George Clark,
0:45:18 > 0:45:23who was Lieutenant Governor of New York in the 18th century.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31To find out more about his illustrious ancestor,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Seb is heading to New York City.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54It's exciting to have one set of grandparents born in Jamaica.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58You find the next one up the tree is born in America.
0:45:58 > 0:46:04And then to find out that his father was Lieutenant Governor of this city!
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Yeah, this is an interesting family. I'd like to find out why he was here,
0:46:08 > 0:46:10what his background was.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14Was it military, was it political, was it patronage?
0:46:14 > 0:46:19Probably a mixture of all three. And I'd like to understand the time leading up to massive change
0:46:19 > 0:46:24in this country, because this was really in the infancy of this extraordinary city.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37In the early 18th century, the state of New York was part of Britain's North American colonies.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43George Clarke arrived in New York from England
0:46:43 > 0:46:48and in 1736 was appointed to the position of Lieutenant Governor.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56At the time of his appointment, New York City was a small settlement,
0:46:56 > 0:47:03barely a few miles square, on the southern tip of what we know today as Manhattan.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06There was little in the way of important trade or commerce,
0:47:06 > 0:47:11and in the late 1730s a population of less than 11,000 people.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18Seb is on his way to meet historian Professor Graham Hodges.
0:47:22 > 0:47:29This is your great grandfather seven times over, Lieutenant Governor George Clarke.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32It's amazing that, yet again we have another portrait.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36He becomes Lieutenant Governor and it's a culmination of a lifetime
0:47:36 > 0:47:41of hard work, tough politicking in New York colony.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45New York at this time is not the great metropolis by a long shot.
0:47:45 > 0:47:52It's a town where the air is redolent with horses, pigs run everywhere, chickens, too.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54There are people who have farms in the backyard.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57There have been smallpox epidemics.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00There had been a series of very tough winters,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04and it was not a good place to be in the summertime.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06It was fetid, frankly.
0:48:06 > 0:48:14So, he's in charge of a colony which is small, not that prosperous, but very, very promising.
0:48:14 > 0:48:18And your ancestor is engaged in one of the most significant events
0:48:18 > 0:48:24of the Colonial period, the event known as The Negro Uprising of 1741.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29I have here a document which is a report that he made back to
0:48:29 > 0:48:33- the Board of Trade, and I'd like you to look at it.- The Board of Trade in London?
0:48:33 > 0:48:35Yeah. It's quite extraordinary.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I think you'll find quite a bit revealed there.
0:48:37 > 0:48:44"The fatal fires that consume the buildings and the fort did not happen by accident,
0:48:44 > 0:48:46"as I first apprehended,
0:48:46 > 0:48:51"but was kindled by design in the execution of a horrid conspiracy
0:48:51 > 0:48:58"to burn it and the whole town and to massacre the people.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01"How many conspirators there were we do not yet know.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03"Every day produces new discoveries".
0:49:03 > 0:49:09- And what, in essence, does that mean? - In March of 1741 there are a series of fires.
0:49:09 > 0:49:15One of them destroys Fort George, where Clarke was living when he was in town.
0:49:15 > 0:49:21Two black men were apprehended and asked about what was going on.
0:49:21 > 0:49:28Eventually, they confessed that, not only were they trying to burn down the fort,
0:49:28 > 0:49:34but also to burn down the entire city, killing as many white people as possible,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38with the enslaved people then taking roles as the leaders.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44In 1741 New York's economy was in trouble.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Unemployment was rising and money was scarce.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52As in Britain's other colonies in North America, the owning of
0:49:52 > 0:49:57slaves from Africa and the Caribbean was part of daily life.
0:49:57 > 0:50:04But as the recession deepened, it was these enslaved people who suffered the most.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09Slavery is part of the economy and the society.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13The slaves lived with you, you knew them for a long time.
0:50:13 > 0:50:18Servitude is the condition for about 20% of the population.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20And they're not all that happy about it,
0:50:20 > 0:50:24and were looking for the best opportunity which would gain their freedom.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26- An inexorable move for freedom. - Absolutely.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29And if they had to do it violently, they were going to do it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32So, Clarke is right in the middle of this.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36He's the Crown Governor, so he has to find out what happens in this conspiracy
0:50:36 > 0:50:41through whatever means, then he has to prosecute
0:50:41 > 0:50:48the people who are involved and, ultimately, to find a way to end it.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53Over the next few weeks, further arson attacks panicked the city.
0:50:53 > 0:50:59As the Crown representative, Clarke had to calm the fearful population.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03New York's future as a colony was in the balance.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08Arrests were quickly made and, within weeks,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12the first public executions of alleged conspirators took place.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Does this immediately calm the situation?
0:51:18 > 0:51:22No. The situation remains volatile.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24The trials were ongoing.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28There are more and more exposure of their plans.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31More connections are being made.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35People are more and more scared.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40Executions were continuing on and there are a lot of people thrown in jail.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45So, Clarke, as a Crown official, felt it was important to try to end it.
0:51:45 > 0:51:51At this point, more than 25 have already been executed,
0:51:51 > 0:51:53so the blood has run through the streets of the city.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55It's a pretty terrible time.
0:51:55 > 0:52:03Clarke had hoped that the swift punishment of the conspirators would be enough to quell the uprising.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05But this strategy failed.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10So, Clarke offers rewards to whites.
0:52:10 > 0:52:16He offers emancipation to enslaved people who would come forth, with also a cash bounty.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19They were really buying their way out of this.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Yes. They were very, very anxious about this.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27And so, for him to make an open call like this, is extraordinary.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31I mean, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for any enslaved person.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36And the £100 is more than double,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40maybe triple the annual wage of any skilled artisan.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44So, again, this is a pot of gold which has being promised,
0:52:44 > 0:52:49but the results are really quite extraordinary.
0:52:49 > 0:52:55It was only with the offer of inducements that Clarke gained control of the situation.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00In response to the offer, hundreds of informants came forward to incriminate others.
0:53:02 > 0:53:08By the end of August 1741, nearly six months after the first fire,
0:53:08 > 0:53:12the alleged leaders of the conspiracy had been caught and executed.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19With the ringleaders dealt with, the tensions in the city receded.
0:53:19 > 0:53:25Through the use of force, and Lieutenant Governor Clarke's shrewd tactics,
0:53:25 > 0:53:29the end of the so-called Negro Uprising was brought about.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33Clarke had helped to safeguard New York's future.
0:53:36 > 0:53:41He did what he felt was absolutely necessary within the political context...
0:53:41 > 0:53:44- To fulfil his remit. - To fulfil his agreement,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47and also simply the security of the colony,
0:53:47 > 0:53:49because that was very much under question.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53Is there any evidence of George anywhere, bricks and mortar?
0:53:53 > 0:53:55Archives?
0:53:55 > 0:53:58There is a very nice memorial.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01A family estate in upstate New York
0:54:01 > 0:54:06called Hyde Hall and I suggest that you go there.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10I'll take your advice.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12I think you'll be rewarded if you do.
0:54:14 > 0:54:22In 1745 George Clarke retired to England. He was 69 years old.
0:54:22 > 0:54:29In the years that followed, his descendants continued to prosper in the province of New York.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38Before returning to England, Seb wants to see the family estate.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42He's on his way to upstate New York where Hyde Hall is situated.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48This is great today because I know America pretty well, but I've never been upstate New York.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51I've no idea what I'm going to find when I get here.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54I had little or no idea
0:54:54 > 0:54:57what I was going to find when I arrived in Jamaica.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01But at each stage the matter of fact script
0:55:01 > 0:55:06on a birth certificate or a record of baptism or a will
0:55:06 > 0:55:12has led and unravelled the most extraordinary personal stories here
0:55:12 > 0:55:19in parts of the world that I had no recognition or understanding at all that I had any attachment to.
0:55:19 > 0:55:24Coming towards the close of this journey, I didn't think that I would find bricks and mortar.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41Oh, what a beautiful building.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44Absolutely stunning.
0:55:51 > 0:55:53Well, I've finally found Hyde Hall.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11This 19th century mansion, once the Hyde Clarke seat in America,
0:56:11 > 0:56:15is now a museum and stands as testimony
0:56:15 > 0:56:19to the family's place in Britain's colonial history.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Oh, my goodness!
0:56:40 > 0:56:41Wow!
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Stunning room.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01Yeah, Granny, you were right, we were wrong.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Huh! Well, we know you!
0:57:16 > 0:57:22Hyde Hall was occupied by descendants of the Clarke family until the 1940s.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27Many of the family's possessions still remain.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39This has been a fantastic journey.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42It's unquestionably awe inspiring.
0:57:42 > 0:57:49You know, to see these big chunks of British history and to know that,
0:57:49 > 0:57:53actually, your family was sitting pretty much at the epicentre of it.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03And they're extraordinary characters. I mean, they are big characters.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07These aren't little tweaks to history.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I like to think that some of the things I've seen
0:58:10 > 0:58:15just put a few more brush strokes on a canvas that was pretty empty.
0:58:15 > 0:58:20And I do, at this moment
0:58:20 > 0:58:24roundly apologise to my grandmother for really zoning out very seriously
0:58:24 > 0:58:31and thinking probably that she was a tad delusional about what clearly she did have a feel for.
0:59:03 > 0:59:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd